million books project

million books project

The "Million Book Project" was initiated in 2002

Universal Digital Library reaches 1.5 million shares

Beijing. Universal Digital Library, an international initiative that seeks access to all books published on paper via the Internet, has reached 1.5 million pieces, half a million more than its original purpose.
The program, originally called the Million Book Project was initiated in 2002 by a group of ambitious engineers and experts in library science in China and the U.S..
Haikang Zhu, deputy director of the library of the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, one of the institutions leading the project, announced that 1.5 million books, 70 percent of them Chinese, have been scanned, a figure that However, just over 1 percent of all published works on the planet.
According to He, 7,000 books are scanned each day for more than a thousand professionals spread across the planet, whose current goal is to reach 10 million works.
The project is led by Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, the University of Zhejiang in eastern China, the Indian Institute of Science and the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. Swedish and German institutions have also joined the project, according to Zhu.
Its officials say the project represents "the biggest university library in digital format free."
"Anyone with an Internet connection can now access a collection of works worthy of any great university," said Raj Reddy, professor in computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University.
"The project brings us closer to the ideal of a universal library, allowing access to all published works to anyone, anytime and in any language, says Reddy, head of the project.
Although the long-term goal of the universal library is to allow free access through the Internet to books, catalogs and other publications, about 50 percent of the collection preserves property rights. Thus, at present only 10 percent of the publications may be consulted free of charge.
Pan Yunhe, project leader in China, said that the protection and preservation of texts is a priority. "The role of aging to the point that the books come to be a delicate subject that nobody can read them without damaging them," said the former president of Zhejiang University, adding, "but once we have digitized texts and illustrations, we can keep them in circulation indefinitely. By its storage in different locations can minimize the risk of ending up being destroyed, as occurred in Alexandria. "

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Source: http://www.uces.edu.ar/biblioteca/boletin/actual/articulo.php