Big Brother inevitability of Google digitisation

There's something inevitable about libraries joining the Google Book Search library digitisation programme. Not so long ago the announcements were grasped with keen interest, now they excite as much interest as yet another series of Big Brother with, oh how shocking racism breaking out!

Of course, there is a colossal gulf of difference between the sad navel gazing of Big Brother and its assorted misfit viewers and contestants and the digitisation of 12 research libraries. Yesterday's announcement by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation is without doubt important to the organisations involved and the users.

But as each institution joins the Google project the tipping point between Google becoming the standard interface to the vast bulk of research information comes ever closer. And with each announcement we accept it as the norm. Recent deals have improved though, whether through a greater sympathy for the information community by Google, or, and more likely increased deal making savvy by the collection owners.  This recent deal, which will add 10 million copies of material to Google will include books in and out of copyright and the statements are very clear from the off, those titles still in copyright will be protected. The prickly issue of how publishers know whether their title is held by a library and will be digitised has still not been resolved though.

"This library digitisation agreement is one of the largest cooperative actions of its kind in higher education," said Lawrence Dumas, provost of

Northwestern

University

. I can't help feeling it’s a case of the major university libraries are part of this Google juggernaut, it cannot be beaten so institutions feel that they might as well join it.