Google And British Library Put Books On The Internet

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 153 months ago
Google And British Library Put Books On The Internet

Google and the British Library are going to digitise some 250,000 out-of-copyright books from the BL's collection, making them searchable and available to anyone on the internet.

This is good news if you've ever tried to find a spare desk in the Reading Rooms or felt a bit intimidated by the security guards wandering around telling people off for using biros. The project will cover books, pamphlets and periodicals from between 1700-1870, including some feminist material about Queen Marie-Antoinette and a history of the hippopotamus which takes a look at a stuffed one belonging to the Prince of Orange.

This development is on top of a new iPad app, launched a couple of weeks ago, which carries scans of 60,000 19th century books. You'll have to wait a while (and pay) for full access, but until then 1,000 - including some well-loved novels - are available for free.

Photo by McTumshie from the Londonist Flickr pool

Last Updated 20 June 2011