AlbertPacino
Explorer
President Jacques Chirac told France's national library on Wednesday to draw up a plan to put European literary works on the Internet, rivaling a similar project by U.S.-based Web search engine Google.
Chirac gave the go-ahead for research into the project after Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads the national library, expressed concern that Google's plan to put books from some of the world's great libraries online would favor the English language.
Chirac asked Jeanneney and France's culture minister to look at ways "in which the collections of the great libraries in France and Europe could be made more widely and more quickly accessible by Internet," Chirac's office said in a statement.
Chirac would seek support among other European countries in the coming weeks for a bigger, coordinated push to get Europe's literary works online.
Jeanneney, who met Chirac on Wednesday, said last month Google's choice of works was likely to favor Anglo-Saxon ideas and that he wanted the European Union to balance this with its own program and its own Internet search engines.
His views made waves among intellectuals in France, where many people are wary of the impact of American ways and ideas on the French language and culture.
California-based Google Inc. said last December it would scan millions of books and periodicals into its popular search engine over the next few years. Its partners in the project are Harvard University, Stanford University, Oxford University, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library.
Google says the project will promote knowledge by making it more easily and widely accessible. It aims to make money by attracting people to its Web site and to its advertisements.
Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said the French move was not a direct challenge to Google's project. "It is simply the wish for a diversity of influence," he said.
Source
Why do i think this is a waste of time & Money...
Chirac gave the go-ahead for research into the project after Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads the national library, expressed concern that Google's plan to put books from some of the world's great libraries online would favor the English language.
Chirac asked Jeanneney and France's culture minister to look at ways "in which the collections of the great libraries in France and Europe could be made more widely and more quickly accessible by Internet," Chirac's office said in a statement.
Chirac would seek support among other European countries in the coming weeks for a bigger, coordinated push to get Europe's literary works online.
Jeanneney, who met Chirac on Wednesday, said last month Google's choice of works was likely to favor Anglo-Saxon ideas and that he wanted the European Union to balance this with its own program and its own Internet search engines.
His views made waves among intellectuals in France, where many people are wary of the impact of American ways and ideas on the French language and culture.
California-based Google Inc. said last December it would scan millions of books and periodicals into its popular search engine over the next few years. Its partners in the project are Harvard University, Stanford University, Oxford University, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library.
Google says the project will promote knowledge by making it more easily and widely accessible. It aims to make money by attracting people to its Web site and to its advertisements.
Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said the French move was not a direct challenge to Google's project. "It is simply the wish for a diversity of influence," he said.
Source
Why do i think this is a waste of time & Money...