Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge
A View from Europe
The recent announcement that Google will digitize the holdings of several major libraries sent shock waves through the book industry and academe. Google presented this digital repository as a first step towards a long-dreamed-of universal library, but skeptics were quick to raise a number of concerns about the potential for copyright infringement and unanticipated effects on the business of research and publishing.
Jean-Noël Jeanneney, president of France’s Bibliothèque Nationale, here takes aim at what he sees as a far more troubling aspect of Google’s Library Project: its potential to misrepresent—and even damage—the world’s cultural heritage. In this impassioned work, Jeanneney argues that Google’s unsystematic digitization of books from a few partner libraries and its reliance on works written mostly in English constitute acts of selection that can only extend the dominance of American culture abroad. This danger is made evident by a Google book search the author discusses here—one run on Hugo, Cervantes, Dante, and Goethe that resulted in just one non-English edition, and a German translation of Hugo at that. An archive that can so easily slight the masters of European literature—and whose development is driven by commercial interests—cannot provide the foundation for a universal library.
As a leading librarian, Jeanneney remains enthusiastic about the archival potential of the Web. But he argues that the short-term thinking characterized by Google’s digital repository must be countered by long-term planning on the part of cultural and governmental institutions worldwide—a serious effort to create a truly comprehensive library, one based on the politics of inclusion and multiculturalism.
“Jean-Noël Jeanneney is horrified when he imagines how our children might come to see the world: Will future generations think no great books have been written in a language other than English? And even worse: Will they see history only through American eyes?
The president of the French national library has made himself the frontman in what he sees as a struggle to save cultural diversity. In the postmodern world, the battleground is the internet. Here, search engines determine what tomorrow's generations will click on, learn and think.”--Financial Times
“Provides a crucial dissenting opinion. . . . The Google war chest has all but secured dominance over smaller library efforts, like the author’s own project to digitize the French national collection. History judges societies by how they treat their most disadvantaged members. This book asks only that the Google economy be held to the same standard.”
"A take on world Googleization you're not likely to get from your broker. . . . [Jeanneney] brings his own high-wattage bulb to enlighten us. Be thankful we didn't ban French fries, French wine, and this very illuminating French book."
Foreword, by Ian Wilson vii
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Resounding Announcement
A Healthy Jolt
Brush Fire
Europe on the March
Meanwhile, in the United States . . .
The Lines Are Drawn
Realism and Promptness
1. Remarkable Progress
A Positive Outlook
The Book Will Survive
The Need for Librarians and Booksellers
2. At the Mercy of the Market
The “Invisible Hand”
Film and Audiovisuals
Overwhelming Advertising
3. Hyperpower
India, China, the Arab World, Africa
Europe––the Courage to Be Different
What “Gondola End”?
4. The Difficulties of a Response
Cooperatives: Strengths and Limitations
Public Money
Image Mode, Text Mode, Metadata
5. One European Search Engine––or Several?
The Loftiest Aspiration
Google Is Not Immortal
Longevity as an Obsession
6. Organizing Knowledge
The Harvest and the Display
Disorganized Bulk––an Absolute Danger
Transparency, Flexibility, and Rigor
7. A Cultural Project, an Industrial Project
Two Facets of the Same Aspiration
Publishers Are Essential
What Structure? What Budget?
Conclusion: A Broader Perspective
Translator’s Afterword
History: General History | History of Ideas
Library Science and Publishing: Publishing
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