Alexandrians in action: Google Books

Posted by Dirk Avery at 2:14 pm under Copyright, Innovation, Internet, Technology.

Today, here on the University of Michigan campus, I saw the Google folks at work. A huge moving truck was backed up next to the library door. Carts filled with books filled the truck.

The basic task is really pretty simple. They take books and scan them. The complexity comes from the project’s massiveness. Google will scan every book in Michigan’s 7.5 million volume collection. After the books are scanned, the images are deciphered into searchable text.

Wired’s Kevin Kelly, in the New York Times, describes the mechanics behind the scanning project.

This [state-of-the art robot], the size of a small S.U.V., automatically turns the pages of each book as it scans it, at the rate of 1,000 pages per hour. A human operator places a book in a flat carriage, and then pneumatic robot fingers flip the pages — delicately enough to handle rare volumes — under the scanning eyes of digital cameras.

Sure, it is a commercial effort, designed to make Google money, but aren’t truly inspirational new projects the best thing about capitalism? The Greek Alexandrians would have been very excited about this project.

Many, besides Google, are already reaping the rewards of the project. I count myself in that group. Though I have an uncle who taught at Michigan’s dental school for nearly 40 years, I believed that none of my relatives or ancestors had ever attended this great institution. One day, however, my uncle mentioned that his grandfather (my great grandfather) had gone here. After some searching on Google, I discovered my great grandfather, George Washington Avery, in a scanned book. The book shows what his address was and the year he graduated (1881). A long out-of-print, out-of-copyright book, Google’s searching capability, a scanning robot, and excellent optical character recognition software all came together to give me a very meaningful, perspective-providing experience.

Do I begrudge Google making a buck while providing this fabulous service to the world? Not a chance.

Comments | Permalink | Trackback | Email |