The Crimson announced back in December that Harvard was allowing Google access to its famed libraries to make digital copies of 40,000 books for the Google Print Project. Although Google planned to digitize mostly public domain works, it also said it planned to digitize some copyrighted materials and release snippets on the web. The thought of Google even scanning the books has many publishing groups fired up, and angry e-mails are flying. Google isssued a vague statement about working with publishers, and Harvard seems unruffled, as usual.
Bostonist was suprised to hear Harvard would agree to Google's request. The University routinely charges interlibrary loan fees, and a yearly pass to just one of its libraries, the Widener, is $750. Those Google folks must be smooth talkers. Harvard may even digitize all 15 million of its volumes, if the initial project goes well. Maybe Harvard is trying to stay one step ahead of its Ivy league companions, like Princeton, which recently announced that it won't finish releasing Thomas Jefferson's papers until 2026.
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