Google to archive British Library content online for free

Google has once again managed to twist someones arm and this time it is the British Library.

The British Library holds in excess of 150 million works and Google has been given access to a mere 250,000 pieces. While this might not sound like much, they will be scanned – a total of 40 million pages – and will be freely available on Google Books.

Interestingly the period of which these works are between 1700 and 1870 which covers both the French and Industrial Revolutions as well as lots of other important events such as the abolition of slavery in the UK, the Crimean War and the Battle of Trafalgar. The works that are being scanned are not also just in English and do in fact cover a range of European Languages.

While of course they will be searchable online and freely view-able they are also free to share, copy and manipulate as long as it is not for commercial purposes. Of course this is very beneficial to researchers and students alike as its bringing the library into your home.

The digitised works will also be available on the British Libraries digital archive and will be made available via its own website as well as being provided to the European Digital Library.