Europe Advances Digitization Plan.

The European Commission has taken another step toward its nascent efforts to digitize books and other aspects of Europe's cultural heritage. The effort was launched after Google announced its Google Print for Libraries program and Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads France's national library, said the Google venture constituted "a risk of crushing domination by America in defining the idea that future generations have of the world."

The digital libraries initiative currently has a focus on cultural heritage and is investigating questions related to digitization, online accessibility, and digital preservation. Next year, the commission may issue recommendations on digitization and digital preservation and also will explore preservation of scientific information, especially information born digital.

A briefing paper cites financial, organizational, technical, and legal challenges, while acknowledging that there are no plans to match Google's effort: "Under current EU law and international agreements, material resulting from digitization can only be made available online if it is in the public domain or with the explicit consent of the rightsholders. Therefore a European digital library will in principle be focused on public domain material." Interested parties have until January 20, 2006 to comment on the plan.

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By Norman Oder