British Library collection signs landmark search deal with Google

The British Library has signed a landmark deal with Google, making one of the largest collections of books and pamphlets in the world available and searchable online for the first time.

The British Library
British Library

The arrangement will allow Google to index and produce links to texts which date back to the 18th century.

Internet users will be able to search for and access the huge volume of out-of-copyright works for free for the first time on the internet.

The deal, which is being described by the British Library as a “strategic partnership” was formally announced at a press conference this morning hosted by Dame Lynne Brindley, the chief executive of the reading institution and Peter Barron, the former Newsnight editor turned Google head of external relations.

The arrangement is not a financial one, and is similar to deals the search engine already has in place with more than 40 libraries around the world. Google covers the cost of digitisation of all of the texts, producing one copy for its own records, and one copy for the library in question.

Google is in discussions with publishers and authors’ groups in the US about payments for digitising books, having encountered strong opposition to its plans to digitise the world’s books from some rights holders groups.