The University of California libraries, including the Kolligian Library at UC Merced, have joined a partnership to build a freely accessible digital library with materials drawn from around the globe.
But UC Merced Librarian Bruce Miller said it doesn't diminish the experience of curling up with your favorite book. He said it just exposes a new generation of readers to once-forgotten classic books.
"The good byproduct is it's creating new life for things that were gathering dust on the shelves," Miller said. "That's a lot different from the book you buy from Barnes & Noble and the book you borrow from the public library."
The more than 100 UC libraries will contribute books and resources to build a digitized collection of out-of-copyright American literature. Miller said the 10 UC campuses have about 32 million books on their shelves.
The materials will be available from www.opencontentalliance.org, the Web site of the Open Content Alliance. Full text of literature will be available for free to anyone who visits the Web site.
Miller said the UC libraries are currently in the selection process to decide which books are the first to be digitized.
With the support of Yahoo! Inc., UC library books will be digitized using technology that scans books at the cost of 10 cents per page. Before, the costs to scan archival photographs and documents typically began at $20 per page.
Miller said the technology isn't new, except the new scanners are faster, allowing them to digitize a full text.
He said UC Merced currently has about 35,000 library books on its shelves, but the Kolligian Library has slightly more than that digitized and available electronically.
That makes a world of difference to students or faculty members doing research, he said.
Ann Wolpert, president of the Association of Research Libraries, said working with the alliance, academic and research libraries can provide greater access to high value materials and contribute expertise in developing reliable and authoritative collections.
"This is an exciting step in the ongoing development of open access solutions for citizens, students, scholars and researchers worldwide," Wolpert said in a news release. "Libraries, publishers, educational institutions, and others must collaborate around initiatives like the OCA to effectively serve their communities in the 21st century."
But digitized books aren't anything new to the University of California. In 1997, the university created the California Digital Library to support researchers and students.
The difference with Open Content Alliance is that the material will be available free to everyone, not just the university, said Daniel Greenstein, UC associate vice provost and university librarian for the California Digital Library.
"We're pleased to join the OCA and begin making this important part of our national cultural heritage freely available online," Greenstein said in the news release. "But perhaps more significant is the opportunity that the OCA provides for UC and other cultural and educational institutions to actively engage with commercial partners in an open and consultative process to design a world-class digital library and educational resource."
On the Internet
WEB SITE: www.opencontentalliance.org
WHAT: Full text of literature
COST: Free Reporter Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at 385-2477 or rahumada@mercedsun-star.com.
