...[W]hen the EU opens up Europeana, a massive digital library that pulls a wealth of information on European culture out of dusty old museums or private collections and into the digital world, it's like giving Google a helping hand. After all, Google likes to show us the way to important info that somebody else owns.
Its own efforts to digitize university library collections, host historical photographs, and the like are happening because nobody else stepped up to shoulder the responsibility of getting it done. Where's Amazon...when you need 'em? Those deep, long-standing connections to publishing houses could lead to a massive public-domain library one day.
Welcome to the party, Europeana. Don't be scared when Google's indexing spiders crawl across your back. They're just scratching your back -- and sending more traffic than you could muster on your own. In return, you're scratching Google's back simply by existing. With gentle backrubs all around, everybody wins.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/23/2008 10:37:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
