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The Possible French/Google Alliance: To Preserve, and Share, History

by Amar Toor on December 16, 2009 at 10:25 AM


If there's one thing the French have always been fiercely proud of, it's their culture. Faced with the very real prospect of losing control over their most treasured historic documents to Google, the country (in typical French fashion, we might add) has decided that if they can't beat 'em, they might as well join 'em.

The New York Times reports that President Nicolas Sarkozy has devoted over $1 billion to an initiative aimed at digitizing their entire National Library -- a project that very well may include Google. Back in August, the National Library revealed that it was in discussions with Google about collaboration, creating such a public uproar that talks were suspended. Now, though, the government is ready to create a public-private partnership that may be set to include the Big G.

The French have always been particularly nervous about the company's actions. In 2005, France and Germany even attempted to create their own digital libraries to compete with Google (the project later died). Despite yesterday's news of a potential partnership, the President remained firm, claiming that France will not sacrifice its heritage for "the benefit of a big company, no matter how friendly, big or American it is."

It may not be as defiant a move as the bombastic Sarkozy would have everyone believe, but it's definitely a shrewd one -- and, ultimately, for the best. In theory, France would retain legal control over the documents, and ensure that an international community will be seeing them. For a culture that's dying out around the globe, it makes sense to spread it as far and wide as possible. For right now, Google is still the best way to do just that. [From: The New York Times]

Tags: digitizing, france, french, google, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, sarkozy, top

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