Online catalogue of books is the library that never closes | Technology | The Guardian

Online catalogue of books is the library that never closes | Technology | The Guardian.

The library that never closes
The Open Library hopes to unite the net and the printed word by creating a web page for every book.

by Bobbie Johnson, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 July 2009 18.15 BST, Article history

The internet's relationship with books, it is fair to say, has been a tumultuous one. Ever since the digital revolution started changing our relationship with information, the printed word – one of the most successful technologies in history – has been on the back foot.

Amazon has altered the face of the industry twice – first in the 1990s by changing the way books are sold and then, more recently, the way they are consumed, with its Kindle electronic book reader. Google has caused its own earthquake in the print world with its Book Search scheme – a plan to suck the text of millions of books into its search engine that has raised the hackles of publishers and authors alike.

Talk to workers at either of these technology companies and there is a feeling of technological inevitability: that the printed book is a stepping stone in the evolution of information, and now lies ready to be devoured by its hi-tech successors. Not everybody thinks that way, however, including the Open Library – a project with an audacious goal that it hopes can bring the web and books closer together.