Google has already cataloged the entire Internet. Now, it's moving on to the University's libraries. With the advent of a new agreement between Google and the University, Google will provide students online access to the complete text of about 6 million books from the University libraries. To sweeten the deal, individuals not associated with the University can purchase access to these books online at an extremely low price. For students, this move offers relief from pricey textbooks. And with other universities set to enter into similar agreements, this partnership could ultimately lead to a movement making knowledge more easily accessible to everyone.

On May 20, the University announced an extension of its project with Google to digitalize much of its libraries’ collections. Under the extended agreement, students will have free online access to the books the University provides for the digitilization project. Once the project is complete, the University and its students will be able to access the digitalized collections of other libraries participating in the same program under a small fee paid for by the University. It also gives the University the right to negotiate the price Google charges other libraries for access to its collection.

Students are the biggest winners in the agreement between the University and Google. With so many library books available online, they will be more accessible to University students. Instead of spending time navigating the labyrinthine stacks of the Hatcher Graduate Library looking for books, students will be able to access them quickly online. This will ensure that students spend less time trying to gain access to books filed away in the bowels of the Grad Library and can more easily obtain information.

At the same time, many of the textbooks available in the University’s libraries would also be available online. This could be a relief for the many students who wish to circumvent the exorbitant cost of hard-copy textbooks from places like Ulrich’s and Shaman Drum. And if other universities open up their bookshelves to digitalization, even more textbooks would be available to University students for free.

There are also fundamental academic and social implications of this knowledge-sharing venture. Digitalizing these books not only benefits University students writing research papers, but also makes their knowledge available to people anywhere there is Internet access. This agreement will enable people from all over the world and from different educational backgrounds to access massive amounts of information very cheaply. It will encourage the spread of knowledge that the University stands for and believes in.

By agreeing to this deal with Google, the University is contributing to a movement toward the globalization of information that will occur as more universities sign similar agreements to open up their libraries. Freeing knowledge from its physical confines and making it accessible and inexpensive to everyone is an important goal. The University should be commended for being the first to sign this agreement, and students should take advantage of this resource to ensure its success.