Both will work
together to digitise around 100,000 out-of-copyright books and
deliver search results for this content through the new MSN
Book Search service to help people find precisely what they're
looking for on the web. MSN Search will launch an initial
public beta offering next
year.
Lynne Brindley,
Chief Executive of the British Library, said, "This
partnership helps us fulfil our vision of promoting ready
access to our collection for everyone who wants to use it.
This is great news for research and scholarship and will give
unparalleled access to our vast collections to people all over
the world: the items digitised will be available to anyone,
anywhere and at any time."
 Delivering an
experience
Bill Gates,
Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft said, "Our
partnership with the British Library is not only about
digitisation and preservation, but also about delivering a
great experience for people accessing this amazing collection
through British Library and MSN Web sites."
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Microsoft is already working with
the British Library to help build the digital infrastructure
for the National Digital Library providing software tools,
advice and technical support to the Library's experts. The
National Digital Library is a cornerstone of the British Library
strategy launched in June this year. The Digital Object
Management (DOM) system, will enable the long-term storage,
preservation and access to digital items such as e-journals,
e-books and CD-ROMs acquired by the Library through legal
deposit. The system will use open standards, allowing the
Library to adapt to future shifts in storage, preservation and
access technologies
Lynne Brindley added, "We are
redefining the library in our development of the National
Digital Library and are delighted to be working with Microsoft
on a key part of this project. Our aim is to provide perpetual
access to the intellectual output of the nation, which is
increasingly digital. Microsoft's expertise, coupled with our
own, will enable us to achieve this aim."
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