Lo que sigue es una nota de prensa de la Biblioteca Británica. En él se anunciaba que esa biblioteca gracias a un convenio con Microsoft iba a digitalizar y poner a disposición del público unos 65000 libros del siglo XIX de filosofía, historia, poesía y literatura. Según este convenio también, este material estaría disponible en la tienda Kindle. ¿Ustedes lo vieron?
La pregunta no es retórica. Este convenio tuvo nota de prensa oficial, en medios reconocidos y en blogs también reconocidos. Busqué en la tienda Kindle, busqué en la web de la biblioteca, pero sin suerte.
El dato duro sería que todavía queda mucho trabajo para las bibliotecas en el proceso de digitalización del material bibliográfico y que ese trabajo no puede ser puesto en manos de una empresa como Amazon sino a disposición del público general. En la Biblioteca Nacional también se ofrecen links a material digitalizado, pero ninguno funciona.
Originally digitised in partnership with Microsoft Livesearch, the British Library’s new deal with Amazon will unlock 65,000 editions of 19th century philosophy, history, poetry and literature – over 25 million pages of content. Covering Amazon’s sites in US, the UK, France and Germany, and Amazon’s revolutionary wireless portable reading device Kindle, this landmark agreement will enable a whole new global generation of readers to rediscover countless forgotten literary gems.
Estimates suggest that roughly 35% to 40% of the British Library’s 19th century British printed collections are either unique, or at least inaccessible through other major libraries in the UK and abroad. This deal is a prime example of how the British Library is continuing to explore new technologies and innovative business models to improve access to its historic collections.
Covering the likes of Dickens, Austen, and Conan Doyle, the 65,000 titles also include a range of lesser know Victorian classics such as, A Strange Story by Edward Lytton, one of the period’s most popular novelists – now largely neglected, and The Story of a Modern Woman by Ella Hepworth Dixon, described as ‘the greatest unread novel of female struggle’. Through print on-demand with CreateSpace, part of the Amazon group of companies, readers will be able to have their very own copies of these previously rare and inaccessible titles now in the public domain, including some classic first editions, re-printed at an affordable price. Print-on-demand is both a convenient and economically viable way of making these collections available. In addition, Kindle owners will be able to download these titles for free.