Google Books to scan 160,000 titles in KB collection

AMSTERDAM – The Royal Library (KB) of The Hague and Google Books have agreed they will scan over 160,000 royalty-free Dutch books and open them up for online viewing and research. The project involves about ten percent of KB's extensive collection and includes historical, legal and social academic publications. The U.S.-based internet search engine provider has similar contracts with over forty university libraries and a number of national libraries. The KB project will take several years to complete. The Dutch national library has excluded rare and fragile publications which are banned from leaving its care.