Columbia University partners with Microsoft to digitise books

Microsoft and Columbia University are collaborating on an initiative to digitise a large number of books from Columbia University Libraries and make them available to internet users. With the support of the Open Content Alliance (OCA), publicly available print materials in Columbia Libraries will be scanned, digitised, and indexed to make them readily accessible through Live Search Books.

‘We're pleased to work with Microsoft to advance this major digitisation effort through Live Search Books,’ said James G. Neal, vice president for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University. ‘Digital libraries have the potential to make a collective cultural archive globally accessible. This initiative supports our mission to increase access to the Libraries’ collections.’