The end of the world is nigh, reprise

Robert McCrum examines, with dry scepticism, the idea that digitisation of texts might lead to the end of publishing as we know it:
"Both Amazon and Google are negotiating with American publishers to develop 'search within the book' programmes. Google already has a deal with several top libraries from around the world, including the Bodleian, to digitise out of copyright texts. Inevitably, some publishers and the Society of Authors are getting quite excited about this innovation.
According to Newton, professionally cautious, mass digitisation is not a 'marketing opportunity'. Rather, he suggests that within a generation 'it may result in no sales', the publishing equivalent of Armageddon. Collaborate with this 'Napsterisation' process, he told the Publishers Association, and the book industry risked 'undermining the cultural and intellectual tradition of the past 600 years'."

Digitisation has pretty interesting uses beyond making books available in a format you can't take to the bathroom with you.
"In a remarkable deal, the Greek Orthodox monks of Sinai and the British Library have agreed to set aside their differences on the question of who is the manuscript’s rightful owner and will now work together to digitally reassemble the Codex Sinaiticus."

This is the point at which you want to tell the EU to grow up: if the British Library and the Greek Orthodox monks of Sinai can set aside their differences, they really don't need to go off and build their own digital library because they're sulking at Google.