Concerning the free books of law no problem

Emmanuel Hoog, President of the INA, has just published an essay entitled "Memory year zero" threshold, he wondered how the digital revolution is changing our way to apprehend the memory and history, giving humanity the dream of eternal storage of knowledge. He points the risk of a "memory bubbles" and is concerned about the dominant role that arrogates to Googledans access to information and culture. To along broken maintenance, full discussion on the digitization of the books by the Internet giant.

Google is committed to digitize the world and tends to become the main gateway to knowledge on the Internet. Should we be concerned

Not necessarily. Google is a great tool that has changed the way to access information on the Internet by making it available to the greatest number. I don't want to enter a sterile polemic in this regard. On the other hand, that need to be afraid, it is the monopoly. The problem is that with his famous search engine Google wants to control the question, how to respond and now the source of the answer! Its founders is in are never hidden, they wanted to digitize all the knowledge produced by humanity: the books, the press, the image the same world in which we operate. And, they say, to "give access to everyone, everywhere, at any time." So, Google is not only a charitable NGO! It is a company listed on the Nasdaq which weighs billions of euros and the goal is to make a profit. This is respectable in itself. But, in a liberal world, there are also rules of the game to put in place in the competition.

For you, Internet not is therefore not sufficiently regulated

With the digital revolution which is still very poorly measured effects, it is a blank field where monopolies may be without brakes. The rules of the game in the "real" world have not yet transferred in the digital world, because there is not yet of representation of the Internet. Today, it is considered to be youth or tightening when told that should guide the Web. Must be introducing rules to comply with copyright law, prevent dominant positions on the principle of neutrality of the Internet. No economy can be based permanently on the basis of the law of the jungle. The regulation of the Internet raises yet many issues: how, for example, ensure each citizen a "right to forget" and a real control over his personal data

What do you think the controversy about the digitization of the National Library of France by Google

The digitization project of large global libraries by Google merit discussion. Nothing is inevitable. I want proof of severe criticism by the US Department of Justice on the agreement reached in the United States between the search engine and the American Edition. The problem is this: the search engine already has files scanned from French books which belonged to American libraries. For these as for the BNF, is the proper management of not rescan these files. Concerning the free books of law, no problem. But once it's books still protected by copyright, we must pay the publishers and authors. And this is where the shoe pinches: it is not possible that Google gets in the United States a right of exclusive exploitation of global editorial production available in American libraries for $ 125 million. It's really a derisory sum!

But Google facilitates the dissemination of knowledge through books scope click for audiences who have no or little access...

Of course. But the problem is the return required by Google to digitize the holdings of the libraries. When you enter a query, the search engine will not not search on the portal of the BNF, but in Google Books. And so, in fact, the only "Universal Library", it will be Google Books. What are the libraries of Harvard, Oxford or the BNF which retained the works for centuries and which employ librarians. In addition to the risk of monopoly, the great danger is that everything that is not in Google so the field of human knowledge.

In concrete terms, what can do the public heritage institutions such as the BNF or the INA to the ambitions of Google

The BNF and the INA were given by the public power the mission to implement the Web legal deposit. Which means organize the memory image and writing in the Internet space. Today, the network of networks is the origin of a real "bubble memory": it accumulates furiously, blind, remembers everything and overlooked nothing. With this huge mass of disparate information, most citizens no longer have the means to sort. I would personally favour the establishment of a "universal service" knowledge accessible to all on the Internet to inform, educate. And this could very well be done in public-private partnerships, with Google or other. Need a new digital public space, with a system that too often promotes community and individualistic reflexes.

Where is the INA in its policy of digitization

Between three quarters and two thirds of our archives have already been digitized, partly by self-financing, in part by an increase in the levy paid by the State since 2005. But that all of our funds to be digitized, the INA is in need of additional EUR 90 million. I hope that we will get a great loan funding. We discuss with our Ministry responsible for the preparation of the next contract of objectives and means of the INA to 2014. For 2010, our budget is expected to grow 2-3, to EUR 125 million.