Jouve, partners to scan 26.5 mln pages for national library

Bibliotheque Nationale de France has signed a contract with Jouve group to scan 70,000 works a year over three years to add to its digital holdings. In partnership with Safig, Diadeis and BancTec, Jouve is set to digitise 26.5 million pshrd in high definition with character recognition. The project being funded thanks to a EUR 11.2 million grant from France's Centre National du Livre. The newly scanned content will be added to BNF's Gallica website. At least 10 percent of the titles will be offered in an e-book compatible format. BNF also held talks with Google.