December 14, 2004

Israel to Leave Palestinian Cities During Election. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel plans to pull troops out of Palestinian cities for a Jan. 9 presidential election to pick a successor to Yasser Arafat, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Monday. [Reuters: World] 11:09:14 AM

Google to scan famous libraries BBC News, UK - The libraries of five of the world's most important academic institutions are to be digitised by Google. Scanned pages from books in the public domain will then be made available for search and reading online. The full libraries of Michigan and Stanford universities, as well as archives at Harvard, Oxford and the New York Public Library are included. Online pages from scanned books will not have adverts but will have links to online store Amazon, Google said.  Impact on libraries "It's a significant opportunity to bring our material to the rest of the world," said Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library. "It could solve an old problem: If people can't get to us, how can we get to them?" "This is the day the world changes," said John Wilkin, a University of Michigan librarian working with Google. "It will be disruptive because some people will worry that this is the beginning of the end of libraries. "But this is something we have to do to revitalise the profession and make it more meaningful."  9:53:11 AM