Technology is all about digitizing, cataloging, and storing information. The recent trend is digitizing books. Microsoft and Google both have ventures in digitizing, cataloging, and storing books for people to search and read. Google Book Search is trying to digitize massive amounts for people to read online for free. Many have partnered with Google, while many others have been displeased saying they have been breaking copyright laws. Whatever the case, they have been digitizing heaps of books.
The most recent joiner of Google Book Search is the National Library of Catalonia. "The mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalonian bibliographic production and that related to the Catalonian linguistic area, to look after its conservation, and to spread its bibliographic heritage while maintaining the status of a universal center for research and consultation."
The National Library of Barcelona and four associate Catalonian libraries have decided to join the Google Book Search Library Project. They are digitizing the libraries' out-of-copyright books, which will allow millions of people around the world to access and read them, thus allowing them the capability to trace Catalonian history and culture through centuries of text.
Google has many partnerships with publishers, libraries, authors, etc. They are having many issues implementing the Book Search, legally and technology issues both. They are essentially taking photographs of every page of the book. Some are blurry, others are off centered, and many have people's fingers on the pages. You have to remember, its still in Beta.
http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2007/01/national-library-of-catalonia-joins.html