Digital library as a controversy: Gallica vs Google

Gaëlle Béquet (1)

1 Histoire, mémoire et patrimoine

Based on the theoretical framework of the actor-network sociology of innovation developed by Michel Callon, Bruno Latour and John Law, this paper will focus on the controversy which has been raging in Europe, and particularly in France, since 2004 when Google launched its project of a digital library. This controversy has shed light on different visions of digital libraries which resulted in projects such as the Google Book Search, Gallica 2 in France and Europeana, the European digital library. The paper will identify the sociotechnical network which emerged in Europe at the time of the controversy. It consists of both human organisations (national libraries, national governments and supra-national institutions, professional associations, companies) and technical artefacts (image- and text-digitization, mass digitization, retrieval tools). The digital library is considered here as an innovation based on technological inventions. This controversy sheds light on the actors' strategic positions in the sociotechnical network. It is thus critical to examine it before the closure of the technical innovation inherent to this conflict.

Mots clés: bibliothéconomie; innovation; numérisation; patrimoine culturel; technologie; changement organisationnel; bibliothèques nationales-Europe

Mots clés: library science; technological innovations; digital libraries; digitization; organisational change; national libraries-Europe

Domaines: Sciences de l'information et de la communication

Gaëlle Béquet. Digital library as a controversy: Gallica vs Google. 9th Conference Libraries in the Digital Age, May 2009, Dubrovnik, Croatia. p. 116-123. ⟨hal-00718385⟩