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Through the provision of guidelines and policy, organisations such as IFLA can frame access in a human rights context, but very often the best way to show the value of libraries is to let them innovate. The Google Book Search project in particular is a massive moment in the history of libraries. Google’s mass digitisation of in- and out-of-copyright books has the potential to provide unprecedented access to an online library containing millions of titles, increasing access to information dramatically. However, the fact that Google is likely the only organisation with enough resources to attempt such a feat means many in the library community are worried that an absence of competition in the market could compromise the libraries’ mission to provide equitable access to information, user privacy and intellectual freedom.[21] The end result is not yet in sight, but through involvement in the Google project, and through other innovative projects like the giant online databases of Europeana[22] and the World Digital Library,[23] libraries demonstrate their value as key providers of access to information through technology, existing to serve all members of a community whether they are physically in a library or thousands of miles away on a laptop.
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