by CIO Staff

Google Literacy Initiative Unveiled

News
Oct 05, 20062 mins
Consumer Electronics

Google, the world’s largest search engine, on Wednesday launched a website that culls all of its digitized books, video clips, maps and blogging offerings in an effort to provide teachers, educators and other members of academia with an organized set of educational resources to combat illiteracy, Reuters reports via MSN Money.

The new site was announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair, an event for publishing executives, along with the United Nations and as part of a literacy program established by the fair organizers, according to Reuters.

“Google’s business was born out of a desire to help people find information,” said Nikesh Arora, Google’s vice president of European operations, according to Reuters. “We hope this site will serve as a bridge to even greater communication and access to important information about literacy problems.”

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates suggest there are some 1 billion people over age 15 who are considered illiterate in the world, Reuters reports.

Google has also requested that organizations across the globe contribute video clips to explain and demonstrate the merits of various teaching techniques, according to Reuters.

The English version of the site can be found here.

Google is at work on a project to digitize all the books in the world—an initiative that has caused no small degree of controversy over the associated copyright issues.

In August, the search giant also expanded its book search service to allow users to download printable volumes.

Related Links:

  • Google to Offer Book Downloads

  • Google, UC Ink Pact to Digitize Books

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