University of Michigan announces 7 million volume digitization deal with Google

You heard it here first, received un-embargoed from secret source:

>The University today is announcing a groundbreaking
>partnership with Google that will digitize the entire seven
>million volumes in the U-M library and make them accessible
>via a simple Google search.
>
>This project puts the University at the leading edge of a
>movement that will transform access to knowledge. Anyone who
>has Internet access, anywhere in the world, will be able to
>search our entire library, without limitations of geography,
>time or expense. It is an endeavor that carries remarkable
>implications for our institution; as a great public research
>university there is nothing we care about more deeply than the
>creation and sharing of knowledge.
>
>The project will make it possible for a user to locate and
>read the full text of works that are out of copyright, and to
>find snippets of text for copyrighted material, along with
>information about where a work can be found.
>
>Google will begin placing digitized volumes online in
>mid-2005, beginning with materials in Buhr. The technology is
>non-destructive, and rare books are excluded.
>
>As a product of this partnership, the University Library will
>receive and own a high quality digital copy of the materials
>digitized by Google, and it will be able to provide enhanced
>access for University patrons. The digitization at this scale
>is a massive undertaking that we simply could not have
>achieved on our own. The University will receive no financial
>compensation.
>
>Harvard University and the New York Public Library are
>announcing their own agreements with Google today, and more
>may participate in the future.
>
>In undertaking this project, we understand and respect the
>copyright issues involved. As an institution we create, use,
>and distribute all sorts of copyrighted works, and we care
>deeply about copyright issues from all aspects.
>This project is consistent with the very purpose of copyright
>law as reflected in the U.S. Constitution, to promote the
>advancement and dissemination of knowledge.
>
>For more information about the project, go to www.umich.edu
>