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.require "memo.pub[let,jmc]" source;
.cb An Electronic Library Project for the Centre Mondial

.cb "John McCarthy, Stanford University"

	This is an adaptation of the proposals in my 1979 memorandum
%2Towards a nationally available complete electronic library%1.
I will not repeat the considerations of that paper.

	For the reasons discussed in that paper, the time has already
arrived for it to be socially worthwhile and economically feasible
to put the world literature in the French language into computer form
and make it available world wide.  Presumably the French should be
more motivated to do it than the Americans, though I suppose that
when the U.S. gets around to doing it, literature in other languages
than English will be included.  However, if the French do it first,
then the French objective of promoting the French language and
literature will be advanced.

	Imagine the following system.  The French language literature
is put into computer form, either by optical character recognition
machines or by keyboarding in low wage countries.  A central computer
library in France keeps this literature on the equivalent of about
1000 IBM 3380 disk files.  Three large bandwith satellites are put
up to provide worldwide transmission facilities.  Reading rooms with
suitable terminals are located in every place where there is sufficient
interest.  A reader can call up any book or other document from any
terminal.  When he does so, the first two pages are transmitted via the
satellite to the reading room computer and the first page is displayed
on his terminal.  Perhaps the library catalog and other currently
popular documents are kept in local file.

	Such a system is technically feasible today, and I believe
that it would be found cost-effective, but there is too much inertia
to make it likely that the French Government will put up the money
soon for the full system.

	Therefore, we propose that the Centre Mondial undertake the
following pilot project.

	1. A few RA81 disks are acquired from Digital Equipment
Corporation and attached to the Centre's VAX computer.  This is
currently the most cost-effective disk file available.

	2. A request for proposals for a few hundred thousand
dollars worth of book input is sent both to keyboarding companies
and those that do optical character recognition.  In addition
existing computerized text is solicited from those who have it
for experimental use.  The initial reading list is taken from the
public domain literature.

	3. About 20 telephone lines are attached to the VAX, so
that the library is available from existing terminals and micro-computers
in the Paris area.

	4. The necessary programs are written and installed.

	At this point a technical demonstration is feasible.  An
attempt is made to determine what is most attractive to the users
of the library within the budget available.

	5. An experimental terminal cluster is installed in a reading
room in the Paris area.  It should be a place that is open for
a large number of hours.

	All this seems feasible within a budget of 1,000,000 francs
in 1983 and (say) 5,000,000 in 1984.

	If the results are encouraging, the next steps include.

	1. Giving the computerized library its own computer.

	2. More books.

	3. Obtaining the co-operation of publishers of current
books, magazines and newspapers for an expanded program.  An
experimental financial arrangement should be adopted.

	4. Design of a reading terminal that can be used in connection
with the French telephone system's electronic yellow pages.

	5. An experimental reading room in an underdeveloped country
using existing satellite transmission channels.

	6. Developing an optical character recognition system optimized
toward reading books.

	This memorandum needs to be rewritten with easily obtained
numbers concerning cost and performance.

	The first stage should involve one person to negotiate the
contracts and promote meetings and write a paper and another person
to do the programming and supervise hardware installation.
What has to be done to implement an experimental system is clear enough
so that a long planning phase is not warranted, because it would
use up the budget without providing the confidence needed to undertake
a larger project.

This document is on line as FLIB[E83,JMC]@SU-AI on the Arpanet.