Search engine Google has announced a new collaboration with major universities and libraries to make collections searchable online.

Books from New York Public Library, University of Michigan, University of Oxford and the libraries of Harvard and Stanford will be included.

"We believe passionately that such universal access to the world's printed treasures is mission-critical for today's great public university," said Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan.

Google's print programme aims to work with more offline publishers to increase the amount of searchable information covered by its search tools. Publishers can monetise these searches, said Google, by publishing extracts of books but encouraging users to pay for the full printed version. They can also earn revenue by driving extra traffic to their websites and by using Google's contextual advertising services.

• Last month Google launched Google Scholar which searches theses, academic reports and peer-reviewed papers from a network of universities and academic organisations.

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