GOOGLE & LIBRARIES PARTNER TO DIGITIZE BOOKS
- What is the Google Project? Partnering with a number of academic and research libraries, Google will digitize some of their book collections and make the electronic versions available to the public, online. Google has separate and different agreements with each library; these agreements specify the materials to be digitized and the circumstances under which the public will have access to them.
- Is Anyone Else Digitizing Library Materials? Yes. We are all familiar with digital journal articles, and there are many book digitization initiatives. Among these are Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org and various projects carried out under the aegis of the Digital Library Federation http://www.diglib.org/ and the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/. Another new digital initiative is the Library of Congress' partnership with a group of research libraries (including institutions in Canada, Egypt, China, and the Netherlands) to create a public library of one million books available via the Internet.
- Is Copyright an Issue, in Terms of Access to Digitized Books? Very much so. In fact, many people believe that the biggest issue confronting digitization projects is not technology, or even standards, but rather copyright laws which place major restrictions on how much of a digitized text one can view. When books are still under copyright protection, viewers will see only snippets of a text except in cases where publishers allow more to be displayed, in return for profit-generating sponsored links.
- What Makes the Google Initiative Interesting? The Google project is interesting largely because of Google's enormous presence in the online arena: digital texts made available through Google will have visibility which other digital collections may lack. It may be that the technology Google will use is also of special interest: the company has not yet described its process.
- What Do Digital Book Collections Mean for Libraries? Digital collections vs. physical libraries is not an either-or prospect, and each has its role. Clearly, the book is a format that will continue to appeal readers.
- What Will the Future Bring? Experts differ about the time frame within which a large part of the world's published literature will be available digitally. Clifford Lynch, president of the Coalition for Networked Information, thinks that much will be achieved in the next ten years, while others are less certain. Google's project will likely drive other commercial entities into the arena, speeding the creation of digital book collections. Of course, book publishers will have to tread carefully in order to ensure that their digital market does not eclipse that for their printed wares (journal publishers are struggling with this issue today).
