Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; Library Projects; and Search Engines
Inheritance and loss? A brief survey of Google Books
| Title: | Inheritance and loss? A brief survey of Google Books (ID: CSD5107) | | Author(s): | Paul Duguid (University of California, Berkeley) | | Source: | First Monday | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (09/04/2007) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | The Google Books Project has drawn a great deal of attention, offering the prospect of the library of the future and rendering many other library and digitizing projects apparently superfluous. To grasp the value of Google’s endeavor, we need among other things, to assess its quality. On such a vast and undocumented project, the task is challenging. In this essay, I attempt an initial assessment in two steps. First, I argue that most quality assurance on the Web is provided either through innovation or through “inheritance.” In the later case, Web sites rely heavily on institutional authority and quality assurance techniques that antedate the Web, assuming that they will carry across unproblematically into the digital world. I suggest that quality assurance in the Google’s Book Search and Google Books Library Project primarily comes through inheritance, drawing on the reputation of the libraries, and before them publishers involved. Then I chose one book to sample the Google’s Project, Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy. This book proved a difficult challenge for Project Gutenberg, but more surprisingly, it evidently challenged Google’s approach, suggesting that quality is not automatically inherited. In conclusion, I suggest that a strain of romanticism may limit Google’s ability to deal with that very awkward object, the book.
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Microsoft Scans British Library
| Title: | Microsoft Scans British Library (ID: CSD4272) | | Source: | BBC News | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2005) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | As part of its recently announced involvement with the Open Content Alliance (OCA), Microsoft will scan 100,000 books from the British Library, adding about 25 million pages of text to an online archive. The OCA is a project led by Yahoo that takes an approach different from Google's in digitizing books and making them available online. Whereas books both with and without copyright protection are to be included in Google's scanning, officials with the OCA have said they will only scan books that are in the public domain or for which they have obtained permission from copyright holders. Microsoft has an established relationship with the British Library, providing tools and resources as part of the National Digital Library plan. Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, said Microsoft's latest announcement is "great news for research and scholarship and will give unparalleled access to our vast collections to people all over the world."
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Yahoo Works With 2 Academic Libraries and Other Archives on Project to Digitize Collections
| Title: | Yahoo Works With 2 Academic Libraries and Other Archives on Project to Digitize Collections (ID: CSD4228) | | Author(s): | Scott Carlson (The Chronicle of Higher Education) and Jeffrey R. Young (The Chronicle of Higher Education) | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2005) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | Yahoo has announced a plan to scan large collections of texts into an online digital archive, though officials said their approach differs in important ways from Google's similar venture, which has drawn extensive criticism and legal action. Yahoo's initiative, called the Open Content Alliance (OCA), represents a partnership with the University of California, the University of Toronto, the Internet Archive, and several other companies and organizations. Unlike Google's project, they will not scan any copyrighted work without explicit permission. Organizers of the project said the goal is to digitize and make freely available as much of what is in the public domain as possible. In addition, the archive will not be restricted to users of Yahoo. David Mandelbrot, Yahoo's vice president for search content, said the texts will be online in such a way that other search engines will be able to locate them. Much of the scanning for the OCA will be done by the Internet Archive, which has already been working with the University of Toronto on scanning several thousand books in its collection. | | View this resource: | |
Authors Guild Sues Google Over Library Project
| Title: | Authors Guild Sues Google Over Library Project (ID: CSD4219) | | Author(s): | Elinor Mills (CNET News.com) | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2005) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | The latest challenge to Google's Print Library Project has come in the form of a lawsuit from the Authors Guild. Since Google announced its initiative to scan millions of books in several academic and public libraries and put those materials--or portions of them--online, the search engine has been roundly criticized by publishers and others who say the entire project represents copyright infringement. Nick Taylor, president of the Authors Guild, said, "It's not up to Google or anyone other than the authors, the rightful owners of these copyrights, to decide whether and how their works will be copied." Google continues to assert that it respects copyright and that the project does not violate copyright laws. Moreover, Google contends that the project will be a boon for publishers due to the broad exposure that scanned books will have online. Plaintiffs, who are seeking class action status for their suit, are asking the courts for damages and an injunction against scanning the texts in question. | | View this resource: | |
Anatomy of Aggregate Collections: The Example of Google Print for Libraries
| Title: | Anatomy of Aggregate Collections: The Example of Google Print for Libraries (ID: CSD4210) | | Author(s): | Lorcan Dempsey | | Source: | D-Lib Magazine | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2005) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | "This article offers some perspectives on GPLP in light of what is known about library print book collections in general, and those of the Google 5 in particular, from information in OCLC's WorldCat bibliographic database and holdings file. Questions addressed include:
* Coverage: What proportion of the system-wide print book collection will GPLP potentially cover? What is the degree of holdings overlap across the print book collections of the five participating libraries?
* Language: What is the distribution of languages associated with the print books held by the GPLP libraries? Which languages are predominant?
* Copyright: What proportion of the GPLP libraries' print book holdings are out of copyright?
* Works: How many distinct works are represented in the holdings of the GPLP libraries? How does a focus on works impact coverage and holdings overlap?
* Convergence: What are the effects on coverage of using a different set of five libraries? What are the effects of adding the holdings of additional libraries to those of the GPLP libraries, and how do these effects vary by library type? | | View this resource: | |
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