Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Google's Digitization Project — What Difference Will it Make?

This article -- Google's Digitization Project — What Difference Will it Make? -- from Library Issues, March 2005, is available for free online until March 7.

In this well-written article, Barbara Fister states:

Google’s partnership with libraries was a strategic move. Not only have they “co-branded” their name with those of prestigious libraries, they have scored an end-run around reluctant publishers. Over a year ago Google rolled out a plan to engage willing publishers in a “Google Print” program, arguing better visibility of the content of books would lead to sales. But Amazon had already signed agreements with publishers to make the full text of tens of thousands of current consumer-oriented books searchable at Amazon’s site, allowing customers to search full text and browse a limited number of pages without copying or printing pages.

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