COPYCENSE

"This week Google Inc. down in Mountain View, wading in dough from its stock offering, announced it would use some of the money to put millions of volumes from the country’s great libraries online where anybody can use them.

"Don’t burn that library card just yet, though.

"There’s a catch. Well, several. First, as anyone trying to send Grandma’s recipe for plum pudding to a sister in Des Moines knows, scanning takes time. Google claims to have a new whiz-bang way to do it — there won’t be some luckless employee feeling her brain cells die as she flattens a book on a cranky copier page by page. It won’t say exactly what its method is.

"For a company bent on putting the universe at the disposal of anyone who can type words into a box, it seems less enthusiastic about information flowing out of its headquarters in Mountain View."

Adair Lara. ‘Googleizing’ Libraries Won’t Replace Books. San Francisco Chronicle. Dec. 18, 2004.

See also:
No author. Here’s What You Will – and Won’t – Be Able to See When Searching for Library Books on Google. Detroit Free Press. Dec. 15, 2004.

George Kerevan. Despite Google, We Still Need Good Libraries. Scotsman.com. Dec. 16, 2004.

National Public Radio. Google’s Plan Prompts a Question: What’s on the Web?. Talk of the Nation. Dec. 15, 2004.

Matt Hicks. Google’s Library Project Could Drive Content Contest. eWeek. Dec. 14, 2004.

Andrew Leonard. What Google Promises Us. Salon. Dec. 14, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: Salon.com normally requires a paid subscription, but you can view articles if you register for a free day pass.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.