Google Book Search

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Google Book Search is a tool from Google that searches the full text of books that Google scans and stores in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004. When relevant to a user's keyword search, up to three results from the Google Book Search index are displayed above search results in the Google Web Search service (google.com). A user may also search just for books at the dedicated Google Book Search service. Clicking a result from Google Book Search opens an interface in which the user may view pages from the book as well as content-related advertisements and links to the publisher's website and booksellers. Through a variety of access limitations and security measures, some based on user-tracking, Google limits the number of viewable pages and attempts to prevent page printing and text copying of material under copyright protection.^[1]

The Google Book Search service remains in a beta stage but the underlying database continues to grow, with more than a hundred thousand titles added by publishers and authors and some 10,000 works in the public domain now indexed and included in search results. Google Book Search allows public-domain works and other out-of-copyright material to be downloaded in PDF format. For users outside the United States, though, Google must be sure that the work in question is indeed out of copyright under local laws. Says a member of the Google Book Search Support Team, "Since whether a book is in the public domain can often be a tricky legal question, we err on the side of caution and display at most a few snippets until we have determined that the book has entered the public domain."^[2]

Many of the books are scanned using a robotic book scanner. Books are placed into the machine by a human operator and "scanned" (in practice, a digital camera is used at a distance) at a rate of 1,000 pages per hour.^[3] Unfortunately, the rapidity of the scanning precludes checking the pages. Hence, many pages are not scanned or scanned in a fashion to make them unreadable.^{[4][citation needed]}

In December 2004, Google signaled an extension to its Google Print initiative known as the Google Print Library Project.^[5] Google announced partnerships with several high-profile university and public libraries, including the University of Michigan, Harvard (Widener Library), Stanford (Green Library), Oxford (Bodleian Library), and the New York Public Library. According to press releases and university librarians, Google plans to digitize and make available through its Google Book Search service approximately 15 million volumes within a decade. The announcement soon triggered controversy, as publisher and author associations challenged Google's plans to digitize, not just books in the public domain, but also titles still under copyright. Google's Library Project later spurred a group led by Yahoo! called the Open Content Alliance.

On November 17, 2005, Google changed the name of this service from Google Print to Google Book Search.^[6] Its program enabling publishers and authors to include their books in the service was renamed Google Books Partner Program and the partnership with libraries became Google Books Library Project.

On August 10, 2006 the University of California System announced that it will also join the Book Search digitization project. This includes a portion of the 34 million volumes within the approximately 100 libraries managed by the System.

As of August 2006, neither Google nor Microsoft would reveal how many books they have already scanned.^[7] Google did say that it is scanning more than 3,000 books per day, a rate that translates into more than 1 million annually. The entire project may exceed $US 100 million dollars. ^[8]

A similar service, known as Search Inside the Book, is offered by Amazon.com's A9.com.

Opposition

Google Book Search remains controversial. While many hail the initiative for its potential to offer unprecedented access to what may become the largest online corpus of human knowledge, the publishing industry and writers' groups have criticized the project as a copyright infringement. The Authors Guild of America and Association of American Publishers have individually sued Google, citing "massive copyright infringement." Google claims it represents fair use, and is the digital age equivalent of a card catalog with every word in the publication indexed.

Jean-Noël Jeanneney, the president of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, has vocalized opposition to the service.^[9]

In June 2006, a French publisher announced its intention to sue Google France.^[10] In 2006 a previously-filed German lawsuit was withdrawn.^[11]

References

1. ^ Greg Duffy (March 2005). Google's Cookie and Hacking Google Print. Kuro5hin.
2. ^ Ryan Sands (November 9, 2006). From the mail bag: Public domain books and downloads (blog). Inside Google Book Search.
3. ^ Kevin Kelly. "Scan This Book!", New York Times Magazine, May 14, 2006.
4. ^ An example of unreadable pages is The Brass Bell, where page 99 is blurry, and pages 106-108 are completely missing.
5. ^ Joseph O'Sullivan, Adam Smith (December 14, 2004). All booked up (blog). Googleblog.
6. ^ Jen Grant (November 17, 2005). Judging Book Search by its cover (blog). Googleblog.
7. ^ "Microsoft starts online library in challenge to Google Books." AFP Worldwide.
8. ^ [http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=11000A3XFK7W&page=2 CIO Today; December 20, 2006
9. ^ Jean-Noël Jeanneney (2006-10-23). Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge: A View from Europe (book abstract; Foreword by Ian Wilson). ISBN 0-226-39577-4. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
10. ^ John Oates. "French publisher sues Google", The Register, June 7, 2006.
11. ^ Danny Sullivan (2006-06-28). Google Book Search Wins Victory In German Challenge (blog). Search Engine Watch. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.

See also

• Digital library
• List of digital library projects
• Open Content Alliance
• Project Gutenberg
• Universal library
• Book scanning
• Microsoft Live Book Search

External links

• Google Book Search homepage