IU begins work with Google Book Search Project

Google: It’s useful for more than looking up your name when you’re bored at work.\nGoogle’s Book Search Web site is working in collaboration with several universities to scan millions of books into its system, though some book publishers are wary of the project.\nIU will now work with the Google Book Search project, a service that has already scanned books from various universities and libraries, including those at Oxford and Harvard. The new partnership will be between Google and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation – an association comprised of 12 universities, including the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois.\nThe Committee on Institutional Cooperation promotes higher education by working on various joint projects and “sharing resources,” according to its Web site. \nPatricia Steele, IU Ruth Lilly Interim Dean of University Libraries, said the committee is “one of the largest” associations of its kind; therefore, the partnership is significant. \nAccording to the Web site, the idea for what is now known as the Google Book Search began in 1996. More than a million books have already been scanned to the database. The project should add about 10 million more from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation libraries, with about 10,000 coming from IU.\nSteele said the books IU will contribute haven’t been chosen yet, but they will be chosen based on the qualities they can contribute to Google’s selection. \n“Google is looking for strengths of each library,” she said. \nThe project could add books from IU’s folklore, Slavic, African music and foreign language collections.\nAlthough it is unclear when Google will have all of the books scanned, university libraries won’t have to do much in the process. Steele said that all IU has to do is package the books and send them to the Google corporation. From there, Google will scan the books and send them back. \nThe project has been met with some backlash. The Association of American Publishers brought a lawsuit against Google in 2005. \nBut the Google Book Search Web site has added features designed to put wary publishers at ease. There is a link to a Web page specifically for publishers as well as other pages describing the project.\nThe “facts and fiction” page puts to rest some rumors about the service. Google Book Search scans both public domain and copyrighted books, but searches for the copyrighted books show a card-catalogue listing of the book with a page or so of the book’s content. Although this is in line with copyright laws, some people are still skeptical. \nSteele mentioned that it has been found that after searching for a book on the Web site, many people then go to bookstore sites or library sites in order to look up and purchase the actual book. In this way, Steele said, libraries and bookstores are benefiting from the service instead of losing business. \nJohn Walsh, assistant professor of library and information science, agreed with Steele, saying that even after Google scanned books online, library circulation rates continued to climb. He added that he believes no matter how digital the world becomes, people still enjoy tangible items. \n“Even though more books are online, many people still want or need to hold a book in their hands,” he said. \nPaula Kaufman, university librarian and professor of library administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mentioned the scanned images being in black and white as one possible disadvantage of the service. If someone wants to see something in color, they will have to look at the actual book. \nHowever, “many of these books that haven’t gotten much circulation are now getting a lot of hits online,” she said.\nSteele agreed that no matter what misgivings publishers and others might have about the project, it has a more important aspect. \n“My experience in the library ... has shown me that the more open a product is (to the public) the better it is for everyone,” she said.