NYTimes.com Article: The Coming Search Wars

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

The "wars" in the title take place between Google and Microsoft. This is a
piece definitely worth reading.  Better than a spy thriller.  But the most
interesting paragraph for librarians and readers comes toward the end and
is reproduced below. For the rest of the article see the NYTimes web site.  
Ann Okerson


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The Coming Search Wars

February 1, 2004
 By JOHN MARKOFF 

[SNIP]

The company has also been pushing hard to find new sources of information
to index, beyond material that is already stored in a digital form. In
December, it began an experiment with book publishers to index parts of
books, reviews and other bibliographic information for Web surfers.

And Google has embarked on an ambitious secret effort known as Project
Ocean, according to a person involved with the operation. With the
cooperation of Stanford University, the company now plans to digitize the
entire collection of the vast Stanford Library published before 1923,
which is no longer limited by copyright restrictions. The project could
add millions of digitized books that would be available exclusively via
Google.

[SNIP]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/business/yourmoney/01goog.html?ex=1076656217&ei=1&en=4b6f8e48bd185e98

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