RE: Libraries criticized for role in Google Book Search

["B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@yahoo.com>]

Scott Plutchak is on target with his concern that "as a society, 
we need to base our decisions about the 'preservation, protection 
and transmission of our cultural heritage' on more than the 
business priorities of one particular company." Siva 
Vaidhyanathan refers to this as his concern about the "long-term 
sustainability" of Google Book Search

The "Good Morning Silicon Valley" blog today listed a half dozen 
Google projects that recently have been closed down, including 
the "Google Catalog Search" that Scott mentioned. Of course it 
makes business sense for Google to shut them down. Sure, none of 
these projects were anywhere near as big a deal as Google Book 
Search. But it does make you think twice about putting all your 
eggs in one basket. After all, even Microsoft bailed out of the 
mass library book digitization effort!

Bernie Sloan
Sora Associates
Bloomington, IN


--- On Thu, 1/15/09, T Scott Plutchak <tscott@uab.edu> wrote:

> From: T Scott Plutchak <tscott@uab.edu>
> Subject: RE: Libraries criticized for role in Google Book Search
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 7:42 PM
> [MOD. Note:  two messages from Scott are combined here]
>
> I first heard Siva raise this issue at a talk he gave in 
> Atlanta several years and I think it's valid.  Librarians have 
> long viewed our role (along with our colleagues in archives and 
> museums) as preserving, protecting and transmitting our 
> intellectual cultural heritage.  There is an argument to be 
> made that we're losing track of that role and that turning it 
> over to a commercial entity which is ultimately subject to 
> commercial pressures, is something that hasn't gotten enough 
> scrutiny and careful thought.
>
> ****
>
> As a follow-up to my note responding to Bernie's question 
> regarding Siva Vaidhyanathan and the Google books project, a 
> note on the Inside Google Book Search blog this morning 
> announces that they are discontinuing "Google Catalog Search" 
> because it "hasn't been as popular as some of our other 
> products." 
> (http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/01/farewell-google-catalog-search.html)
>
> This is a perfectly reasonable business decision for them to 
> make, but it also highlights the way they look at things - they 
> produce products and they will initiate and discontinue 
> products depending on how well they fit their ever-evolving 
> business priorities.  This is exactly what a business ought to 
> do. But it seems obvious to me that, as a society, we need to 
> base our decisions about the "preservation, protection and 
> transmission of our cultural heritage" (as I put it in my 
> previous note) on more than the business priorities of one 
> particular company.
>
> Scott
>
> T. Scott Plutchak
>
> Director, Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences
> University of Alabama at Birmingham
> tscott@uab.edu
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of
> B.G. Sloan
> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 3:17 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: Libraries criticized for role in Google Book
> Search
>
> Last week I ran across some intriguing comments by Siva 
> Vaidhyanathan. In his initial analysis of the Google settlement 
> with publishers and authors, Vaidhyanathan briefly discusses 
> the role of the library partners in Google Book Search. The 
> following excerpt offers an interesting perspective from a 
> non-librarian:
>
> "My major criticisms of Google Book Seach (sic) have always 
> concerned the actions of the university libraries that have 
> participated in this program rather than Google 
> itself...Libraries at public universities all over this 
> country...have spent many billions of dollars collecting these 
> books. Now they are just giving away access to one company that 
> is cornering the market on on-line access. They did this 
> without concern for user confidentiality, preservation, image 
> quality, search prowess, metadata standards, or long-term 
> sustainability. They chose the expedient way rather than the 
> best way to build and extend their collections...I am 
> sympathetic to the claim that something is better than nothing 
> and sooner is better than later. But sympathy remains mere 
> sympathy...we must reflect on how complicit some universities 
> have been in centralizing and commercializing knowledge under a 
> single corporate umbrella."
>
> Just wondering what librarians might think about 
> Vaidhyanathan's concerns?
>
> The full discussion (with reader comments) is at:
> http://tinyurl.com/678e5l
>
> Bernie Sloan
> Sora Associates
> Bloomington, IN