Google Book Search has been a large topic this week, with the fruits of their scanning projects starting to show up online, at least the books that are clearly public domain or for which permission has been granted. I definitely recommend going to the site and playing around with it, just to see what you can and cannot expect from it.
Questions abound, such as where the lines will be drawn regarding copyright and access. Google has contracts with several libraries, and their stated goal is to scan all of the world’s books. I say, might as well aim high.
They have a history page, and if you are interested in the copyright issues, check out their legal analysis page for some interesting commentary. This has the potential to re-shape the copyright world, and perhaps the book business as well.
The big question, at least in my mind, is “where is this going in regards to libraries?” To tie into a post from earlier today, what happens if WorldCat and Google Book Search merge? What if the wealth of information were then able to be accessed in any library?
Imagine a library with millions of holdings for your use… would a library simply be an access point for this online info, or will they evolve into something beyond? Would the library become more of a learning/meeting/inquiring environment instead of a repository? Would libraries focus their energies towards special collections (local history, special interest, etc.)? How would your library change, and what would you do to assist its evolution?
