Our
View: Great googley moogely, libraries
goes virtual
Ever
since it was founded in 1998, Google
has made improvements to several areas
of the Internet. It began as a search
engine distinct for its refusal to put
banner ads on its search results pages.
This clutter-free search environment
made it easier for Internet surfers to
find what they were looking for.
But Google didn’t stop there. In recent years they have launched Google
Maps, a Web site that gives driving directions in an easy-to-navigate Java-based
format. The company also recently launched Gmail, a free Web-based e-mail service
offering its users a gigabyte of storage space.
Google has only improved over time. Google Maps now offers satellite photos
to help users get to where they are going, and the company has more than doubled
the amount of free storage space available to each Gmail user. Google has also
improved its search engine. It is now available in dozens of languages, from
English to Klingon and almost everything in between.
It seems Google is able to improve anything and everything it involves itself
in. One of its recent endeavors is Google Print, a project that will scan books—thousands
of them, from libraries across the country—store them in a digital format
and allow users to search their contents. Surely this is a great idea; Google
made changes for the better in just about all areas of the Internet.
Not everyone is thrilled, however. The Authors Guild, an organization representing
more than 8,000 writers, filed a lawsuit against Google last week.
According
to its Web site, www.authorsguild.org, the group claims Google is “engaging
in massive copyright infringement at the expense of the rights of individual
writers.”
Several factors are considered when determining whether or not something
is considered copyright infringement or fair use, including how much of a
work
is used, why it is used, whether the user is profiting from the use and whether
the use affects the copyright owner’s ability to profit from the work
in the future.
Google has most of these factors on its side. Google Print, www.print.google.com,
gives people the opportunity to search for information that can be found
in books but may not be available in other formats online. Also, Google is
not
directly profiting from the use of copyrighted works. Yes, Google makes money
from selling text ads, but this is unrelated to Google Print’s purpose.
The one thing that hurts Google is that they are using copyrighted works
in their entirety as a part of Google Print. However, the pages that show
search
results also include links to several Web sites where the book searched for
can be purchased. Google isn’t in this for the money; it is simply providing
an easier way for users to access information through the Web site.
Outside the issues of copyright infringement and fair use, Google deserves
praise for at least seeing the importance of archiving books in an electronic
format. Books aren’t indestructible—fires, floods or even normal
wear and tear can easily damage them.
Regardless of what the future holds for
Google Print, all libraries should follow its example and archive their books.
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