How Google Library Hamstrings Librarians: Book Search (not so) Fine Print
I have long underscored the Google-first nature of the Brin & Page master plan to control a Googley “virtual card catalog of all books in all languages,” every last one of of them.
The dynamic Stanford duo on their “big idea,” circa 1996:
In a future world in which vast collections of books are digitized, people would use a “Web crawler” to index the books’ content and analyze the connections between them, determining any book’s relevance and usefullness by tracking the number and quality of citations from other books.
Ah yes, there’s the rub, the Google Back Rub: It is the all mighty Google and its multi-billion dollar “Web crawler” that is to determine what is “usefull,” or not, in all manner of human endeavor.
Tom Garnett, Director of the Biodiversity Heritage Library, for his part, finds Google “inflexible in its terms”:
‘Google had a very restrictive agreement, and in all our discussions they were unwilling to yield.’ Among the terms was a requirement that libraries put their own technology in place to BLOCK SEARCH SERVICES OTHER THAN GOOGLE.
Indeed, and here is the fatefull Google “restriction,” in all its non-glory:
University (or library) shall not display or otherwise use the University Digital Copy except as expressly permitted. University shall not share, provide, license, distribute or sell the image coordinates to any entity in any manner.
University shall implemment technological measures to restrict automated access to any portion of the University Digital Copy and for ensuring that substantial portions of the University Digital Copy are not downloaded or otherwise disseminated to the public at large. University shall prevent third-parties from redistributing any portions of the University Digital copy.
What ever happened to Google’s mantra to make the “world’s information” universally accessible?
READ MORE: How Google Library Displaces Librarians PLUS: NBC Still Booming on YouTube: Google Lawsuit Next? and Click Forensics CEO: Click Fraud Hits 28% for Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher Network
PLUS: Google Nielsen TV Ads STILL Blurry: NOT AdWords for Television