Microsoft endorses scanning future for literary culture
In a letter to the Financial Times (Mar 24th), Evan R. Schnittman from Oxford University Press New York has explained that publishers are "not running scared of Google".
"Through initiatives such as Google Book Search, Microsoft's Windows Live Book Search and many more, publishers have finally been presented with enough options that make financial sense."
Previously there had been objections to Google scanning content from university libraries and linking books with search for scholars. Microsoft has been careful to work closely with publishers and to only scan with permission.
Cliff Guren, Microsoft Director of Publisher Evangelism, wrote in a December blog that "Live Search Academic now indexes thousands of academic journals in the computer science, engineering, physics, and bio-medical fields. We’re also now indexing theses, dissertations, and books within these disciplines."
"The U.S. beta launch of Live Search Books is a big step forward in advancing the way people discover information through the integration of content that has been “off-limits” to the traditional Search experience, until now. This release makes tens of thousands of out-of-copyright books available from our library scanning initiative, including books from the University of California, the University of Toronto, and the British Library."
One consequence seems to be that the Google approach is no longer shocking, even if legal disputes continue. Schnittman's letter to the FT points out that "most of the c
ompanies named in the lawsuit are also working with Google in Google Book Search.
Both Google and Microsoft will be at the London Book Fair from 16-18th April.
One title to be promoted will be "Everything is Miscellaneous" by David Weinberger. Similar content is scattered over blogs and video from conferences over the last couple of years but a case will be made for buying the edited version.
Previously