The British Library and Google in conjunction to release 250,000 books

A colleague pointed this article The British Library and Google to make 250,000 books available to all out to me. Wonder how long it'll take to complete the digitising for that?

Google books ruling in today......oh no its not

(Found via here). Seems that the ruling for the Google books dispute that was due today.
But Judge Denny Chin will rule it 'sometime' saying:-

"To end the suspense, I'm not going to rule today at this hearing," Chin said at the start of the proceeding. "There is just too much to digest."

Oh well. Move along, there's nothing happening here.

French look for Google alternative in digitalisation plan

(Found via here). Seems the French are not allow Google digitalise there nations artifacts, and has 'gone solo'.
Lisnews says:-

A consortium of French technology companies and government-backed I.T. research labs says it can provide the skills needed by European libraries, universities, publishers and others to scan, catalog and deliver to end-users the contents of their archives better than Google can.

he full story is here.

French Government behind Helping Universities and Libraries.......and stuffing it to Google

France's President Sarkozy has released plans unveiled a €35bn (£31bn) spending plan aimed at preparing France for the "challenges" of the future. France are looking to become the premier place to go to university in the world.
He also said:-

Sarkozy warned last week that he would not let France be "stripped" of its culture by the US giant Google's plan to scan books for publication in its online library. "This too is a question of identity," he added, in a reference to his ongoing efforts to discover France's inner self.

The German empire strikes back......against Google

Having mentioned Google's problems last week with publishers,librarians and others over its desire to build a massive digital library, German chancellor Angela Merkel has waded into the debate.

The Guardian says:-

In her weekly video podcast, before the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, Merkel appealed for more international co-operation on copyright protection and said her government opposed Google's drive to create online libraries full of scanned books.

"The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected on the Internet," Merkel said, adding that there were "considerable dangers" for copyright protection online.

In a Google Planet far, far away........

(Found via here), the New York Times reports that Google, is being taken on by 'a broad array of authors, academics, librarians and public interest groups are fighting the company’s plan to create a huge digital library and bookstore.'
Siva Vaidhyanathan, a critic of Google says 'This was the first issue through which Google’s power became clearly articulated to the public.....All sorts of people — writers, researchers, librarians, academics and readers — really feel they have a stake in the world of books'.
It seems that, at long last people are noting, that in signing over our culture to Google, they maybe doing it for financial gain and not cultural gain.

When Andrew Keen meet Siva Vaidhyanatha

(Found here), Andrew Keen interviews Siva Vaidyanatha about Google, and the release of Siva's book. Worth watching if you could hear Siva.

Google tries to pacify libraries with piece meal offerings

(Via lisnews). The New York Times has an article entitled Google Book-Scanning Pact to Give Libraries Input on Price. In the article the author says:-


'In a move that could blunt some of the criticism of Google for its settlement of a lawsuit over its book-scanning project, the company signed an agreement with the University of Michigan that would give some libraries a degree of oversight over the prices Google could charge for its vast digital library.'

How can a company that has a monopoly of those market be 'blunting' its approach to libraries and users? Sorry, Google is a public company, out for a profit (as I said previously).

By the way, I do note the irony of using blogger in my Google bashing.

Google Doing evil towards librarians and authors

Ok, I'm being sensational. but Google seem to want to have the library cake, eat it, take over the building and replace it as another server farm. I've been reading Randall E. Stross Planet Google: How One Company is Transforming Our Lives. Stross points out how Lawrence Lessig felt that using snippets of books was like a card catalogue at a library and therefore fair use. Others have disagreed.
Brewster Kahle has today felt that Google are taking advantage of the libraries digitalising there books. Kahle says of google:-

The promise of a rich and democratic digital future will be hindered by monopolies. Laws and the free market can support many innovative, open approaches to lending and selling books. We need to focus on legislation to address works that are caught in copyright limbo. And we need to stop monopolies from forming so that we can create vibrant publishing environments.

We are very close to having universal access to all knowledge. Let's not stumble now.

But will anyone say anything? I am doubting it.

How Google Used Librarians…and Got Away With It

A few blogs have been discussing Steven Cohen's blog on How Google Used Librarians…and Got Away With It (1,2).Steven, David Rothman and Siva Vaidhyanathan, gicve a good platform why this has occured. I was astonished when they pointed out Google hadn't even enter a blog entry for a year.

Phil Bradley (the english voice of reason) has some salient points also on the matter. Phil, like Steven Cohen has argued we should not just use (or is it BE USED) by Google. But to use other sources.

Anyway, all too sad and all to predictable.

Siva Vaidhyanathan project

Siva Vaidhyanathan has written on his blog, about his new book and blog that will go with it, called The Googlization of Everything. This will look at the effect of Google on society. It seems to be a long way from completion, but sounds an interesting book. Siva say in his new blog:-

On occasion, I will post an open question on this blog. Please answer it.

So, check it out if you have time.

The week that was.........

Another week and another three blogs to add.

1. Wired interviewed to Helene Blowers and Michael Stephens. Good to see them getting the attention they deserve.
2. Walking Paper pointed me in the direction of an Economist article Not bound by anything dealing with the digitising of books and there impact. Ok, Kevin Kelly perhaps discussed it last year in the new york times, but as ever walking paper has an interesting spin on the story.
3. Pete over on Library too has a piece on why we qualify as librarians. I totally agree when he says:-
I also studied for a Masters in Information and Library Management. My goal- a professional post. One with some strategic responsibility, some chance to develop collections.
And here I am doing those things, working alongside library assistants. I hope I don’t come across as arrogant or elitist. I never had that feeling about the librarians I worked with when I was a library assistant. I just recognised that there were different tasks to be done, by different people, working to different expectations. As I still do.