"Major Libraries Rejecting Deals On Online Books: Some Shun Tech Giants"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/technology/22library.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

This article appeared on the front page of yesterday's NYT. It's by Katie Hafner. The gist of the article is that Google and Microsoft are offering to scan books--mostly old books past copyright protections--into internet databases for free. The catch is that, for each service, the information would only be searchable through that company's website.

So, if Google were to scan the entire collection of the New York Public Library, everyone could access the information, but only by using Google. Other search engines wouldn't have access to it.

A lot of libraries and librarians are balking at this; they worry that such a setup gives too much power over information to individual companies. The alternative to this setup is for libraries to use the Open Content Alliance, which costs libraries and users money. However, the cost is shared between members, so it still helps moderate the cost to libraries. Some libraries (with good funding) are opting to scan in their collections themselves, but this is the most expensive option. The upshot of their time and expense is that they can set their own rules about accessibility.

Some libraries that prefer the O.C.A. alternative are the Boston Public Library and the Smithsonian Institution. Others that see no problem with offers from Microsoft and Google are the New York Public Library, and the libraries at the University of Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford. The Library of Congress, with the help of a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is scanning its own collection.