Google taking over planet, part 6

[Jason]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/11/03/google.library.ap/index.html

Google set to display books
Thursday, November 3, 2005; Posted: 12:15 p.m. EST (17:15 GMT)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (AP) -- Google Inc.'s Internet-leading search engine on Thursday will begin serving up the entire contents of books and government documents that aren't entangled in a copyright battle over how much material can be scanned and indexed from five major libraries.

The list of Google's so-called "public domain" works -- volumes no longer protected by copyright -- include Henry James novels, Civil War histories, Congressional acts and biographies of wealthy New Yorkers.

Google said the material represents the first large batch of public domain books and documents to be indexed in its search engine since the Mountain View-based company announced an ambitious library-scanning project late last year.

The program is designed to make more library material available through a few clicks of a computer mouse and attract more people to click on the highly profitable ads that Google displays on its Web site.

During the next several years, Google wants to create digital versions of millions of books stacked in the New York Public Library and four university libraries -- Stanford, Harvard, Michigan and Oxford.

Google declined to disclose how many books have been scanned from the libraries so far. The project is expected to require years to complete.

But a bitter copyright dispute is threatening to crimp Google's plans.... (more info on CNN)

[Mark]

Hrm, not as exciting as other Google stuff. I think I'd rather go to the store and buy an old book than try to read it on my screen (or even attempt to print it).

[Jason]

Yeah...that whole craze started back when cd-roms first came out.  I don't think it caught on then, much less now, but we'll see