Google Search for books

Google Books , in the past called Google Print, is the research service of books conceived by Google. Google digitizes of the books coming from many American universities and any horizon for then diffusing them on its waiters. Royalties oblige, some only are partially published.

Discusses

Google Books (in French, Google Books), in the past Google Print, is often perceived, in Europe, like a monopolization and a privatization of the knowledge. Indeed, by accumulating the majority of the books world in the same point, the users could not have not an other choice to only pass by Google, which would control the literature thus. If the system had suddenly spread, the censure of such or such book could be defined only by only one company: Google. It is above all at some book publishers that the project raises the most disputes, for reasons touching with their rights. French and Belgian editors criticize thus the idea of the opt-out advanced by Google, according to which would be to the editors to ask for the withdrawal of such work of Google Book, rather than with the company of digitalization to ask the prior agreement of the editors.

Another criticism, partly contradictory with the preceding one, worries about the cultural Biais which the company would constitute, because of its limitation in the United States. In April 2005, Jean-Christmas Jeanneney, president of the National library of France, in its book When Google defies Europe tackles this project of digitalization and request the mobilization of Europeans on this subject. This call is heard by the France and the Europe which decide to counteract with the project of European Numeric library like with, in another field, the search engine Quaero. Nevertheless, some (small) editors are shown more favorable to the project Google Livres - without to be made illusion on its objectives - and reproaches Jean-Christmas Jeanneney de :

to hold up the spectrum of a “Americanization” and a “confusion” of the knowledge, whereas Google at all did not restrict its project of digitalization to the libraries of the anglophone world and that the associated libraries define themselves the books of their funds which they wish to digitize (and that it is paradoxical to reproach a library for proposing with the consultation a maximum of documents, more especially as the Google project at all does not prohibit the installation of tools of discrimination between various sources or classification of the results according to other criteria but the number of quotations whose book is the object);

to suggest that the texts which do not raise of the public domain will be completely and free available, whereas the quantity of text accessible to the Net surfer for a given book is limited (according to Google, in accordance with the right of quotation) and amounts making it possible to the Net surfers to divide into sheets a book as they would do it in bookstore;

to confuse the project of digitalization of the funds of the libraries (program " Bibliothèque"), whose good portion is difficult to reach and inalienable in the trade, and the possibility offered to the editors (program " Partenaire") to put on line their catalogs and their innovations according to methods defined by themselves;

to show Google to prepare the death of the small independent bookstore, whereas the editors have the leisure to propose bonds towards bookstores on line of their choice (in particular the platforms of independent editors like " lekti-ecriture.com") and that an search engine will make it possible soon to the visitors of Google Livres to find the coordinates of the bookstores closest to their place of residence;

to affirm that the project of numeric library of Google amounts for the traditional libraries yielding without counterpart their inheritance, whereas Google places at the disposal of the libraries the files of the digitized books;

to be unaware of all the advantages (in particular in terms of visibility) which offers Google Livres and projects equivalent to (small) the editors and the independent booksellers, at one time when the edition of philosophy, social sciences and history sees its increasingly weakened economy.

On the independent edition, the numerical book and Google, one will be able to read: of Jerome Vidal, To read and think together - On the future of the edition independent and publicity of the thought criticizes (Paris, Editions Amsterdam, 2006, text published under license Creative Commons and from which the points quoted are extracted above); of Lucien Polastron, Great Digitalization: Y-a it a thought after paper? (Paris, Denoël, 2006); of Michel Valensi (editions of the Glare), " Does one need a large spoon to sign with Google? " ; of Alexandre Laumonier (Kargo editions), " The small editors vote Google" ('' Libération '' of June 6th, 2006) and " The not-business Google Livres" ; and of Joel Faucilhon (lekti-ecriture.com and Contre-feux), " When the European Numeric library thinks of the books without the libraires".

The emission of France-Culture " Grain with moudre" (December 28th, 2006) put in presence for a debate on the project Google Jean-Christmas Jeanneney, Michel Valensi, Jerome Vidal, Alban Cerisier. It is available here until April 1st, 2007.

See too

Europeana

External bond

official site

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