Jim Gerber, Critics misunderstand library project, USA Today, November 13, 2005. Google's Director of Content Partnerships for Google Print Library replies to Pat Schroeder's embarrassing op-ed in the November 7 issue. Excerpt:
On an issue that she has taken on as a personal crusade, one might expect Association of American Publishers President Pat Schroeder to get her arguments straight. Unfortunately, her editorial instead relies on misleading language and claims that do not stand up to close scrutiny....The most glaring example of this is Ms. Schroeder's assertion that Google will "make available our work to the world for free." This claim simply does not hold up. The Google Print Library Project does not "make available" the books that we index from our library partners any more than a TV guide makes a television show available, or a library card catalog entry makes an entire book available. Google Print does index the full text of each book so that a user can get a list of every book that mentions his or her topic, just as easily as finding a website today. The end result is a full text, searchable electronic card catalog that, just like a traditional card catalog, helps you choose a book but doesn't deliver the book itself. Unless the publisher or author has given us permission to show more (and thousands have), users see only a card catalog-like entry showing bibliographic information, a few sentences with their search terms in context and links to where they can buy or borrow the book (see [these examples]). Google Print is simply a new and more effective way for readers to find more books and thus for the publishing industry to find readers, which is why virtually every major U.S. publisher participates in the Google Print Publisher Program. It's important to continue discussing how best to protect the creative community's work while using this remarkable new medium as effectively as possible. Ms. Schroeder does a disservice to our many publishing industry partners — who are also her constituents — through her exaggerated, misleading rhetoric.
(PS: My most recent response to Pat Schroeder's position was on November 3.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/14/2005 09:16:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
