Just days after Amazon’s launch of its Search Inside the Book feature (see my October 26 entry on this), news of Google’s book search plans are beginning to emerge.
“For the last few months, Google has been courting publishers, hoping to convince them to turn over book content that could be used in Google's database, say people close to the discussions,” says Publisher’s Weekly.
“According to a report from one publisher, Google has said it has reached agreements that allow it to enter as many as 60,000 titles in its database and also presented extensive mock-ups to publishers of how book-relevant searches will look.”
Google’s move reinforces the notion that the web will soon be a true virtual library, with book texts that are currently only available in print becoming fully searchable and downloadable.
Google is also working on a pilot project with the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) aimed at making the vast catalogues of books, periodicals and other printed materials held in US libraries searchable by the general public.
The project involves titles and other descriptive information, not the contents of these documents. Nevertheless, it would be a massive coup for Google, since the pilot scheme contains two million documents – and a further 51 million could be made available to Google by the ODCP in the future.
“After users locate an OCLC record citation from a Google search,” explains Info Today, “clicking on the citation will link to an interface that requests a ZIP or postal code, state, or province. This in turn will locate the nearest libraries holding the item.”
It will be interesting to see whether Google adds a “book search” tab or whether it will mix printed book results with regular results. In any case, the move is a sign that competition in the search sector is now red hot, and that the internet is still rapidly evolving.
Comments
0 comments