Along Came Google

September 1, 2021

The Google Books project, a digital library made up of scanned texts from libraries and universities, has received its fair share of coverage in the press and in books about Google generally, like Siva Vaidhyanathan's The Googlization of Everything (and Why We Should Worry) and Ken Auletta's Googled: The End of the World as We Know It. Here, Marcum and Schonfeld (both of the consultancy Ithaka S+R) give Google Books their full attention, drawing parallels to several predecessor efforts and providing insight as to what might lie ahead. In addition to offering an overview of earlier book digitization efforts and how they relate to Google Books, there are chapters on Google's recruitment of participant institutions, initial reactions (positive and negative), the Authors Guild v. Google fair use lawsuit and settlement, project leadership from University of Michigan, and the establishment of HathiTrust. Marcum and Schonfeld also reflect on how the goals and outcomes of the Google Books project have influenced the direction of scholarly communications and digital preservation efforts. They effectively argue that although the Google Books project remains controversial, there's no question that it has massively changed the landscape of digitization. VERDICT Marcum and Schonfeld clearly come down in favor of Google Books in the fair use debate, but they are conscientious about equally representing multiple points of view. Will appeal to a broad readership and particularly to readers in the library and publishing worlds.--Sara Holder, Univ. of Illinois Libs., Champaign

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August 15, 2021
The story of Google's early attempt at creating a universal library with its "promises of making all the world's information available to everyone." Marcum and Schonfeld, both of whom have long experience in the library world, begin their examination of the Google Books project by discussing the concept of a universal library, a "comprehensive library that is accessible to all," an idea that dates back to the Great Library of Alexandria. In 2004, in the early days of information digitization as a practice, Google announced its plans to "allow simultaneous searches of 'billions of web pages and texts of hundreds of thousands of books.' " After introducing Google's vision, the authors chronicle the history of resource sharing in libraries, from the card catalog at the Library of Congress to the creation of interlibrary loan services and online databases. Then they move on to the specifics of Google's ambitious project, which began with a partnership with five renowned university libraries and a number of publishing companies and ended up leading to the creation of a number of similarly themed projects. By sharing the views of both the librarians who supported the concept and those who were concerned about a library for everyone being controlled by a private company, the authors offer a nice overview, including the mechanics of the initial project, objections from publishers about copyright issues, and the court case that would ultimately decide the fate of the project. Throughout the heavily researched text, which benefits from interviews with librarians and other information professionals describing their experiences in "the early days of digitization," the authors keep readers informed, despite dryly academic passages, of just how widely "the entry of Google into the library arena" would affect information sharing and librarianship today. Sometimes too scholarly, but its contribution to the Google-vs.-publishers debate is well worth the jargon and technical terms.

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September 1, 2021
When the Google digitization project kicked off in 2004, it stirred up many questions about copyright, authors' rights, and the ethics of the initiative. Marcum and Schonfeld map out the history of the project and its effects on society. They offer various perspectives on digitization, including history from pre-digital interlibrary loan through to automation and digital technology. Before Google's arrival on the scene, the topic was discussed by Brewster Kahle, researchers at Microsoft, and others. Many saw Google's digitization goal as a disruption of traditional scholarly communication systems that served libraries, universities, and students for ages. It wasn't long before Google's quest for the universal library was halted by publisher and author lawsuits, but not before millions of books were digitized. The authors chronicle the aftermath of the Google settlement and what happened to the digitized content, and delve into the HathiTrust lawsuit. Readers will find a well-balanced perspective of this issue, covering ethics, finances, intentions, and a glimpse of the future. The book will be of interest to librarians, researchers, publishers, thought leaders, and those interested in digital technology.

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