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Google & Books
NY Times ^ | Jan 4 '09 | MOTOKO RICH

Posted on 01/04/2009 10:58:53 PM PST by PizzaDriver

Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books Ever since Google began scanning printed books four years ago, scholars and others with specialized interests have been able to tap a trove of information that had been locked away on the dusty shelves of libraries and in antiquarian bookstores.

According to Dan Clancy, the engineering director for Google book search, every month users view at least 10 pages of more than half of the one million out-of-copyright books that Google has scanned into its servers. For readers who might want to buy digital access to an individual scanned book, Mr. Clancy said, Google was likely to sell at least half of the books for $5.99 or less. Students and faculty at universities who subscribe to the database will be able to get the full contents of all the books free.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: books; copyright; google; internet; newmedia; onlinebooks
Let's hope that Google will give Senior Citizens discounted access to the books from their Childhood. There are old books I'd love to read to my grandkids. There are others, from my youth, that I'd like to find again.
1 posted on 01/04/2009 10:58:54 PM PST by PizzaDriver
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To: PizzaDriver

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Free .....best discount around !


2 posted on 01/04/2009 11:01:51 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: PizzaDriver
If every book gets scanned it will be much easier for Google to change the contents.

Google used it's position, as a primary gateway to information, in a partisan and unethical manner. It's full support of 0bama's candidacy is but one example.

Google will delete and or rewrite any information once they control it.

Google has become truly scary.

3 posted on 01/04/2009 11:07:01 PM PST by highpockets
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To: highpockets

Google wasn’t there a couple of years ago.

No one is stopping you from building a rival to Google.


4 posted on 01/04/2009 11:31:53 PM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

OK, how much will you contribute to an alternative?
Serious question, not flippant.


5 posted on 01/05/2009 12:18:49 AM PST by IrishCatholic (No local communist or socialist party chapter? Join the Democrats, it's the same thing.)
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To: IrishCatholic

I didn’t contribute anything to Google; neither will I to any apparent rival. If the new company can’t find a way to hold its own against Google, they don’t have a right to exist. That’s the Free Market.


6 posted on 01/05/2009 12:37:29 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: PizzaDriver
You can always just use Free Book Search.

Works like a charm. Links to all digital libraries, ten different search engines to find books.

A little-known secret is that the "Audiobooks" search tab also finds MP3s.

7 posted on 01/05/2009 1:06:13 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: Squantos
Here is a whole listing of Digital Libraries where you can download books for free.

Here is the Audiobook Search I mentioned earlier. (It finds MP3 & music files too, although they don't advertise that fact.)

8 posted on 01/05/2009 1:09:23 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
Google wasn’t there a couple of years ago.

No one is stopping you from building a rival to Google.

A number of people are trying... there are a lot of other search engines out there, most of them highly specialized.

The Search Engine List

Cuil (Pron: "cool") is the newest trying to take on Google. Supposedly searches more pages and indexes more documents than Google. Ex-Google people have done this startup.

9 posted on 01/05/2009 1:11:47 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: Bon mots

I’ve followed Cuil for some while now, but the pace at which Google is innovating, it is going to be a gargantuan task for them. Google simply is much easier to use than most other search engines.

I find the “search within a website” function on the Google toolbar, especially useful.


10 posted on 01/05/2009 1:33:45 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

some = a


11 posted on 01/05/2009 1:35:03 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
I’ve followed Cuil for some while now, but the pace at which Google is innovating, it is going to be a gargantuan task for them. Google simply is much easier to use than most other search engines.

I find the “search within a website” function on the Google toolbar, especially useful.

I don't like the way that Google has been censoring certain results and images that it deems are not flattering to Obama.

For example, if you use Google Image search, you cannot find this image of Obama where he looks like a ridiculous pimp smoking a joint:

It cannot be found at all using Google Image Search.

On the other hand, you can find it on the first try using All The Web's Image Search.

12 posted on 01/05/2009 2:30:50 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: Bon mots

source: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1866765_1815160,00.html

(sorry, but i found it using google)


13 posted on 01/05/2009 4:15:16 AM PST by kpp_kpp
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To: PizzaDriver
While I appreciate the sentiment of reading an old book to the grandkids, there's something about having the actual book when reading to the kids, instead of a printout.

OTOH, I like the idea that older books will still be around. Particularly those which might only have a single copy in the entire Brooklyn Public Library.

14 posted on 01/05/2009 4:28:46 AM PST by Tanniker Smith (Teachers open the door. It's up to you to enter. Before the late bell. When I close the door.)
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To: Bon mots

Thanks!


15 posted on 01/05/2009 6:05:56 AM PST by FreeManWhoCan (An American in Miami)
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