Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Google's restrictions on textual access outside of the USA - because
of copyright caution about territorial rights - is an example of digital
narrowness. This blockage of access to users outside the USA will fall
within the framework of the 'tragedy of the anti-commons': 'Will it
matter that Google Book Search, when it is marketed as a commercial
subscription service for libraries and universities, cannot be accessed or
read in the world at large? … Yes, it will matter, and that it matters will
be another instance of the tragedy of the anti-commons' (Hodgkin,
2009).
Brewster Kahle, who has laboured long for free access to digital
information through his Internet Archive, has noted that Google
restricts scanned books to Google search only and enforces restrictions
on some uses of public domain books, even those scanned from public
institutions, like the University of Michigan, with whom it co-operates:
Although the library [Michigan] can share content with other libraries, it
cannot provide the optical character recognition (OCR) of the topics to
individuals, even if the content is in the public domain. If the texts had
been self-scanned, some of the limitations would not be in place, and the
library would be freer to share its content. . . . Libraries will be able to
sign up for a subscription to view copyrighted material that has been
digitized by Google partners, but a subscription won't be needed to
access public domain materials. . . . Although there are indications that
subscriptions will be reasonably priced, some have been wary of the
agreement with Google, noting that there is no guarantee that the costs
for subscriptions would be or stay low. The outcome of negotiations
around subscription prices for Google partners and others is yet to be
determined.
(Guevara, 2009)
Synergies for the library, institutional academic publishing
and the campus bookstore
When I gave the Follett Lectures in Britain in 1995, Google was not
even on the horizon. In those lectures I stated:
In this process of integration of services, the publishing activities on
campus must not be forgotten. The Campus Bookshop, the printing and
multimedia services, the network backbone providers will need to come
