Search Engine Watch on Autolink

[K.G. Schneider]

Two weeks ago, Google unleashed its newest toolbar, featuring Autolink. This
has been much discussed outside of Libraryland. Search Engline Watch has a
particularly good article:

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050225-104317

The following made me ruminate: "As for those Amazon links, Google said it
gains nothing from them. Amazon was selected because it was seen as the best
choice for book information. ... Don't like that choice? When the tool
emerges from beta in the near future, it is definitely planned for people to
choose some of the content providers they want to tap into. If you want
links to Barnes & Noble for ISBNs rather than Amazon, you'll almost
certainly be able to do that or pick from others."

There we are again, not at the table. What would it take for those "others"
to include item records such as those provided by Open Worldcat? Also,
should LibraryLand ignore this issue, or does a tool now offered by the
world's de facto search engine that modifies the representation of
information against the author's will require some discussion? 

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com