[Web4lib] A Delicious Future for Libraries?

[Dale Askey]

> There's nothing inherently non-Western about their approach, that I can see.
> And, lest we forget, there are plans for international versions of similar
> scope or scale, from EU and perhaps other "Google Prints." I don't think
> there's anything inherently politically incorrect about their mission; you
> can read it here:
> http://www.google.com/corporate/

Google can claim anything it wants in a press release, as can any other 
company; moreover, anything they claim is simply parroted in the press 
as a simple search in any news aggregator shows. What I'm doing here in 
my Cassandra role is saying that their press releases do not indicate 
current realities. Their approach is inherently Western oriented, not 
because of any evil designs, but because technologies and markets 
dictate that it be so. What value is there for Google to solve the very 
difficult challenges with Fraktur and Arabic, and these two examples are 
the type of an iceberg when it comes to the inability of current 
state-of-the-art OCR technology to deal with many non-Roman scripts.

As far as the expansion of Google Print to the world, read the foreign 
press and mailing lists for the concerns expressed about that undertaking:

http://wiki.netbib.de/coma/GooglePrint
http://www.fr-aktuell.de/ressorts/kultur_und_medien/medien/?cnt=750084&
Googles Käse - Süddeutsche Zeitung, Oct. 20 2005
and so forth

I'm no fan of Jeanneney's brand of knee-jerk anti-American reaction to 
Google Print, but there are realistic concerns being expressed elsewhere 
about this "internationalization."

> My biggest concern would be the same one I've expressed for several years
> now; why don't our library associations have a continuing and frequent and
> "standing" liaison with Google? There's no good reason I can see not to
> bridge the divide, if there is one, have the open dialog between Google and
> librarians in a "birds of a feather" sense, and see what comes of it. We
> likely will lose from the lack, and we stand to gain solid professional
> input into the information systems and applications of a major "information
> provider." 

When the University of Michigan doesn't even share information about the 
digitization plan with its own employees, why would Google deign to 
speak with non-participating libraries? For that matter, they're not 
really even talking all that well with the AAP, and they certainly have 
a compelling reason to have that conversation. On the last point, about 
learning about the "information systems and applications" it is 
necessary to point out the obvious: Google is a publicly held company 
that will protect its intellectual assets from all others. Thomson Gale 
does not reveal its digitization trade secrets (which are formidable) 
for very good reasons. It's called competitive advantage.

This isn't about being a Google-hater or trying to create an us vs. them 
atmosphere. Fact is, when it comes to mass digitization, libraries will 
lose to any corporation that chooses to enter this field. What irks me, 
and I think should concern us all, is that the claims Google makes raise 
expectations to unrealistic levels that will not be attained or, at the 
very least, not be of broad benefit. This whole nonsense about making 
the world's accumulated knowledge accessible to all is getting a little 
old. Yes, some of that knowledge available to many, but let's exercise a 
little professional assertiveness and point out where such grandiose 
plans ran aground.

Dale


> As a whole, on both sides of the clouds of Google Print (publishers *and*
> libraries), I am neither rose-colored amazed, nor bashing what's a beta
> project that involves a major new dot.com with deep pockets, and re:mission
> above, and so far, involving several large, prestitious universities with
> large, deep libraries. It's like being present at a grand experiment, and I
> just hope we don't stand too long on the sidelines.
> 
> Best,
> DrWeb
> 

-- 
Dale Askey
Web Development Librarian
KSU Libraries
118 Hale Library
Manhattan, KS 66506
(785) 532-7672