[Web4lib] Google Allows Downloads of out-of-copyright Books

[Richard Wiggins]

It occurs to me that someone from Google needs to read this thread.

Also, wouldn't it be sensible for Google to get a group of librarians,
especially those with a background such as Karen's and Jim's, as an advisory
panel?  Of course they've got the folks at some of the leading academic
libraries on earth on board.  But it occurs to me that what if they are
missing some simple idea on how to do quality control that someone could
offer -- if only Google's process were transparent.

It'd be a shame to build a few million Pintos before you realize there's a
flaw in the fuel tank design...

/rich


On 9/5/06, Karen Coyle <kcoyle at kcoyle.net> wrote:
>
> Jim, I sent in a comment about a particularly egregious problem -- two
> books that are intermixed, sometimes a page from one, sometimes a page
> from another. (FYI - Ruskin's Stones of Venice and a guidebook to
> Sweden). I checked a few weeks later and the problem is still there.
> What I think is significant about this one is that it is a coding
> problem, not a scanning problem. If a page is missing from a scanned
> book, I highly doubt that they will pull that book again and re-scan it.
> However, it would be good to tag that copy as "incomplete" in the hopes
> that the book will also be scanned from another collection, this time
> correctly.
>
> kc
>
> Jim Campbell wrote:
> > Note that Google does in fact have a feedback form and specifically asks
> for
> > comments on accuracy. I've sent in comments on metadata, full view
> > availability, and bad scans. You get an automated response, but
> sometimes
> > you also get a personal response to say the message has been sent
> on.  So
> > far that's been true only of metadata comments; I'm hoping that doesn't
> mean
> > the other comments have been ignored.
> >
> > - Jim Campbell
> > Campbell at Virginia.edu
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> >> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of K.G. Schneider
> >> Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 6:38 PM
> >> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> >> Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Google Allows Downloads of
> >> out-of-copyright Books
> >>
> >>
> >>> I suspect that it's the correcting, rather than finding
> >>>
> >> errors, that
> >>
> >>> is onerous. I, too, was thinking of having somewhere that
> >>>
> >> people could
> >>
> >>> note which books have errors (I just downloaded one that I
> >>>
> >> wanted and
> >>
> >>> found pages missing -- very disappointing). Now I think we
> >>>
> >> should have
> >>
> >>> a place where people can report books that appear to be
> >>>
> >> good scans so
> >>
> >>> that other libraries can concentrate on the books that
> >>>
> >> AREN'T on that
> >>
> >>> list. In the end, though, it's really only economical to do
> >>>
> >> QC as part
> >>
> >>> of the scanning process, when you have the book and the scanning
> >>> equipment and the operators right there. Like most other
> >>>
> >> activities,
> >>
> >>> clean up after the fact is the least desirable way to go about it.
> >>>
> >>> kc
> >>>
> >>> Patricia F Anderson wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Perhaps take a folksonomy approach -- have a system by
> >>>>
> >> which patrons
> >>
> >>>> can report or recommend correction of errors they discover. A
> >>>> wikipedia model, perhaps. Just brainstorming, but it
> >>>>
> >> could take the
> >>
> >>>> burden of correction off the local coders.
> >>>>
> >> Actually both approaches are good... clean up as you go
> >> along, but enable the ability to comment on sites (negative,
> >> positive, evaluative, etc.). The latter is not only good
> >> 2.0-ish practice, but also could provide valuable information
> >> on problems users find that are not necessarily evident to
> >> providers (and also enables in the networked environment the
> >> well-respected practice of conversing through marginalia...
> >> see the NYT this past weekend, "John Adams Talks to His Books").
> >>
> >> Karen G. Schneider
> >> kgs at bluehighways.com
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Web4lib mailing list
> >> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> >> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
> >>
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> -----------------------------------
> Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
> kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
> ph.: 510-540-7596
> fx.: 510-848-3913
> mo.: 510-435-8234
> ------------------------------------
>
>
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>


-- 
Rich Wiggins
rich at richardwiggins.com