I had heard about Google making books available online- about 7 months ago, and about 2 months ago, I was looking for a particular book (copyright 1952) I just couldn’t get my hands on, and remembered about Googles plan… So I quickly got on Google and guess what, there it was. As I read through the article“Throwing Google at the book" by Farhad Manjoo, it helped me understand some of the issues that Google had in making this happen.Google claims that publishing these books publicly can only help the authors and publishers. It is putting their work out there, where there is more access, interest and especially exposure to their work.
Purchasing this book with this exposure, will of course favor Google, but will definitely the author/publisher as well.Google has become a favorite among many- lately (at least for me it has), and adding this new feature of cataloging books and articles was bound to happen (whether it was Google or not). I’m glad it was Google, a trusted resource to me.
5 comments:
I like that it's happening, and I don't think publishers and authors can do anything to stop it. Pretty soon, and already to a large extent, all media from books to videos and audio tapes will be available for access no matter how obscure or old the media in question is.
I think that's amazing what Google is doing, but I definitely have have some concerns. For books that are copyrighted and Google only shows a part or section of a book, I think authors and publishers of that book will be fine. If people can see a section of the book and if it interests them, they will be more likely to purchase it. But what about other books? If many books are online, there won't be any incentive to purchase it. Won't this hurt publishers and dig into their profits? Even if authors who are looking to publish books and can't get a publisher, and go to Google, how will they make money? The exposure is great for such authors, but I don't understand how exactly it will benefit them. People may not purchase it.
But at the end of the day, books are books. I personally want a book that is detached from my computer. I still like books that allow me to flip the pages. If I can find a book on Google, read it a bit, and if I like it, I'll go out any buy it. But if it's a book that is not published anymore, only then do I see how beneficial this invention of Google is.
Well, I say the more information up on the Internet for public use the better. While Google books is pretty sweet, check - this out. It uses the Google search system to find things that are typically hidden in typical Google searches. You can either select "music" or "books" in the search options.
i think this is a wonderful development. whenever i've been procrastinating on a college essay and i'm scavenging the internet for resources, i hope to find original texts for reference on-line. google is beginning to respond to this demand, and i think the result will be a freer society in which all sorts of information are more readily available -- to casual browsers of the internet as to college students eager to find substantive texts
Google - The NEW Center of the Information Universe. Books are the first step to allowing everyone to have access to knowledge. We can enrich the lives of all of Earth's people and Google is the way. Can't wait to find the newest books on Google.
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