Google Book Search Allows Full PDF Downloads, Print Facility
Google plans to provide access through its Book Search service to books that are in the public domain. The service will allow web surfers to download PDF files of the books for later reading, to run searches or to print them on paper. Until now, the service only allowed people to read the out-of-copyright books online.
The Google deal will build on an existing service, which allows people to read out-of-copyright books online. Google supports the service by showing its small, keyword-generated text ads on search-results pages.
The download initiative does not include books under copyright. For these titles, Book Search will display basic bibliographic information and, in many cases, small snippets of text surrounding a search term, unless it has permission from the publisher to show more.
Google's Book Search service is the product of its Books Library Project, which is digitising books from major libraries around the world in order to make them searchable online. Its partners include noted universities such as Harvard and Oxford. Google also is conducting a pilot project with the US Library of Congress.
Gale Etschmaier, Associate University Librarian for Public Services at Gelman Library said that Google's method of scanning entire books and access to millions of texts makes it easier for students and faculty to conduct research.
"We certainly recognize that our online catalog is imperfect and can make it difficult for students to get to print material. Google Book Search could become a great place to lead students to text they would have otherwise not have found," Etschmaier said.
Students acknowledge that using the comprehensive text search provided by Google can cut down on research time and effort.
"I spend a lot of time conducting research online by going to many different Web sites in order to gather the necessary information for a paper," junior Mike Weil said. "If all the information for a research project was consolidated onto one site, I think that would make research significantly easier."
