Michael Zimmer.org

I’ve written frequently about how the shift from accessing information in offline spaces to online spaces has particular privacy implications. For example, strikingly different privacy norms and expectations emerge when comparing information-seeking activities in libraries vs. bookstores vs. Google Book Search.
Today, Fred Stutzman revealed a particularly troublesome example of how relying on the “My Library” feature of Google Book Search might mean you have even less privacy with regard to your online intellectual endeavors:
I was shocked to find out that saving a book to your library requires that the book …

Siva Vaidhyanathan (a professor in my department, btw) has posted reader comments from his original request for feedback as to some of the concerns with of Google’s plan to digitize library books. He was kind enough to include my repsonse, as well as the insight of Jessamyn (who Siva describes as a “major voice in the library community”). Here’s Jessamyn’s contribution:
A lot of my concerns were summed up in this article by Wade Roush, particularly the ownership of information issue.
While I understand why Google feels entitled to dictate terms …

Siva Vaidhyanathan is working on a paper/talk about the social implications of Google’s plan to digitize library books, and asks for feedback.
The broadest issue is the widespread acceptance of the “Google paradigm” for organizing, distributing and accessing information. Google has become the “center of gravity” for information navigation and knowledge acquisition, a situation that requires critical examination.
Additionally, privacy advocates fear Google’s ability to track user’s library usage as they access texts via the Google Print project, compounding the privacy concerns related to personalized search.

Technorati tag: Google Print

InsideGoogle points to this report about a group of academic publishers concerned about Google’s plan to scan millions of library books into its Internet search engine index:
The plan “appears to involve systematic infringement of copyright on a massive scale,” wrote Peter Givler, the executive director for the New York-based trade group.
The association asked Google to respond to a list of 16 questions seeking more information about how the company plans to protect copyrights.
Two unnamed publishers already asked Google to withhold its copyrighted material from the scanners, but the company hasn’t …

This Harvard Crimson article discusses concerns that the Google Print lirary project to digitize books at Harvard’s libraries (among others) may infringe copyright law. The debate is whether Google’s digitization efforts fall within “fair use” or are “illegal duplication” (note this appears to concern only those books not yet in the public domain).
“The law does not permit wholesale copying (which is what digitisation is) by a commercial organisation of works that are still in copyright,” [Sally Morris, chief executive of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers] wrote. “It …

TechNewsWorld reports that The National Library of France is not happy with Google’s effort to scan and integrate millions of books into its Web search. Jean-Noel Jeanneney, President of the library, wrote in an editorial that he is concerned Google’s initiative to digitalize volumes at five leading libraries will reflect a unipolar worldview dominated by the English language and American culture:
“I favor a multi-polar view of the world in the 21st century,” he told the agency.
“I don’t want the French Revolution retold just by books chosen by the United States.”
France’s …