[Digital_Divide] Google library books coming

[bridging_the_divide at touchsmart.net]

GOOGLE CHECKS OUT LIBRARY BOOKS

The Libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan,
the University of Oxford, and The New York Public Library Join with
Google to Digitally Scan Library Books and Make Them Searchable Online

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - December 14, 2004 - As part of its effort
to make offline information searchable online, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:
GOOG) today announced that it is working with the libraries of Harvard,
Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford as
well as The New York Public Library to digitally scan books from their
collections so that users worldwide can search them in Google.

"Even before we started Google, we dreamed of making the incredible
breadth of information that librarians so lovingly organize searchable
online," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of
Products. "Today we're pleased to announce this program to digitize
the collections of these amazing libraries so that every Google user
can search them instantly.

"Our work with libraries further enhances the existing Google Print
program, which enables users to find matches within the full text of
books, while publishers and authors monetize that information," Page
added. "Google's mission is to organize the world's information,
and we're excited to be working with libraries to help make this
mission a reality."

Today's announcement is an expansion of the Google Print™ program,
which assists publishers in making books and other offline information
searchable online. Google is now working with libraries to digitally
scan books from their collections, and over time will integrate this
content into the Google index, to make it searchable for users
worldwide.

"We believe passionately that such universal access to the world's
printed treasures is mission-critical for today's great public
university," said Mary Sue Coleman, President of the University of
Michigan.

For publishers and authors, this expansion of the Google Print program
will increase the visibility of in and out of print books, and generate
book sales via "Buy this Book" links and advertising. For users,
Google's library program will make it possible to search across
library collections including out of print books and titles that
weren't previously available anywhere but on a library shelf.

Users searching with Google will see links in their search results page
when there are books relevant to their query. Clicking on a title
delivers a Google Print page where users can browse the full text of
public domain works and brief excerpts and/or bibliographic data of
copyrighted material. Library content will be displayed in keeping with
copyright law. For more information and examples, please visit
http://print.google.com/googleprint/library.


---

Jason Barkeloo
President
TouchSmart Publishing
6522 Waldorf Place
Cincinnati, OH  45230
http://www.touchsmart.net
t: 513.225.8765
f: 206.666.4856

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