Old Books in New Ways

Filed in archive Information About on September 22, 2009

© Lin Pernille ♥ Photography


If you ever consider future technology, you've probably thought about what might happen to books. Will they all become digital and archived forever? Kindle and other readers are already making the need for a paperback less and less. But have you heard about Google Books?

Google books is a program created by (guess who?) Google to amass an online library. Its only in Beta at the moment but right now it does the following:

* It allows you to search the full text of any book it has.
* Download books that are out of copyright in a PDF version.
* Get more details on books, such as website reviews and author info by going to the Reference page created for each book.
* If you want the book in a paperback form, Google will direct you to the nearest physical library or store that carries the book.

Right now, Google Books is somewhat limited. There were a number of lawsuits against the program ranging from monopolies to copyright infringement. Google has mostly settled its differences with publishers and is now working with them to create a more robust online library.

Some of the changes Google is implementing, as the class action lawsuit closes, will include partnering with major libraries across the world. For books that are still under copyright, Google will create something like a catalog card, where you can see the basic information about the book but not read it online. Books will soon show up in search results on Google as well. Google plans to partner with publishers and authors to help sell their books by providing "previews" that you can flip through and then order. So if you're a new author, your title could show up on Google and direct people to purchase.

Want to know what you can "check out" at Google Books right now? All kinds of fiction and nonfiction, books in languages other than English even old magazines such as Time are available.

Do you think Google is creating an information monopoly?