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book internet libraries

World 2.0

The president of the U. of Michigan gave an excellent speech yesterday on Google’s book digitization and its impact on libraries, information, and publishing. (full text)

New technologies and new ideas can generate some pretty scary reactions, and Google Book Search has not been immune. The project, for all that it promises, has been challenged: on the editorial page, across the airwaves, and, with your organization’s endorsement, in the court system.

It is this criticism of the project that prompted me to accept your invitation to speak — and explain why we believe this is a legal, ethical, and noble endeavor that will transform our society.

Legal because we believe copyright law allows us the fair use of millions of books that are being digitized. Ethical because the preservation and protection of knowledge is critically important to the betterment of humankind. And noble because this enterprise is right for the time, right for the future, right for the world of publishing, right for all of us.

Relatedly, a lot of discussion has been happening about “library 2.0”. ACRLog has a good post with lots of links here. Stephen Abram has a post here that covers the spectrum of web 2.0, library 2.0, and the 2.0 world. I guess it’s the 2.0 revolution, hope you brought your mittens.