Google/U-M project questions and answers

Updated 11:45 PM January 7, 2005

Google/U-M project questions and answers

What will occur?

The 7 million volumes in the University collection will be digitized and added to the Google search engine, where they will be available to anyone with Internet access.

What is the greatest benefit the initiative will render?

The sharing of information so widely is a priceless gift to society. Even the terms “holdings” and “collections” are ironic in a world where more and more content can be distributed digitally. For a public university in the 21st century, we believe it is mission critical to be at the forefront of an endeavor that will so greatly increase access to knowledge.

What is the benefit to the University?

The University Library will receive and own a high-quality digital copy of the materials digitized by Google. With ownership of these materials, the University will be able to provide access to the content in ways that are consistent with our mission as a great public university. For example, we may choose to enhance the ability for a patron to use material that is out of copyright, including creating reprints and downloadable text. These forms of access will transform the way faculty, as well as students, carry out research.

How will the University use the material digitized by Google?

The University Library will use the resulting digital copy of the collection to build services that serve the needs of patrons and will ensure the digital version’s preservation for future use. There are no contractual limitations in how the library uses its copy of the images to serve users, with the exception of selling or licensing source files or making them available to commercial entities. The digital images can be used to serve users and the community in a multitude of ways.

How much of the U-M collection is available through the new Google service today?

A small number of sample titles is available now, and we will start to see a more significant body of material over the next six months or more, as we move from pilot to production. It will be approximately six years until the collections at the University Library are converted in their entirety.

How will the search treat copyrighted material?

A Google search returning results from a book in copyright will display three “snippets” of text from throughout the volume, a count of how many times total that search term appears in the book, bibliographic data associated with the book, and information on where to buy the book or find it at a local library. A “snippet” consists of approximately three lines of content.

How much text will be shown for material that is out of copyright?

A Google user will be able to access the full text of material out of copyright.

Is it anticipated/intended that people will be reading out-of-copyright material wholly online?

Yes. One of the extraordinary aspects of this project is the way it opens up the entire library collection without regard to geography. People will be able to find texts online that they have not been able to locate any other way.

Why did Google choose U-M for this project?

The U-M collection is one of great breadth and depth. The University Library is the sixth-largest academic research library in the country. Furthermore, U-M is a leader in building digital collections, converting approximately 5,000 volumes a year. This rate of digitization exceeds that of any other academic library.

Why did U-M choose to partner with Google to digitize material?

Although the University Library has had its own large-scale (preservation-based) conversion effort for several years, only through partnerships can a project of this scale and visibility be achieved. The Google partnership advances this effort dramatically. We believe that, beyond providing basic access to library collections, this activity is critically transformative, enabling the University Library to build on and reconceive vital library services for the new millennium.

What’s an example of Michigan’s current digitization initiative?

The Making of America, a project initiated in 1995, digitized 9,000 volumes from the U-M collection. Volumes documenting American social history from before the Civil War through Reconstruction are freely available online. The project was funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and done in collaboration with Cornell University. http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/about.html

How long has Michigan been working with Google on this project?

Google began discussing this project with the University Library in 2002. U-M served as the premiere testing site for Google’s non-destructive scanning technology. The digitization workflow also was first implemented at U-M.

Who are the other participants?

Google has entered a partnership with Harvard and the New York Public Library and is pursuing similar partnerships, using the same technology, with other large research libraries.

Will people searching on Google know that the volume they’ve found is from the U-M library?

There will be no explicit identification of the source. However, a Google search returning results from a book out of copyright will allow users to access every page of a given volume, including both front and back covers. The U-M Library stamp is imprinted in the front matter of books. A U-M barcode is also included in the back matter of most every U-M Library book. These are the ways that a person might identify where the book is housed.

What are the implications of this project for copyright?

This project is consistent with the very purpose of copyright law as reflected in the U.S. Constitution—i.e., to promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge. As an institution that creates, uses and distributes all sorts of copyrighted works, the University cares deeply about copyright issues from all aspects. This project has been undertaken with careful attention to the law and to the rights and responsibilities of the various parties involved.

How will this project treat works that are out of copyright?

Works that are in the public domain (e.g., no longer protected under copyright law) will be made freely available to the general public, in digital form, in their entirety. Many of these works are in relatively poor condition and may be difficult to find and use. This project will make these works widely accessible for generations to come, thus preserving important parts of our cultural heritage.

How will it treat works in copyright?

For works that are protected under copyright law, however, we must take care to balance the rights of copyright owners as well as users of these works. Thus, such works generally will not be available in their entirety in digital form—unless the copyright holders have given permission for them to be made available. Instead, only small “snippets” from such works will be accessible digitally, with information pointing toward where users can obtain full copies of works in which they are interested.

We realize, of course, that many users would like to gain digital access to greater portions of in-copyright works for all sorts of scholarly and other purposes. Accordingly, Google is negotiating with various publishers to facilitate arrangements to make works more easily accessible while providing appropriate protections for copyright holders.

From a copyright law perspective, this sort of project ultimately benefits all of the parties involved while furthering the fundamental purpose of the law. Copyright holders will benefit from increased potential exposure (and perhaps sales) of their works to wider audiences than ever before possible, and users will benefit from increased information about resources on all sorts of subject matter.

What are U-M’s rights to take down/not include/treat as copyrighted material those works where there are questions about copyright?

U-M is fully cognizant of its rights and responsibilities with regard to copyrighted works within its library collections. Accordingly, the University reserves the right under its agreement with Google to deny or remove access to any works in its collections, in whole or in part, if the University has questions or concerns about the use of such works under copyright law. Similarly, Google has agreed that it will use digitized materials only in a manner authorized by the relevant copyright holders or by law. As part of this process, technological measures will be put in place to restrict access to copyrighted works and to prevent unauthorized use or infringement of such works.

Google/U-M project questions and answers

What is the greatest benefit the initiative will render?

What is the benefit to the University?

How will the University use the material digitized by Google?

How much of the U-M collection is available through the new Google service today?

How will the search treat copyrighted material?

Is it anticipated/intended that people will be reading out-of-copyright material wholly online?

Why did Google choose U-M for this project?

Why did U-M choose to partner with Google to digitize material?

What’s an example of Michigan’s current digitization initiative?

How long has Michigan been working with Google on this project?

How will this project treat works that are out of copyright?

How will it treat works in copyright?

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