This is an interesting question about Google Book Search posted by Norman Oder on Library Journal today [http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1010000101/post/720038672.html?nid=3570] :
“A New York Times article today enthusiastically touting Google Book Search, a collection based on scans from libraries, contains this relatively minor discordant note:
Some librarians privately expressed fears that Google might charge high prices for subscriptions to the book database as it grows. Although nonprofit groups like the Open Content Alliance are building their own digital collections, no other significant private-sector competitors are in the business. In May, Microsoft ended its book scanning project, effectively leaving Google as a monopoly corporate player.
David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said the company wanted to push the book database to as many libraries as possible. ‘If the price gets too high,’ he said, ‘we are simply not going to have libraries that can afford to purchase it.‘ …”
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