U. of Michigan Adds Books Digitized by Google to Online Catalog, but Limits Use of Some

Even though the university will get a complete scanned copy of every book users who use the U of M OPAC will not be able to see the entire book online. This is similar if not identical to what a non-U of Michigan user will see when they find an in-copyright scanned book online via Google. They see only snippets and other bibliographic info.

From the article:

As it works with Google to scan nearly all the books on its shelves, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor has decided not to make full-text versions of copyrighted books available online, even to on-campus users…Some observers had wondered whether the university might make full-text versions of copyrighted books available at on-campus computers, but Michigan officials ruled out that option early on. “We don’t believe that fair use allows us to make that kind of access available to our user community,” said John P. Wilkin, an associate university librarian.

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

On a somewhat related note:
Release of Google Contract with UC Sparks Criticism (via LJ)

[The contract] still sparked criticism. Internet Archive and Open Content Alliance (OCA) founder Brewster Kahle noted that the contract shows there has been no evolution in Google’s practices. Kahle stressed that the Google project is not a public resource but “the private library” of a single corporation, while, on the other hand, the OCA is committed to openness. “It’s a little hard for me to understand,” he said of UC’s partnership with Google. “Because I do believe they understand the difference.” He added, “I hope it doesn’t discourage those interested in the open sphere.” Kahle said.

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