WebProNews

Google announced yesterday that they have agreements with several large libraries to scan books whose copyrights have expired.

Joseph O'Sullivan, Software engineer and Adam M. Smith, Business product manager of the Google Print team wrote this in the Google blog:

"Some of us admit to a misspent youth lurking in libraries, devouring books on anything from "the survival of the fittest" or the explorations of Lewis and Clark to the essence of philosophy or Victorian detective yarns. This immersion has made us certain of one thing: there are a million and one books are out there waiting to be found (tens of millions, by some counts) - but library collections just aren't that easy to search.

Which is why we are thrilled to begin scanning book collections belonging to the University of Michigan, Harvard. Stanford, Oxford, and the New York Public Library, so that they become more searchable.

We launched the first part of Google Print in October to make the world of books more discoverable. The thing is, most books in the world are out of print. By working with libraries as well as publishers, we'll have access to millions of books, including many unique volumes that haven't been read in years. Soon a new generation will be able to discover them too."

Rich Ord is the CEO of iEntry, Inc. which publishes over 200 websites and email newsletters. Rich also publishes his blog WebProBlog which focuses on internet business and marketing trends.