Google Expanding Library Project

Why does everyone sound like a bunch of beggars ... everybody wants everything for free ... but I bet if your paycheck is short you whine to high heck... Of course authors are out for a profit - so are you - if you don't compensate them fairly then expect future books to be junk. It could be argued that back in the day books were expensive and difficult to produce, hence the need for library access... Now that books are inexpensive with the B&N discount and markdowns - maybe we don't need libraries or at least libraries should be for scholarship/learning only NOT for your personal entertainment. Want to read Aristotle's works? Go to a library... Want to read DaVinci Code? Go buy the darn thing! Of course this all a moot point if Google gets permission first and pays hansomely. Then I'm all for it... Don't even get me started on music downloads ... When did we become a Nation of scroungers waiting for handouts?

Why does everyone sound like a bunch of beggars ... everybody wants everything for free ... but I bet if your paycheck is short you b*tch to high heck... Of course authors are out for a profit - so are you - if you don't compensate them fairly then expect future books to be junk. It could be argued that back in the day books were expensive and difficult to produce, hence the need for library access... Now that books are inexpensive with the B&N discount and markdowns - maybe we don't need libraries or at least libraries should be for scholarship/learning only NOT for your personal entertainment. Want to read Aristotle's works? Go to a library... Want to read DaVinci Code? Go buy the darn thing! Of course this all a moot point if Google gets permission first and pays hansomely. Then I'm all for it... Don't even get me started on music downloads ... When did we become a Nation of scroungers waiting for handouts?

Try to make all open source books available in google library project.

I want a Google Library card and I want full access to any book they can get online. If a library can check out a book to thousands of library patrons, why can't Google do the same thing to electronic forms of the book? Saves gas, is convenient, I access them in my home, I don't have to carry them home and back, and it is better than books in the library that you have to check out to find out they don't have anything in them that you wanted to read. With Google search, not only can I find exactly the part of the book I want to read, I am guaranteed that the book contains stuff pertinent to my interests. If an author is writing a book, it is assumed they want it to be read. If they are so worried about getting paid for their work, why aren't they getting royalties from libraries for everyone who checks out their book? If this is acceptable for libraries to do, then Google only needs to provide access to books to people with a library card who "check" out the book. In their case, you check out the book, read the part you want to read (which could take seconds), then check the book back in. Worst case is Google "buys" legitimate copies of the work and only allows that many concurrent "check-outs" to occur... but wait... the library already owns that and Google is facilitating access to that collection by millions... "Ah yes, I'd like to check that out for 257 milli-seconds please."

John - I know how libraries are funded and built. Why has the good ol' book been fine for years and years and now all of a sudden it's a better idea to scan everything? Sometimes, it's best to leave things alone - the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" holds true here.

books online is a very good idea . we save paper.we save trees.protect woods.but we should find a way to compensate authors.

hello

they should start with the libary of congress.anyway to get more people to read,be informed is good to my way of thinking.ihope the bill of rights was copied first.

After reading this I can not stop to remember and to find equals with the ambition of the ancient Alexandrian library collecting all the books that humankid produced. I am excited... and I am sure that the benefits will surpass the pitfalls.

There are many places in the world today with good access to the web but no access to a decent library. The millions of people in this situation will benefit by having these books available to them.

I agree. I'm a student in college and I work with kids in schools and they're always reading anything online, good or not, just to see what it's about. If they have more access to these kinds of things it may even let them improve in english classes and make them want to join different things. It's good for them to have these references online, it can come in handy and it can even become a way for students to form discussions in class. It's a great idea and I'm all for it.

Why do this? Who cares? Kids/people don't read books now, so you're going to put libraries out of business? Come on Google - be a search engine...

Ya its a good news