Windows Live Books Publisher Program Enables Publishers to Easily Submit Content for Inclusion in the Windows Live Book Search Index
Perhaps taking a cue from the flack Google has dealt with over their decision to index all the books of the world, Microsoft Corp. of late announced two key advances in Windows Live Book Search and the Windows Live Book Search Publisher Program will work together to enable Web searchers to find answers from authoritative, trusted book content.
Microsoft plans to build up their own book search library by cooperating with publishers.
Windows Live Book Search, a service that will enable Web searchers to find answers from authoritative, trusted book content. The addition of two new participants, the University of California and the University of Toronto Libraries, will result in an addition of digitized material, primarily out-of-copyright books, from these two institutions to the Windows Live Book Search service. Also, the recently debuted Windows Live Books Publisher Program enables publishers to submit in-copyright material to become part of Windows Live Book Search.
With collections totaling more than 34 million volumes in the more than 100 libraries on its 10 campuses, the University of California library is the largest research and academic library in the world. In addition, the University of Toronto’s library network, the largest in Canada, has more than 15 million holdings and is one of the top-four research libraries in North America. These important collections will greatly expand the depth and breadth of content available through Windows Live Book Search.
Microsoft’s approach differs from rival Google Inc., which scans and indexes copyrighted books in libraries without getting permission from copyright holders. The search engine, however, does not make the works available online, other than a brief description on search results.
Our alliance with the libraries of these two extraordinary institutions of higher education underscores the importance and value of Windows Live Book Search to providing free access to out-of-copyright content to everyone with access to the Internet, said Danielle Tiedt, general manager, Windows Live Premium Search at Microsoft. "Participation by the University of California and the University of Toronto libraries in Windows Live Book Search will help us to achieve our goal of better answering customers’ questions with trusted content from the best sources."
"We are pleased to work with Microsoft to advance this major digitization effort," said Daniel Greenstein, associate vice provost and university librarian, University of California. "It is a new and exiting vehicle for revealing some of the many treasures that have been assembled by the libraries of this great public institution."
As Canada’s most important research institution, the University of Toronto recognizes its responsibility to share its resources with readers everywhere, said Carole Moore, chief librarian of University of Toronto. "Our work with Microsoft in this initiative is an important first step toward mass digitization of materials held in trust by our library so that they can be accessed globally."
Microsoft plans to scan, digitize, and index material under the Open Content Alliance, a group that works with copyright holders to monitor scanning of protected materials.
"This announcement reflects the growing momentum of OCA," said Brewster Kahle, director of the Internet Archive, where OCA resides. It is both encouraging and helpful to have Microsoft as an anchor in this effort to make public domain material freely available to consumers on the Internet.
Microsoft will also be working with the Open Content Alliance (OCA) and with authors and publishers to collect other pieces to add to their database.
More Content from Authors and Publishers
In May, Microsoft launched the Windows Live Books Publisher Program to entice publishers into sending their copyrighted works to the Redmond, Wash., company for scanning and indexing free of charge. Microsoft makes snippets of copyrighted works available through search results and provides links to participating online resellers. The company only scans non-copyrighted material on its own for the service, which is set to launch this year.
Authors and publishers can now add their content to Windows Live Book Search through the Windows Live Books Publisher Program. Books sent to Microsoft by participants are scanned and indexed free of charge. Participation in the program is open to all rights holders — publishers and authors — worldwide. Links are provided to participating online resellers, enabling authors and publishers to promote sales of their books. This service also offers an enhanced search experience to our customers by providing wide-ranging access to the world’s offline content.
Initially debuted at the 2006 BookExpo America, the Windows Live Books Publisher Program, found at http://publisher.live.com, will be expanded within the coming weeks to accept submissions in digital form in addition to the physical print material currently being processed.
Nevertheless, authors and publishers have sued Google, accusing the company of copyright infringement. The lawsuits are pending.
More information on the University of California library can be found at http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu.
More information on the University of Toronto library is available at http://main.library.utoronto.ca.
The Open Content Alliance is located online at http://www.opencontentalliance.org.