Vast Active Library and Information Science blog. From a recent library science graduate in Wellington, New Zealand. A focus on reference and current awareness tools and issues, especially free, web-based resources.

 
A roundup of news stories that caught my eye recently.

Amazon is selling books by the page
Google wants to rent books online - you pay 10% of the cover price and get access to the digital book for one week.
The Washington Times has an article by two Congresspeople, who manage to massively miss the point of Google Print/Book Search: "If publishers and authors have to spend all their time policing Google for works they have already written, it is hard to create more." All their time? How long does it take to email Google and say 'please don't include me in Google Book Search'? (And it's funny how two 'professional authors' seem unable to use correct spelling or grammar).
Forbes carries a rebuttal of the Washington Times article.
BoingBoing quotes a Salon article saying that publishers' criticisms are a smokescreen for greed. (Original article requires subscription or viewing an ad).
Tim O'Reilly has a roundup of articles (via BoingBoing).
The New York Times covers a debate on Google Book Search (via John Battelle). The best line has a publishers' representative complaining that people might find books on Google, and then loan them from a library, rather than buying them. Google's response? "Horrors".
Google is providing funding for a World Digital Library, in collaboration with the Library of Congress (BoingBoing).
In InfoToday, Barbara Quint analyses the 'fee vs free' debate for books online.

| posted by Simon at 6:41 pm