Monday, January 26, 2009

A start at a questions list

From my notes, here are some questions regarding the Google/AAP settlement that came up during the panel. Please add your own as comments, and we will try to find some definitive place to put these where everyone can contribute.

... in no particular order...

  1. What happens to the current contracts that some libraries have with Google?
  2. Will the subscription services include any features that would gather user information, such as anything that takes an email address?
  3. Will the subscription service include the commercial features, such as buying copies of out of print books?
  4. What will the capabilities be for public domain books? Download?
  5. Will print-on-demand be one of the possiblities?
  6. Will there be advertising on any of the products?
  7. How will pricing be determined? FTE? Amount of use?
  8. How often will pricing change? Will it be possible to lock in a price for a number of years?
  9. What plan is there for termination of the service by Google? Will all scans be escrowed? What happens to the service itself?
  10. Who can access the registry? What, if any, part of it will be public access?
  11. Copyright law has fairly broad allowances for educational and classroom use. Will this be replicated in the contracts with educational institutions?
  12. Can my library buy just those books it needs to round out its collection?
  13. What will the services be for public domain books - like printing, mashing together content from multiple books, etc?
  14. Why is there no mention of school libraries in the settlement? Were they purposely excluded?
  15. Is it true that OCLC network organizations are not allowed to negotiate as consortia under the settlement? Why is that?
  16. What is the status of works that have been scanned by a library or some other institution, but are contributed to Google Book Search? Do they have the same restrictions as books scanned by Google?
  17. Other than allowing or disallowing advertising, do rights holders have any say over the presentation of their works (e.g. use of covers, ranking, metadata?)
  18. Can a library combine its LDC database with any other digital copies for the purposes of non-consumptive research?
  19. Where does the book metadata come from? What data does it include?
  20. Does the definition of periodical (1.102, p. 13) include yearbooks (e.g. almanacs) and reference works (e.g. Physician's Desk Reference)?
  21. Can Google turn the institutional subscription service over to a third-party vendor at will?
  22. If Google excludes a book, will that information be publicly available in the registry? (p. 36)
  23. How is "government" defined on p. 42 in the pricing bands?
  24. If Google determines that book is in copyright, but perhaps is not, who can contest this?
  25. Can public libraries subscribe to the institutional subscription? If so, what is the cost basis? (The document says "FTE" but public libraries don't have FTE). (p. 42)
  26. If someone claims a book in the registry that they in fact have no rights over, how is this detected? Is there a penalty?
  27. Who is responsible for the accuracy of the registry?
  28. Will libraries or institutions be able to create collections within the GBS? That is, to select and mark particular items as part of a bibliography or reading list.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about other services for public domain books - like printing, mashing together content from multiple books, etc?

tota said...

Karen Coyle,

If you are one and the same, and I do think you are, we spent time together at Berkeley. I have traveled far and wide, and you most probably have as well, but I am close to Berkeley again these days. Where have you landed? Would so enjoy seeing you again.
Carol Mason Tregenza

Karen Coyle said...

It is I, and I am easy to find.