Harvard University Libraries Opt Out of Google Books Settlement
“As we understand it, the settlement contains too many potential limitations on access to and use of the books by members of the higher-education community and by patrons of public libraries,” Harvard’s university-library director, Robert C. Darnton, wrote in a letter to the library staff.We applaud this bold leadership step in protecting rights of libraries to provide their books to patrons as they always have. It is an especially compelling choice coming from Harvard, one of the original partners in Google’s scanning project.
“For now,” the statement concluded, “the Harvard University Library will continue to explore other ways to open up its collections more broadly for the common good.”
Full text article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Interesting analysis of the settlement also at Techdirt.
Tags: access, Harvard, Scanning, settlement