Margolis: ALA, Allies Should Request More Library Access in Google Settlement
Says service should be expanded throughout public libraries and to school, other libraries
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 08/25/2009
- Single terminal in public libraries not enough
- Print costs should not be burdensome
- Libraries deserve representation on Books Rights Registry
(For a set of links, go to LibraryJournal.com/GoogleBookSearchSettlement.)
A veteran American Library Association (ALA) Councilor and longtime library executive has urged ALA and fellow library groups to more forcefully advocate that the pending Google Book Settlement offer increased library access to the book database, among other things.
Bernard Margolis, State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries, New York State Library, shared an open letter following up on a letter sent to the Department of Justice by leaders of ALA, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries. “I want to urge your consideration of a stronger position reflecting both the critically important principles of access as well as the economic realities faced by your members (individual and institutional),” Margolis wrote.
Expanding access
He asked the leaders to consider conveying some settlement outcomes to the Department of Justice, including expansion of free Public Access Service (PAS) to school libraries, state libraries, and public law/medical/health libraries, as well as ensuring that the service is available throughout public libraries rather than limited to one terminal. (Google has said the latter is a minimum, but it would consider more.)
Rather than ask that printing cost be waived, he suggested that it be required that libraries “be reimbursed a portion of the reasonable per-page fee set by the Books Rights Registry for the printing of pages viewed through the free Public Access Service or from the Institutional Subscription Database.” Beyond that, there should be “a reasonable annual allowance of per-page printing without cost to the library or user.”
He also asked that that the price set for academic library use of the Institutional Subscription Database be based not merely on FTE users but “other unique factors, including library partnerships and that an additional reasonable price be set for full statewide and/or regional access to the ISD.”
More issues
Margolis, as have others, requested the Books Rights Registry—an independent, not-for-profit organization described in the settlement as representing "authors, publishers and other rightsholders”—be expanded, in this case to include library community and public representation.
As for privacy, another issue that’s gotten much play recently, he said Google should be prohibited from retaining individual user or patron information.
Any book excluded from the database should be listed by Google, with the reason for the exclusion explained.
Margolis also pushed to have the agreement ensure that libraries gain full-text via Google to any book it has previously purchased and said more should be done to serve those with print-use disabilities.
