Google Books, Good or Bad?

 by Kelly Shire

In a world where literally thousands of books can be searched for, downloaded, and read on the internet, what will be the role and function of libraries? This seems like a question that will be asked increasingly as more and more of the information we consume can be accessed via the internet. This is especially true in the case of Google Books. 

On the side of accessiblity, one can argue that Google Books is a very beneficial thing. As stated on the Wikipedia page devoted to the subject, it gives “unprecedented access to what may become the largest online body of human knowledge and promoting the democratization of knowledge.” Given the ongoing popularity of libraries, and both online and physical bookstores, it seems unlikely that physical books will be disappearing anytime soon.

Yet aside from what the public can gain from Google Books, there is also the valid point that the incorrect and incomplete scanning of old texts does everyone a disservice, particularly scholars who are studying the finer points of texts. In the Chronicle of Higher Education, Ronald Musto muses about this kind of future: “What dangers lie in wait for generations of students and scholars for whom the digital -- and Google's version of it -- will become the only reality? Must a whole new generation begin to reassemble the mutilations produced by Google Books to create authoritative and reliable digital texts?”

This is a question that isn’t easily solved, but clearly, as more time passes and more texts enter the public domain, Google Books will only be growing larger as a resource for readers and students. 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Musto, Ronald G. “Google Books Mutilates the Printed Past.” Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 55, no. 39, June 2009. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ847410&site=ehost-live&scope=site.