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Maggie Verster

Scan Your Books And Search Them On Google - 0 views

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    One of the most useful, if often-overlooked, features of Google Book Search is the ability to enter your own books and create a personal library which you can then search if Google has scanned those books. (And chances are it probably has). If you are trying to find a passage or a factoid you once read but can't remember the book no matter how hard you wrack your brain, the ability to search your personal library can come in handy. Except who wants to enter each book one at a time?
Fabian Aguilar

Resistance to Google book deal builds as Google woos Europe - Ars Technica - 0 views

  • Last Friday, the deadline passed for formal comments from parties interested in the Google Book Settlement, but the flow of less-formal comments doesn't seem to have abated.
  • This week, however, the focus has shifted to Europe, where Google has faced opposition from France and Germany that has prompted it to offer some concessions to local publishers.
  • First, we'll follow the action stateside, where Friday's deadline set off a flurry of filings.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • The Free Software Foundation was among those that filed an objection, this one focused on licensing issues. Because of the nature of the suit, the settlement focused on copyrighted works, but the works scanned by Google may (now, or in the future) include those covered by the FSF's GNU Free Document License. 
  • "If the Settlement is approved, Google will be authorized to continue to digitize, sell and partially display books without complying with the 'copyleft' and 'share alike' license terms which are essential to the freedom granted by these licenses."
  • But it's not just US copyright law that's being trampled on, according to Consumer Watchdog; the settlement also conflicts with international copyright agreements.
  • The group isn't alone in thinking that; European publishers have been leery of the deal, and action shifted to Brussels this week, where the European Commission has been holding hearings on the settlement.
  • Other Commissioners seem determined to use it as a launching point for a more general attempt to deal with related issues, like the modernization of copyright law to handle digital content and the digitization of works in European libraries
  • According to various reports, two countries (France and Germany) have already decided that they will oppose the deal.
  • Google seems to have come to the hearings well prepared, with some significant concessions to hand to the Commission: books that are out of print in the US but still published in Europe won't be licensed to the Books Rights Registry. The Registry would also pick up two European representatives, one an author, one a publisher.
  • At the same time, the Commissioners note that only one percent of the works in European libraries have been digitized to date, leaving the continent at risk of lagging in an effort that ultimate should improve public access to significant cultural material.
  • One of those consumer interests is undoubtedly privacy, given the potentially personal nature of a person's reading habits.
  • ere, the story jumps back to this side of the Atlantic, where the US' Federal Trade Commission has been hashing out privacy issues with Google
  • Although nothing formal has been decided yet, Google issued a formal privacy policy and FAQ that lays out the privacy protections it affords users of its current book service, and details the features that will be used for book sales if the settlement is approved. Basically, Google will keep personal information in-house, and only share information, such as lists of favorite books, if a user specifically opts in.
  • But, if Google was hoping to keep privacy issues separate from the objections to the book settlement, a coalition of privacy advocates had an unpleasant surprise for it. The ACLU and EFF organized a coalition of authors that have dealt with privacy concerns to file a brief as members of the class of rightsholders involved in the settlement.
  • The gist of the complaint is that the settlement will leave Google in a position where it could track users' reading habits, but does nothing to ensure that it won't. "The Settlement includes no limitations on collection and use of reader information and no privacy standards for retention, modification, deletion or disclosure of that information to third parties or the government," the filing reads.
  • The filing actually was modified in time to reflect Google's privacy policy statement, and it notes that there's nothing binding about these rules; Google can change them at will in the future. Obviously, the coalition would like to see something binding written into the agreement.
  • It's obvious that the concerns about, and outright resistance to, the original settlement have been extensive, and Google is willing to make some significant concessions to try to get the deal to go through. What's less obvious is whether these concessions will be formally made part of the legal settlement and, if so, whether outside parties will have another opportunity to comment on the revisions. The scheduled decision is now less than a month away, but it looks like it's going to be an extremely busy month for everyone involved.
Maggie Verster

Internet Archive: A Future for Books --> BookServer - 0 views

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    "The BookServer is a growing open architecture for vending and lending digital books over the Internet. Built on open catalog and open book formats, the BookServer model allows a wide network of publishers, booksellers, libraries, and even authors to make their catalogs of books available directly to readers through their laptops, phones, netbooks, or dedicated reading devices. BookServer facilitates pay transactions, borrowing books from libraries, and downloading free, publicly accessible books."
Maggie Verster

Open Library : One web page for every book ever published - 0 views

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    To build it, we need hundreds of millions of book records, a brand new database infrastructure for handling huge amounts of dynamic information, a wiki interface, multi-language support, and people who are willing to contribute their time, effort, and book data. To date, we have gathered about 30 million records (20 million are available through the site now), and more are on the way. We have built the database infrastructure and the wiki interface, and you can search millions of book records, narrow results by facet, and search across the full text of 1 million scanned books.
Maggie Verster

Bookwink: Video Booktalks for Kids, Teachers and Librarians - 2 views

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    Bookwink's mission is to inspire kids to read. Through podcasting and web video, they hope to connect kids in Grades 3 through 8 with books that will make them excited about reading. The videos are approximately 3 minutes long and are updated monthly. Each video booktalk is about a different topic, and additional read-alikes can be found on the Bookwink website. You can look for books by subject, grade level, author or title. They are constantly updating the book lists with our newest favorite books.
Maggie Verster

How To Check Out Library Books on Your Kindle for Free - 3 views

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    Thousands of libraries across the United States offer digital lending for Kindle devices. Read on to see how you can enjoy the benefits of free library books on your Kindle. Just like you can check out physical books from your local library, at over 11,000 public libraries you can also check out ebooks for use on your Kindle. It's simple, free, and best of all there's no risk of late fees because the digital books simply expire the day they are due.
Maggie Verster

Digital book search isn't limited to Google - 0 views

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    Though Google Book Search has the largest collection of digitally scanned books of its kind, and the initiative has captured a great deal of attention, researchers should keep in mind there are other book-search sites that can help them find rare works as well
Maggie Verster

Inside Google Books: Bringing the power of Creative Commons to Google Books - 0 views

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    Today, we're launching an initiative to help authors and publishers discover new audiences for books they've made available for free under Creative Commons (CC) licenses. Rightsholders who want to distribute their CC-licensed books more widely can choose to allow readers around the world to download, use, and share their work via Google Books.
Maggie Verster

Lots of free Online Books, Poems, Short Stories at Read Print - 0 views

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    Free online library for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast. Absolutely FREE books Thousands of novels, poems, stories Easy to read books online. Over 8,000 books by 3,500 famous authors at your fingertips!
Maggie Verster

BookAdventure is a searhable book review site for K-8 - 0 views

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    Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes.
Maggie Verster

Free Science e-Books Online - 0 views

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    "Science Books Online lists free science e-books, textbooks, lecture notes, monographs, and other science related documents. All texts are available for free reading online, or for downloading in various formats. Select your favorite categories from the menu on the left, or browse the list of recently added books below."
Maggie Verster

Book Review Program - Bloggers Get Free Books for Writing Reviews on Amazon, etc. - 0 views

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    "Book publisher will send you free books if you agree to write reviews on Amazon (or another online bookstore) and on your blog"
Maggie Verster

Download free books at BookBoon.com - 0 views

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    At Bookboon.com you can download free books for students and travelers in PDF format. All the books can be downloaded without registration. Our ebooks are legal and written exclusively for Bookboon. They are financed by a few in-book ads.
Maggie Verster

BookGlutton: Cool Way To Read Books On The Web - 0 views

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    BookGlutton is a free resource that lets you read books on the web, digitally annotate them and interact with other readers in real-time. You can chat with users on different chapters, leave and reply to comments within the text and bookmark your place in the book.
Maggie Verster

Litfy - All the free e-books you can muster - 1 views

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    Read all the novels you want, anywhere, anytime, on any device, for free. It has thousands of free e-books and we are growing every day! The site Bookmarks lets you mark any page in any book and return to the exact same spot later!
Maggie Verster

1001 Books to read before you die - 0 views

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    This a a forum where anyone trying to complete the set, can interact and discuss the books or come to disagree with the choices made in the book by Peter Boxall.
Maggie Verster

Project Gutenberg - 0 views

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    There are over 20,000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog. A grand total of over 100,000 titles is available at Project Gutenberg Partners, Affiliates and Resources. If you don't live in the United States, please check the copyrigh
Maggie Verster

The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf: THE BOOK WHISPERER (RESOURCE) - 0 views

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    I hope this book-a-day plan will be a boon to anyone who would like to play a supporting character in a child's reading life story. This blog is a supporting page to sister site PlanetEsme.com , where you will find a silly amount of additional reviews, thematic lists, links, and much more...everything you need to become an expert in children's literature.
Maggie Verster

E-Books Directory - Categorized Books, Short Reviews, Free Downloads - 0 views

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    1865 free e-books in 392 catagories
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