Millions of books from the University of California (UC) Libraries are being scanned through our participation in “mass digitization” projects. These projects, undertaken in partnership with Google, Inc, among others, expand the UC Libraries ability to give faculty, students and the public online access to entire books and support our exploration of new service models.

To date, UC has digitized approximately 1.5 million books with Google. The current contract between UC and Google stipulates that we will allow Google to digitize at least 2.5 million books from our collections by 2012 and there is a possibility that millions more could join the collection.

The public can immediately benefit from this digitization project by taking advantage of the links to Google Books available in search results in ANTPAC, the UCI Libraries’ online catalog, and Melvyl, the catalog of the UC Libraries, at previous.lib.uci.edu. In ANTPAC look for the “Find More Info” button near the top of the title record display. In traditional Melvyl and Next Generation Melvyl, book cover images in the search results will provide seamless access to the scanned copy of that work.

Public domain books (20% of the collection) are fully available for reading, downloading, or to copy/paste. When allowed by the rightsholder, you can link immediately to the full text of in-copyright/in print books which comprise approximately 10% of the collection. If the book is in-copyright, but out of print (70% of the collection) you can preview up to 20 pages of the work.

Future services depend on the outcome of litigation brought forth by affected copyright rightsholders concerning the charge against Google of infringement due to Google’s scanning of the full text of copyrighted books. A proposed settlement has several promising aspects that might actually expand access to copyrighted books, especially those that are out of print or for whom it is impossible to locate the current rightsholder. The project will also make it possible for libraries to preserve millions of books and assure numerous other public and academic benefits.

On balance, we believe the agreement is consistent with the libraries’ mission and serves the public interest by providing the widest possible access to these materials. We look forward to expanding easy access to online full-texts through a number of partnerships to maximize benefits for scholarship across the globe.

For further information about the Google Library Project please contact Carol Hughes, Associate University Librarian for Public Services at 949.824.9753 or hughes@uci.edu.