Academic librarians react to the end of Microsoft's book scanning

["B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@yahoo.com>]

>From today's Chronicle of Higher Education:

http://chronicle.com/free/2008/05/3022n.htm

"Microsoft's Book-Search Project Has a Surprise Ending

"It is hard to imagine a Microsoft venture falling under the 
weight of a competitor. But that's the post-mortem offered by 
many academic librarians as they ponder the software giant's 
recent and sudden announcement that it is shutting down its 
book-digitization project. The librarians' conclusion: Google did 
it.

"Microsoft quietly revealed this month that it would end the 
program and the accompanying search software, Live Search Books 
and Live Search Academic. The project made complete book texts 
available and searchable online at no charge. The announcement 
was posted on a company blog the Friday before Memorial Day as 
many people left work early for the holiday weekend."

<snip>

Bernie Sloan