Along Came Google by Marcum Deanna; Schonfeld Roger C.;

Author:Marcum, Deanna; Schonfeld, Roger C.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2021-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

JEALOUSY

The founding partners were pleased to be innovators in the library community. They were taking a risk in forging a partnership with Google, but they believed that it was a worthy risk. Without having to find grant funds or secure institutional funds to underwrite the creation of a digital library, a corporate partner would provide the large cash investment. But Google’s announced partnership with five prestigious libraries also sent shock waves through the library community, and it left smaller innovators wondering how their digitization programs would fare against a large corporate initiative. For the library community as a whole, two issues dominated the conversation: Why these five institutions? And why were these negotiations carried out in secret?

Perhaps because the Google book digitization project initially involved only five large research libraries, other librarians from peer institutions were sharply divided on how enthusiastic they should be about Google’s plan to create a universal library. Leaders of several libraries that are typically seen as peers of the initial five but which Google had not approached had a curious reaction. They felt that their collections were just as strong and their willingness to participate was no less great, and they certainly did not want their provosts or alumni to think that their libraries were somehow behind the times. Pride and jealousy were important emotions for those that were not invited initially. Did they also play a role in those that were in the elect? Mark Sandler recalls, “At the time, there was a great deal of jealousy about the Google Five and the handful of other schools that had been approached. Others thought it would be a real PR coup to be in that class of schools.”4 Donald Waters recalls, “There were some pretty nasty reactions from other libraries. There was no effort [by Google] to mollify that. In fact, they used that jealousy to pick off other libraries later.”5 For others, it was the secrecy that prompted sharp criticism. Libraries take pride in their openness and transparency. Why would leaders in the profession agree to sign contracts with firm nondisclosure clauses? Why had these plans not been brought to the attention of peers for discussion? The collaboration that research libraries had experienced in working on large-scale problems such as cataloging and preservation did not appear to stand up to the challenges of the digital age.

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