When I first read the official announcement posted today by Google about their new library catalog search feature, I thought, Hey, good deal! A closer alignment of library holdings with Google Book Search is, in my mind, a very good thing.
Then I went immediately to Google Book Search to try it out, only to end up confused about the results I was seeing. You see, I had one of those reflexive moments when reading the announcement, kind of like when a doctor taps your knee with the little hammer in just the right place, causing your leg to kick. When I read it, what I thought the hoopla was about was the fact that, finally, a link to find a book in a nearby library would appear in search results right alongside the prominent “Buy it from X Vendor” links that currently display. This is something that librarians have advocated for some time but it seemed a lost cause. Publishers apparently are afraid that if the “Buy It…” and “Find It in a Library” links were both displayed, people would choose to get something for free, that is, from a nearby library, rather than cough up the money to purchase their books. This is precisely what I thought Google had changed, in favor of libraries.
Sorry folks, not so. Read the official announcement very carefully, and try out the new feature for yourself. The only change Google has made is to include — distinctly separated from and below all other results, such as those for books from publishers who hope to increase their sales — some possibly relevant results from library catalogs in the search results pages. That’s it. Ok, you might argue that that is cool and that it is a welcome improvement. I don’t think so, frankly. The hoopla surrounding this new library search feature is, to me, just a lot of hot air and doesn’t change the fact that publishers will always have the upper hand in terms of steering users their way in GBS.
Am I overreacting? Maybe. Is my initial response too simplistic? Maybe. Regardless, I just can’t help feeling let down.
