Libraries mull ways of placing books on Web

A number of major libraries, including the Boston Public Libary and the Smithsonian Institution, are resisting offers from Google and Microsoft to scan their books into computer databases, according to an article by Katie Hafner in The New York Times. Some libraries are concerned about restrictions the companies want to place on the digital collections.

Instead, many libraries are signing on with the Open Content Alliance, a nonprofit effort. However, a number of prominent libraries, including the New York Public Library and libraries at the University of Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford, have accepted Google's offer.

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