Re: "Limited" Google Books Search ?

Thanks, Ed.  I guess it helps to read the "Definitions" section of the document. :-P

Section 4.1 (c) says that "Google may work through intermediaries to sell Institutional Subscriptions."  I wonder, then, if maybe libraries will be able to license smaller sets of Google Book Search though one of these "intermediaries," maybe like how we are licensing Safari books through Proquest?

--Dave

==================
David Walker
Library Web Services Manager
California State University
http://xerxes.calstate.edu
________________________________________
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ed Jones [ejones_at_NU.EDU]
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 12:19 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] "Limited" Google Books Search ?

Limited Subscription is defined in 1.83 as "an Institutional Subscription offered to a library that allows the subscribing library access only to the Books Digitized from that library, or only to the Books held by that library."

-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Walker, David
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 11:30 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [NGC4LIB] "Limited" Google Books Search ?

Section 4.1 (a)(vi)(1)(b) of the proposed Google Book Search settlement [1], in talking about "institutional subscriptions,"  says:

    Subscription for each of the classes of institutions identified in
    Section 4.1(a)(iv) (Pricing Bands), including Institutional
    Subscriptions for each of the discipline-based collections that may
    be offered, Institutional Subscriptions that provide access to the
    entire Institutional Subscription Database, and any Limited
    Subscriptions.

As far as I can tell, "Limited Subscriptions" is nowhere else defined in the document.  I'm curious is if anyone has any insight into this?

I ask because, the document says in an earlier section that institutional subscriptions will be based on "prices for comparable products and services."  Based on what we're paying now for, say, Safari, I'm guessing a 10-million (or so) volume e-book collection is going to be VERY expensive.

Further, the document says that Google can (only?) offer two "versions" of subscriptions: (1) the entire database, or (2) "discipline-based collections."

It seems to me, though, that if an undergraduate institution cannot afford the entire GBS database -- which I think may be entirely likely -- "discipline-based" collections won't be a suitable alternative.  It's not like we would only buy a Sociology GBS collection, for example, and tell everyone else they're out of luck.

So I think there is a need for a version of Google Book Search that would span all disciplines, but not include all books.  A kind of Google Book Search Elite (compared to Premiere or Complete), to borrow an Ebsco naming convention.

I wonder, then, if the "Limited Subscription" is just such a thing?

--Dave

[1] http://books.google.com/booksrightsholders/Settlement-Agreement.zip

==================
David Walker
Library Web Services Manager
California State University
http://xerxes.calstate.edu