IN THE NEWS - Google to Put Millions of Books on the Interne

IN THE NEWS - Google to Put Millions of Books on the Internet
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Saturday, December 18, 2004

I'm Steve Ember with In the News in VOA Special English.

The Internet search company Google plans to put millions of library books online and make them searchable.

This week, Google announced a project with the New York Public Library and the libraries of four universities. These are Stanford, Harvard and the University of Michigan in the United States and Oxford¹ in England.

 
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Stanford University and the University of Michigan have agreed to let Google copy their full collections. Michigan put some of its seven million books on the Web this week. Its full collection is about six years away.

The New York Public Library says it will only provide Google with materials no longer under copyright restrictions³. Oxford will offer only books published before the twentieth century. And Harvard University will provide just forty thousand books at first.

The project could take ten years or more. Some librarians say each book might cost about ten dollars to reproduce⁴ in digital form. Workers use scanner machines to take pictures of each page. Google says its users will see links in their search results page when there are books that relate to their search.

For years libraries have been making electronic copies, especially of old and rare documents. But the process has often been slow. There are also legal issues.

Google says it will show only a small part of library books protected by copyright. Users might see only pages that contain the words they searched for. The project will expand the Google Print program. This lets publishers make books and other information searchable online. Amazon-dot-com has a competing program.

Google earns almost all its money through sales of advertising⁵. Users see links to products and services next to their search results. People can click on these links to buy things or get more information.

This week, Google won a ruling in a legal case brought by one of its advertisers, Geico, an automobile⁶ insurance company. Geico is not happy that links to competitors also appear when people search for information about the company. Geico called this an illegal use of its name. But a judge disagreed.

Google is the most popular Internet search engine. The program currently⁷ searches more than eight thousand million Web pages. It is often praised for its ease of use and for finding the information that people want, generally in less than a second. Google faces its strongest competition from Yahoo and M.S.N., the Microsoft Network.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford graduate students, began Google in nineteen ninety-eight. The company sold its first shares of ownership to the public this year.

Google says its library project will increase interest in books. It may also get more people into libraries to see the real thing. The American Library Association says visits are up one hundred percent since the Internet began to get popular ten years ago.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Steve Ember.

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

7 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。