Google Book Search Project: the Pros and Cons

Abstract

The article analyzes the Google Book Search project: its objectives, both the declared ones (the radical democratization of knowledge) and real (to create a new market of paid services), stages of the project’s implementation, dynamics of change in its assessments according to the American scientific journalism. It is noted that the project underwent a substantial correction in the course of litigation and developing of settlement agreement with holders of the copyright on the books included in the scope of operation of the Google Book Search. It indicates that the service was gradually modified towards greater comfort and comprehensiveness of the utilities provided. Particular attention is given to the identification of social and cultural implications of the monopolization of knowledge dissemination: the marginalization of large strata of the book heritage as a result of the absolutization of algorithms of the search results automatic ranking; the metadata errors that can mislead users; the preferences that the book search engine gives to the English literature. The article thoroughly analyzes the critical arguments against the cultural expansion of global brand, which were put forward by the professional library community. There is reviewed the position of Jean-Noel Jeanneney, president of the French National Library, who considers the Google book project as continuation of the globalist cultural policy, leading to indirect discrimination of other cultures, which contradicts the Declaration on Cultural Diversity, UNESCO, 2001.