Google and Libraries
May 1, 2009
The USPTO must be clearing backlogs. A flurry of Google patent documents became available. Several were uninteresting (floating data centers, query expansion), but one struck me as having some disruptive potential. I refer to Library Citation Integration, US7526475. You can get the document from the USPTO at http://www.uspto.gov. The abstract stated:
An online search system generates an index of documents using index information received from a library. Some documents have restricted access; some documents may not be available online. The search system provides links to documents in the library as well as other sites based on a search, and may include link resolvers received from the library. The search system provides access links to the link resolvers if an identifier, such as a user identification or IP address, matches an affiliation list from the library.
Why? Think for a moment about the commercial database vendors, the online public access catalog vendors, and the companies building content for institutional use. I thought the pointing function to items in the OCLC system was interesting. This invention gives the Google some an opportunity to stomp, should it choose to do so, in some other vineyards. Who will be squashed into fine wine? I don’t drink, so I might not be affected. Those in the library ecosystem might have a different view.
Stephen Arnold, May 1, 2009
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2 Responses to “Google and Libraries”
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There’s so much prior art out there for this that the patent will never hold up under appeal. Who does their prior art searching?
I believe they are already doing this with google scholar. If you go to the website from an academic institution IP address it will provide links through your local library based on what databases your institution has access to.