Article Critique 1

Shannon Meaney

Working for an institution that has contributed material to the Google project I found Koehler’s insight very thought provoking. Many issues related to values and ethics of all parties affected by the project are examined in the article. I will critique the article on the importance and relevance of the information provided and issues examined, the analysis provided to support the author’s point of view, and the relevance of the article to information professionals.

The author expresses his primary concern that although Google’s digitization project provides potential benefits there are serious legal and ethical dilemmas that should be of concern to information producers and users. His major concern is over the issue of fair use. He contends that in the project Google “pushes the very limits of fair use” and in the end may not withstand the legal challenges it faces. The result of this may be a” highly restricted” view of fair use by the courts and through legislation that may limit future experiments.

“Good and Evil Garden of Digitization: Google and Fair Use”, by Wallace Koehler a professor of library science at Valdosta State University. Koehler discusses many topics that our class has been discussing; copyright, intellectual property and fair use. I found the content in this article very interesting and relevant to me in my current position. The article begins with a description of the Google book project for which many institutions around the world are participating. It raises several important issues related to the Google project. To assist the reader in understanding these issues he provides necessary background information such as a history of copyright and intellectual property. Discussing British and US Copyright law, Koehler gives a clear and concise historical background for the reader to understand the whole concept of “fair use” and how it affects intellectual property. He also includes comments on social issues related to the project’s impact such as the centralization of knowledge and the commercial impact of the project, particularly on Google as well as information producers.

The article focuses on several important issues related to the Google digitization project. Koehler says that an important factor under the copyrighted work test, is that scanning very small parts of copyrighted material is fair use. This is an important part of the analysis he provides. He points out that Google is open about copying completed works, but states it complies with copyright laws by providing small “snippets” of copyrighted work to the user. Koehler discusses this issue and states that Google’s approach of “taking all and offering little” works against them legally. His discussion points the reader to that conclusion which supports one of his major purposes of the article, that legal challenges may limit the impact of the project.

Koehler also raises serious questions about the impact of a “centralization of knowledge” that Google and a small number of other existing similar efforts my have on open access, intellectual development and the commercial impact of central control of information by Google and others. These are important issues for which he provides thoughtful discussion.

In the end the author points out the benefits and dangers he calls “Good and Evil” of the project. He also points out that while it would be useful to have instant access to such an array of published materials, there are many obstacles, particularly legal obstacles, to overcome to make this a reality. While the author points out he is not a lawyer he sees many unanswered legal and ethical questions that will need to be addressed. He suggests these issues are so important to our society that perhaps U.S. Supreme Court may play a role before these issues are resolved.

I feel that the author did raise the most important issues related to the project’s development and implementation. He provided adequate historical and other data to support his issues. His discussion of the fair use laws was particularly helpful as well as his historical perspective of this and similar projects. He gave specific examples of the impact of the project on authors, users, and information professionals. His concerns expressed were well documented. His conclusions related to implications of this to future fair use court cases and legislation were well founded.

The issues raised, their implications to all of society, especially information providers and users, and the discussion provided makes this an important and relevant article for information professional to read. It goes to the very heart of the work librarians do. It suggests that our future may be very different form our present.

While I found the article to be enlightening and thought provoking, other issues may have been addressed. Such issues as how will the fair use be recorded and documented in the Google project?? What legal oversight would be provided or assumed? How would this impact information professionals and libraries? What will be the impact of this project on the producers of knowledge? Perhaps the most positive impact of the article, as the author suggests, is to raise questions and to begin dialogue this important topic. It has for me.

Koehler, W. (2008). Good and evil in the garden of digitization. Searcher, 16(6), 24-57.