MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
June 15 – June 22, 2006 Edition
Microsoft to Collaborate
With University Libraries
for Live Book Search
REDMOND, WASH/6/9/2006Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT – News) has announced two key advances in Windows Live(TM) Book Search, a service that will enable Web searchers to find answers from authoritative, trusted book content. The addition of two new participants, the University of California and the University of Toronto libraries, will result in an addition of digitized material, primarily out-of-copyright books, from these two institutions to the Windows Live Book Search service. Also, the recently debuted Windows Live Books Publisher Program enables publishers to submit in-copyright material to become part of Windows Live Book Search.
“Our alliance with the libraries of these two extraordinary institutions of higher education underscores the importance and value of Windows Live Book Search to providing free access to out-of-copyright content to everyone with access to the Internet,” said Danielle Tiedt, general manager, Windows Live Premium Search at Microsoft. “Participation by the University of California and the University of Toronto libraries in Windows Live Book Search will help us to achieve our goal of better answering customers’ questions with trusted content from the best sources.”
With collections totaling more than 34 million volumes in the more than 100 libraries on its 10 campuses, the University of California library is the largest research and academic library in the world. In addition, the University of Toronto’s library network, the largest in Canada, has more than 15 million holdings and is one of the top-four research libraries in North America. These important collections will greatly expand the depth and breadth of content available through Windows Live Book Search.
“We’re pleased to work with Microsoft to advance this major digitization effort,” said Daniel Greenstein, associate vice provost and university librarian, University of California. “It is a new and exiting vehicle for revealing some of the many treasures that have been assembled by the libraries of this great public institution.”
“As Canada’s most important research institution, the University of Toronto recognizes its responsibility to share its resources with readers everywhere,” said Carole Moore, chief librarian of University of Toronto. “Our work with Microsoft in this initiative is an important first step toward mass digitization of materials held in trust by our library so that they can be accessed globally.”
With the support of the Open Content Alliance (OCA), publicly available print materials in UC and U of T libraries will be scanned, digitized and indexed to make them readily accessible to customers. OCA also works with copyright holders to legally scan protected materials.
“This announcement reflects the growing momentum of OCA,” said Brewster Kahle, director of the Internet Archive, where OCA resides. “It is both encouraging and helpful to have Microsoft as an anchor in this effort to make public domain material freely available to consumers on the Internet.”
Authors and publishers can now add their content to Windows Live Book Search through the Windows Live Books Publisher Program. Books sent to Microsoft by participants are scanned and indexed free of charge. Participation in the program is open to all rights holderspublishers and authorsworldwide. Links are provided to participating online resellers, enabling authors and publishers to promote sales of their books. This service also offers an enhanced search experience to our customers by providing wide-ranging access to the world’s offline content.
Initially debuted at the 2006 BookExpo America, the Windows Live Books Publisher Program, found at http://publisher.live.com, will be expanded within the coming weeks to accept submissions in digital form in addition to the physical print material currently being processed.
More information on the University of California library can be found at http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu. More information on the University of Toronto library is available at http://main.library.utoronto.ca. The Open Content Alliance is located online at http://www.opencontentalliance.org.
About MSN and Windows Live
MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Windows Live, a new set of personal Internet services and software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these and future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com. Windows Live is available at http://www.live.com. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
