I have mixed feelings about Google Books. I love the fact that libraries around the world are able to use it to faciliatate access to their collections where there would otherwise have been little access before. It's exciting to be able to look at something held in a collection on the other side of the world. It's great that people have the ability to find books that are now out of print or otherwise unavailable commercially.
What I don't like, personally, is the controversy that surrounds the project. The whole Google vs. the Authors Guild thing sits uneasily with me. While I agree that it's fantastic and really handy to be able to preview a copyrighted boos online before making a purchase, as Amazon does with it's 'Look inside' feature (in the same way we would have traditionally browsed in a bookstore) I feel as though Google initially overstepped the mark, went beyond the acceptable and put a number of people and communities offside unecessarily. Though I understand how useful and exciting the concept of Google Books is I think it will take a little time to be completely at ease with it.
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