Via Lessig, Google: Search or destroy? at OpenDemocracy by many prominent Australian IP lawyers, and one of Australia’s best known legal librarians, Moyra McAllister (now Copyright Officer at ALIA). McAllister writes -

“Librarians as a profession are committed to the principles of equitable access to information. The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has as a core value, “the promotion of the free flow of information and ideas through open access to recorded knowledge, information and creative works”. But ALIA also supports a balance between the rights of copyright owners and copyright users. Because of this they probably favour the Open Content Alliance proposal, with its strong emphasis on copyright compliance.”

She concludes -

“[Librarians]… see the prospect of state-of-the-art technology being applied to projects that will extend their acquisitions budgets and provide wider access to their collections.”

Great to hear ALIA’s position put so clearly, and a summary which doesn’t give the impression that all librarians are anti-Google Book Search, unlike some other articles which have been written recently. While I disagree with the way Google went about digitising materials, I do think it is a worthwhile endeavour and will be watching to see what both Google Book Search and the OCA have to offer.