VOA标准英语2010年-Google Plans to Put All World's Books

The initiative could offer unprecedented¹ access to an enormous collection of human knowledge, but it has created controversy² over who stands to profit from it.

Rachel Silverman | San Francisco 31 December 2009

A truck belonging to Google pulls up at the Stanford University library near San Francisco just before nine in the morning. It's loaded with books that Google checked out and is now returning, after having scanned them so they can be uploaded onto a computer.  Once the truck is empty, library workers load it up again, with more books to digitize.

Google Books Director Daniel Clancy says the company's goal is to scan up to 40 million books.  "Google said our mission is to organize all the world's information," he said.

In addition to Stanford, the University of California in Berkeley and the University of Michigan have signed agreements authorizing³ Google to scan their books.

Stanford librarian Michael Keller says the initiative can give new life to obscure books.

"What happens when you digitize these books and make them accessible on the net is that they get a lot more use," he explained.  "People can find the stuff; 10 times more use than formerly⁴ was recorded."

Silicon⁵ Valley attorney Gary Reback represents the Open Book Alliance, whose members include Microsoft and Amazon.com. He warns that even though Google may start out by not charging for access to what it digitizes, it may eventually impose big fees to use its online library.

"It's not a public library, it's a private library," he explained.  "And it's being run for profit, big profits. Google is going to charge university scholars, ordinary people, even school children to get access to books that Google copied."

Digitizing current books whose copyright holders⁷ are known is not in dispute.

Neither is digitizing older books whose copyrights have expired.

Problems arise over digitizing so-called "orphan⁸ books," books that are out of print and still under copyright, but the current holder⁶ of that copyright is unknown.  Selling digital copies of those books could become profitable, and there are questions over who will get those profits.

Google insists the project is about more than money.

"Google hopes to benefit from it by improving our search and we expect that we will make some money as we sell the books, but the motivation is not the money we're going to make from selling books," added Daniel Clancy.

Meanwhile, Google continues scanning truckloads of books at a time.  Hearings on the legal issues involved are scheduled in front of a federal judge in February.

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

4 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

5 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

6 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

7 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

8 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。