Last Thursday, On Demand Books announced that over two million of the public domain books scanned by Google will now be available for printing on its Espresso Book Machines. The public domain books are only those which are out-of-copyright and can be viewed in their entirety on the Google Book Search website. These books differ from those which are out-of-print but in-copyright and can be partially viewed on Google’s website. It is those books which have caused much debate in the Google Book Search settlement. An article from CNET notes that it is not clear whether or not On Demand Books will have access to the additional books if the settlement is approved in October.
Several college stores already own Espresso Book Machines and will be able to benefit from this new agreement. McMaster University and the University of Alberta were two of the first stores to purchase the machines and at least a half a dozen other stores have placed orders for, or recently installed, the POD devices. Later this year NACS Media Solutions plans to announce new programs that will make a range of POD capabilities available to stores of all sizes, so that more stores can participate in the technology and provide new services that can improve textbook affordability.
