US technology heavyweight Microsoft will unveil an online library today that will compete with Google's controversial project to digitise the world's books.
Microsoft said it would launch a US test of Live Search Books featuring tens of thousands of out-of-copyright books, including works held by the British library and major universities in Toronto and California.
'With this initial release we've focused on making the reading experience as natural as possible,' project director Cliff Guren said. 'The US beta launch of Live Search Books is a big step forward in advancing the way people discover information through the integration of content that has been off-limits to the traditional search experience, until now,' he added.
Microsoft has made fresh book-scanning partnerships with New York Public Library and the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine, according to Guren.
In late August, Google restarted its Google Book Search project initiated in 2004 with the lofty aim of scanning every literary work into digital format and making them available online. Google has formed partnerships with major universities such as Harvard, Oxford, the New York Public Library, Complutense of Madrid and the University of California to add their collections to its virtual book shelves.
After outcries from publishing houses and authors, Google modified its online library to offer only summaries of copyrighted works along with information regarding where to buy or borrow the books.
Neither Google nor Microsoft would reveal how many books they have already scanned. At stake for the companies were revenues that could be raked in by placing ads on web pages visited by book-seeking Internet surfers.
