At the DLF Spring Forum in Pasadena in late April 2007, I had a panel of three distinguished librarians debate one of the central issues that has arisen since the Google Book Search Library Partners program was established.

Google has tremendous intellectual capacity. Is it worthwhile for libraries to compete with their services? Or is it better to partner in their definition? Do we need to know how to do these things "just in case" for our own purposes should Google default on their provision? If that is the case, how can we build effective collaborative ventures as an alternative? Would these ventures permit the exploration of new vertical functionalities more speciific and valuable for the academy, not provided by Google?

I am honored by the participation of John Wilkin, from the University of Michigan; Mike Keller, of Stanford University; and Rick Luce, from Emory University. Their talks are below, as podcasts. They are distinct voices, and their chorus is well worth a listen.

The University of Michigan, John Wilkin. [podcast: 11'20]

Stanford University, Mike Keller. [podcast: 13'48] [slides: pdf]

Emory University , Rick Luce. [podcast: 7'44]

April 27, 2007