Check out this hilarious scanning job Google did on The Gentleman's Magazine from 1855 for Book Search.
Here is a frozen image:
A book in progress by
Siva Vaidhyanathan
This blog, the result of a collaboration between myself and the Institute for the Future of the Book, is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google's ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? [more]
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Recent Comments
- Siva on "That high-quality scanning job"
Yes, of course Kevin is right. It's trivial. Actually, the entire useful file ... - Kevin on "That high-quality scanning job"
Professor - While you admit this is funny, more seriously you have criticized ... - Emily on "That high-quality scanning job"
See, I really appreciate images like this, the only evidence of the material lab...
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Like the Mind of God (57 posts)
All the World's Information (75 posts)
What If Big Ads Don't Work (20 posts)
Don't Be Evil (16 posts)
Is Google a Library? (84 posts)
Challenging Big Media (45 posts)
The Dossier (49 posts)
Global Google (26 posts)
Google Earth (6 posts)
A Public Utility? (37 posts)
About this Book (28 posts)
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Comments (3)
See, I really appreciate images like this, the only evidence of the material labor required to make this Google Books project work. Google's intense secrecy makes it easy to forget that Google Books only exists thanks to actual humans getting paid actual wages being asked to perform the same repetitive motions over and over and over again. I wonder what would happen if, say, these workers were being exploited? How can they organize if we don't even know they exist? Thanks to scans like this, the human cost is made visible, despite Google's best efforts. It's funny, yeah, but more than that, I'm hunching.
Professor -
While you admit this is funny, more seriously you have criticized Google's Book Search for quality issues in the past. Is this fair or practical?
The immensity of the job means that errors are bound to occur; just like I'm sure some of your work has typos or other errors.
Are such petty issues really worthy of diluting your other concerns?
Yes, of course Kevin is right.
It's trivial.
Actually, the entire useful file for the magazine run looks pretty good.