Excursus

Google Book Search, a surprisingly controversial if welcome Google app, has reached a ground breaking settlement. See here. A highlight: US users—alas not me, an expatriate American—will have access to out of print but not out of copyright books as well as the ability to buy these. Of course there is more. See also the Google blog. Google Book Search has been a tremendous boon for scholars. Even though the preview has been crippled (something that will improve under the new agreement), just being able to get a glimpse at some material has been a real benefit. This is huge. We can only hope that this is but a first step to wider access to our literary heritage.