Yahoo, in conjunction with several universities and two European archives, says it plans to make books available online beginning later this year in a move similar to Google"s "Google Print" service. Collectively the group is known as the Open Content Alliance, or OCA. By year"s end, the OCA will make books available for search on its website, and possibly later through Yahoo"s search portal. The first books will be from the University of California, technology book publisher O"Reilly Media, the National Archive in Britain, and the European Archive.
The OCA plans to avoid the legal pitfalls that have plagued Google Print by first obtaining the copyright holder"s permission before proceeding. It also plans to share its results with other search engines, while Google Print is available exclusively through Google.