Perhaps taking a cue from the flack Google has dealt with over their decision to index all the books of the world, Microsoft announced plans today to build up their own book search library by cooperating with publishers. Windows Live Book Search and the Windows Live Book Search Publisher Program will work together to enable Web searchers to find answers from authoritative, trusted book content."

Microsoft is now working with the University of California and the University of Toronto libraries to gather out-of-copyright books. UC is home of the largest academic library in the world, housing more than 34 million volumes. The UT library is one of the top four research libraries in North America and is home to more than 15 million works.

"Our alliance with the libraries of these two extraordinary institutions of higher education underscores the importance and value of Windows Live Book Search to providing free access to out-of-copyright content to everyone with access to the Internet," said Danielle Tiedt, general manager, Windows Live Premium Search at Microsoft. "Participation by the University of California and the University of Toronto libraries in Windows Live Book Search will help us to achieve our goal of better answering customers’ questions with trusted content from the best sources."

Microsoft will also be working with the Open Content Alliance (OCA) and with authors and publishers to collect other pieces to add to their database. Microsoft has announced that any publisher can send them any work and Microsoft will scan it and add it to their library free of charge, Microsoft does not plan to publish books that are under current copyright without the permission of the copyright holders.