On Wednesday, Microsoft released Live Search Books in beta. Similar to Google Book Search, the Microsoft book search engine allows users to keyword search for scanned books. Unlike Google, however, Microsoft is scanning only noncopyright books, unless publishers opt-in to have in-copyright publications scanned.
According to CNet news, Microsoft has restricted the beta release of Live Search Books to only include noncopyright books scanned from the collections of the British Library, the University of California and the University of Toronto. Materials from New York Public Library, Cornell University and the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine will be added within the next month.