Several new enhancements of note from the Search team: Tomorrow we’re releasing the beta version of Live Search Books (http://books.live.com). Check out the user experience: very clean! With this initial release we’ve focused on making the reading experience as natural as possible.

The U.S. beta launch of Live Search Books is a big step forward in advancing the way people discover information through the integration of content that has been “off-limits” to the traditional Search experience, until now.  This release makes tens of thousands of out-of-copyright books available from our library scanning initiative, including books from the University of California, the University of Toronto, and the British Library. In addition, we are announcing new partnerships with the New York Public Library and the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine.  The Live Search team is working hard to offer the most relevant Search service to you, our customers.  There is a lot of trusted and authoritative content that can only be found in books today.  With this beta launch we’ve taken our first steps toward making that content discoverable and easy to read.

The team is also taking this opportunity to announce an update to the beta of Live Search Academic (http://academic.live.com). We’re adding millions of new articles—primarily bio-medical content. Live Search Academic now indexes thousands of academic journals in the computer science, engineering, physics, and bio-medical fields. We’re also now indexing theses, dissertations, and books within these disciplines.

These are just a few of the most recent examples of our efforts to deliver the most relevant content available; whether it is in a book, in an academic journal or on the web.  A feedback link will be available shortly; in the meantime, please give us feedback via this blog.

            --- Cliff Guren, Director of Publisher Evangelism