How Harvard and Google Got in Bed Together
In the Times, Katie Hafner writes an article about Harvard librarian Sidney Verba and his role overseeing Harvard's partnership with Google, as Google attempts to digitize all the books in Harvard's libraries.
Although this was not Ms. Hafner's intention, the article raises questions about whether the deal between Harvard and Google was made not on its merits, but because of a close relationship between Larry Summers and a top Google executive.
Hafner's piece romps along for some time, rather sympathetically to Mr. Verba. Hafner suggests that Verba was well aware of the implications of Google's project—which many authors believe constitutes copyright violation on an unprecedented scale—but at the same time, she quotes Verba saying, "It's become much more controversial than I would have expected. I was surprised by the vehemence."
Given that the Google project could one day allow readers to search every book in existence online, without authors receiving a penny, one wonders how much Verba had truly considered its implications. Google vows that it won't allow readers to read whole books online...but once the scanning is done and the books are posted, that genie will be out of the bottle. Either Google will change its mind...or hackers will write programs, much like peer-to-peer file sharing networks, that allow users to download entire books from Google, all free of charge.
Moreover, there's a local angle for Harvardians: President Larry Summers is profoundly skeptical about Harvard's libraries—how much they cost, and whether all of their resources are really necessary—and during his tenure, Harvard's libraries have come under steady pressure to cut hours and staff.
So how did Verba decide to support this initiative? That's where Hafner's article gets really interesting.
She writes, "When Sheryl Sandberg, a Google executive, first visited Harvard two years ago and put forth the idea of digitizing millions of books spread out over Harvard's more than 90 libraries, Mr. Verba was skeptical. The sheer magnitude of the task seemed staggering."
Hafner then discusses Google's awesome scanning abilities.
But wait—there's a critical fact about Sheryl Sandberg that Hafner either doesn't know or doesn't mention.
True, Sheryl Sandberg is a Google executive; she is the vice-president of global online sales and operations.
"In this role," according to
Google's website, "Sheryl is responsible for online sales of Google's advertising and publishing products. She also runs sales operations and support for Google's consumer products and for Google Print."
Huh. No mention of any work with university libraries. So why was Sandberg chosen to propose this project to Harvard?
Turns out that Sandberg has some pretty tight Cambridge connections. She's a 1991 graduate of the college, an economics major who graduated summa cum laude and was awarded the John H. Williams prize for the top graduating student in economics. And she's a 1995 graduate of HBS.
But perhaps most important was this: Prior to joining Google, Sandberg was chief of staff to none other than Treasury secretary Larry Summers.
From all I hear, the two of them were close at Treasury and have remained good friends. So Google's decision to send Sandberg to Harvard—never previously disclosed, as far as I can tell—would seem to have something to do with her relationship with Harvard's president.
All of which makes one wonder: Was Harvard's decision to join the Google project influenced by the relationship between Larry Summers and Sheryl Sandberg?
In Washington, from whence Summers and Sandberg came, this is called lobbying. It's illegal to leave the government and immediately start lobbying your former employer, because your close connections to that employer could inappropriately influence that employer's decisions. But no such restrictions apply to the non-profit world.
Nonetheless, since the Google decision could affect the livelihoods of every Harvard professor who's published a book—presumably all of them—and since it will have a profound effect on writers everywhere, it behooves the faculty to start asking questions about how the Harvard-Google relationship was forged, and whether the process was corrupted by the relationship between Sandberg and Summers. After all, this deal between a non-profit university and a private sector company was made in the utmost secrecy, with absolutely no discussion among the people affected—those who write the books that are in Google's libraries.
At the next faculty meeting, Harvard's professors should ask questions such as:
Why was there no public discussion about a deal involving the entire Harvard faculty? Did Sandberg and Summers discuss the Google deal before any decision was made?When Sandberg came to Harvard to see Verba, did she also visit Summers? After she met with Verba, did she subsequently contact Summers?Did Summers and Verba discuss the deal before a decision was made?Did Verba feel any pressure from Larry Summers to play ball with Google?Did Verba have any incentive to try to please the president by going along with the Google deal?Was it really Verba who made the decision to go along with Google, or was it Larry Summers' decision, for which Verba is the front man?If Larry Summers were to leave the Harvard presidency—not an insane proposition—could he ever profit financially from a relationship with Google—by, for example, serving as a member of Google's board? And would he now take a public oath to avoid any such financial relationship?Harvard's participation in Google's project is a hugely valuable endorsement, one that is surely having a broad impact. You can imagine librarians at many universities saying to themselves, "Well, if Harvard is doing it, then it must be a good idea."
(I'd say that Google couldn't buy that kind of publicity, except that may be exactly what Google has done: Was Sandberg was hired precisely because of her connections with Summers?)
But it isn't a good idea if the real reason why Harvard joined forces with Google is the tight relationship between the university's president and his former closest aide.
