Baffled and confused by the details of the wide-ranging settlement that Google recently reached with publishers and authors over its Book Search program? Wondering what it means for you or your institution? You’re not alone.

Help is beginning to arrive, as scholarly groups and associations (and their lawyers) work their way through the sweeping settlement. The Association of Research Libraries posted today “A Guide for the Perplexed,” a 23-page analysis designed to help libraries figure out what the deal means for them.

Prepared by Jonathan Band, a copyright expert who advises the library association on intellectual-property issues, the guide lays out the basic framework of the settlement in ways that non-librarians may also find useful. It points out that the deal doesn’t apply to books published after January 5, 2009, and notes that “as a practical matter, the settlement probably will have limited applicability to in-copyright, commercially available books; the rightsholders likely will closely manage their rights in these books rather than subject them to the settlement’s general default rules.”

The guide breaks down the different free and fee-based services that will be available to users. It lays out Google’s obligations under the agreement, and gives a quick summary of legal deadlines from now to May 2009, when a court is likely to accept or reject the deal.

Look for more official dissections of and reactions to the settlement in the days and weeks ahead. —Jennifer Howard