Google Book Search

What is Google Book Search?

Why is it different to Google?

Why use it?

Shortcomings

1. What is Google Book Search?

Another service from Google, which is still being developed (it has also been referred to as Google Print). It allows searchers to locate books (as opposed to journals or serials) with the option to buy them or locate a source to borrow them from (via OCLC Worldcat). Most of the books are not available online in full text. The books included are sourced from both publishers and libraries.

Most of the books are provided by publishers as part of an online book marketing programme. Publishers and authors provide their books and Google digitally scans them and adds their content to its search results.

Google also have partnerships to include the collections of a few libraries in Google Book Search and it will show you information about the book plus a few snippets – a few sentences of your search term in context.

You can register as a user of Google Book Search for free and this password system may allow you to see a few more pages of certain books.

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2. Why is it different to Google?

Google Book Search service means that you are searching within the full-text of books, this is text that is may not normally be included in search engines.

3. Why use it?

• It offers you a information about the book plus a few "snippets" - a few sentences of your search term in context
  
• You may also be able to see some sample pages
  
• If the publisher or author has given Google permission, you may see the full-text (but don't expect this to be the case)
  
• "Full Book View" is available if the book is out of copyright
  
• "Buy this Book" this links to go straight to an online bookstore where you can buy it
  
• "Find it in a Library" If the book was scanned from a library, you can click this to find a local library that has the book in its stock. This service uses OCLC Worldcat, a worldwide union catalogue created and maintained ollectively by more than 9,000 member institutions. Worldcat is the database and Firstsearch offers the way in to use the database.
  
• Useful as a tool for checking citations What does this mean?
  
• The advanced search option allows you to search for publications by: 
  
  key words or phrases
  
  author
  
  publisher
  
  ISBN (International Standard Book Number - a unique commercial identifier for books) - useful if you know this, as it should cut out all other results bar the one you want.
  

4. Shortcomings

This service is still being developed. Results are not comprehensive at the moment, the content and borrowing information is only as good as the current number of participating booksellers / publishers / authors / libraries, etc. You should consider searching other book-finding resources as well (particularly for fairly recent books which are no longer in print)

Some results for example may offer you a table of contents and the index of the book to read, others might not.

It is a controversial project, and has its critics, mainly for its treatment of copyright. See comments from openDemocracy.net
and LibraryJournal.com