Google tip #2 – Book search

Fairly new to Google is the Google Book search. If like me you’ve taken only a quick look at it you may have only gotten mediocre results. Now I know a little more about it and what you can get so let me fill you in…

The books are scanned/uploaded from two main sources – associated publishers and libraries. Publishers provide the text of their recent in print books and Google has been scanning the libraries of major institutions such as Princeton and Harvard.

But what can you actually get? Well it’s all down to copyright. Here’s what I’ve learnt:

Pre-1923 – Copyright is not applicable and therefore full text is available and searchable e.g. A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud 

1923-Books in Print -The copyright situation is unclear and therefore only snippets are available e.g.  What is Life?, Erwin Schrödinger

Books in Print –  Generally the publisher will allow a “limited preview” and you can look at 20% of the book. Random pages are posted – so you cant search the whole book but you can search the pages that are posted.  e.g. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins

So, now that I know a little more about this project I have to say I am pretty impressed. I don’t often have to search in books but its good to know that this resource is available.