Google's Newsletter for Librarians - 4th issue
Jodi Healy
Welcome to the fourth issue of the Google Librarian Newsletter
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
But as any librarian knows, the world's information isn't made up only of web pages. Most of it can only be found offline – on paper, in the books on the shelves at our libraries, bookstores, and homes.
In this issue, we focus on Google Book Search, our effort to build a fully searchable, comprehensive digital index of the world's books. By partnering with libraries, authors, and publishers around the world, we hope to help people everywhere discover the wealth of knowledge, culture, and history in books as easily as they can find web pages.
Google Book Search and libraries
How does Google Book Search work? In "Google Book Search: An Introduction," we explain how the project
started, how we handle the display of books, how people are using it, and more.
Of course, with any project this big, there are multiple stages of development, and the challenge is making sure our search tools are as useful as possible all along the way. In "Libraries and Google/Google Book Search: No Competition!," RLG Senior Analyst Walt Crawford shares his thoughts on how Google and libraries can better work together, and offers his advice for improvements to Google Book Search.
A new tool for genealogical research
If your patrons ask you about techniques for researching their genealogy, check out "Find
a Page from your Past", an article by Googler and librarian Ben Bunnell about how people are
using full-text book searches to find clues about their family history.
The conversation continues…and the resources grow
Eager to learn more about Google Book Search? Here are a few places you can visit:
- Google Book Search – News & Views – Read about the project's history and see what librarians, legal scholars, and others have to say about it.
- Inside Google Book Search – Keep up to date with the latest news, tips, and developments.
New launches
Every once in a while, we launch a project or create teaching tools we think librarians would especially
appreciate. Here are a few of our latest releases:
- Explore Shakespeare with Google – Find and search all of Shakespeare's plays. (Note that some print editions of the plays may not have entered the public domain everywhere in the world. Where the copyright status is in question, the publication will not appear in "Full View.")
- Google U.S. Government Search – A newly revamped site where you can search for information across a large number of U.S. federal, state, and local government sites from a single search box.
In addition, due to popular demand, we've created two new, free downloadable posters:
- Anatomy of a Search – How online search works.
- Discover Buried Treasure – How to find a book using Google Book Search – and your local library.
See you at ALA
Finally, we're pleased to announce that in a few days, we'll be attending the American
Library Association's annual conference in New Orleans. If you're planning to attend, we hope
you stop by the Google booth (#2440), where we'll be premiering Tips
of the Trade, a movie featuring librarians who've shared their stories about using Google.
In addition, our own Ben Bunnell will be speaking at noon on Saturday and Sunday (June 24th
and 25th). You can RSVP for one of these sessions here.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Jodi Healy
Manager, Library Partnership Team
As always, please feel free to contact us if you have suggestions for improving this newsletter.
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