Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 1:20 PM

Posted by Mireya Sémelas, Google eBooks Strategist

My beloved grandmother loves to talk to others about her grandchildren and how proud she is of what each one of us has become. Although, I always worried -- actually, I had solid evidence -- that she didn't fully understand my job at Google as an eBooks Strategist.

Explaining Google to her has been a real challenge, as her daily interactions with technology are limited to the use of a phone (a landline, not even a mobile one), the washing machine and the TV. Worse, my mind used to go blank every time she asked me, "So, what is it you do there at Grogel?" I won't even get started on my efforts over the last three years trying to correct her pronunciation.

Enough was enough. I love my Nana and I wanted her to be part of what I do. I wanted to share with her not only my personal but also my professional life. Nana is a fervent reader; her shelves are filled with literary gems that have been passed down through three generations in the family. I began to think about how I could connect her interest in books with my work on Google eBooks. It would still be a challenge: as an 87-year-old, Nana would likely have trouble imagining the existence of a paper-less book.
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 10:24 AM

Guest post by James H. Keeffe, III, author of Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

Editor's Note: From time to time, we invite guests to post about items of interest. We're pleased to have James Keeffe, III -- author of the award-winning Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW -- tell us an amazing story about how Google Books helped reunite a Holocaust survivor and a World War II veteran.

Last year, my distributor Epicenter Press uploaded my book, Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW, to Google Books. The book is a memoir of the WWII experiences of my father, James H. Keeffe, Jr., as told to me. He was an American B-24 bomber pilot who, on his fourth mission during the war, was shot down over Southern Holland and taken in by the Dutch Underground. He spent the next five months evading capture by staying in several safe houses in Rotterdam. In one of the homes, owned by a Dr. Jappe-Alberts, a Jewish family—father, mother and eight-year-old daughter—hid up in the attic.

About six months ago, I received an email that sent shivers up my spine. It was from the same Jewish family's daughter, now called Helen Cohen-Berman:

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 10:13 AM

Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google Books Strategist

As autumn begins to draw near, the leaves are changing color and school is in the air, much to the chagrin of students everywhere. Fret not! Google Books' ever-growing digital archive of books can make acing those looming reports and exams easier -- and even fun. Just ask Lydia, an elementary school student whose research for a history report led her to find the first published book pertaining to a US First Lady ever, using Google Books.

Lydia's mom recounts her daughter's tale:

Last year, when Lydia was in fourth grade, her teacher assigned the students to write a short biography about an historical figure. In addition to writing a short report, the children were also assigned to orally present it to the class, in costume, along with four or five "relics" related to the person.

Lydia chose to focus on First Lady Abigail Adams, wife to John Adams, the second president of the US. In the course of her research, Lydia learned that John and Abigail corresponded extensively with each other, since they were frequently separated. They often discussed government and politics. Of key importance was the letter Abigail wrote to John while the Declaration of Independence was being crafted. In the letter, Abigail told John to "remember the ladies". Lydia learned that this letter was among the earliest known pieces of writings advocating for women's equality.


Lydia thought it would be fun to have one of these letters as one of her relics. She found one easily on the Web.

But as Lydia continued her research, she learned that long after Abigail died, her grandson collected her letters and published them in 1840. This is the first book pertaining to a US First Lady ever published.

I thought it would be great fun if one of Lydia's relics for her presentation was this book. But where to get it? At once, I thought of Google Books. Lydia and I went online and found the cover page and selected a few more pages in a matter of moments. She printed the cover page and showed that as one of her relics.


The end result? Lydia got an "A" on her report! Read the full post 0 comments

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 11:00 AM

Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Support Team


Meet Bob Ferry and his nice 'ride': a 1906 Oldsmobile Model B Runabout. You might be thinking, "Wow, for a model that's nearly a century old, this car looks brand new." That’s because it is brand new. Bob found old magazines and publications on mechanics with pictures, diagrams and descriptions, by searching the digital treasure trove of Google Books, which helped him build the car from scratch.


"It's been a great avenue for any hobbyist," says Bob, who has amassed a collection of over 100 Google Books, from out-of-print issues of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics to Harper's gasoline engine book and Horseless Age.

Bob is a 51-year-old machinist who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, and runs a family-owned shop that builds industrial machinery. Building 'horseless carriages' has been his passion on the side for years, and an outlet for his skills as a machinist. He belongs to an Internet group of horseless carriage replica builders who share photos and ideas about the cars they are building. Some members have been inspired by Bob to also use Google Books to help them construct vintage vehicles.


When Bob started building his car, he started off with a set of plans he purchased from fellow replica car-builder Jimmy Woods, but he also wanted to add as many original qualities to the car as possible that were not in the plans, such as a steamer trunk extension and fringed 'Surrey Top'. He had heard of ebooks, so he went over to Google Books and discovered many old books and magazines about the earliest automobiles from the early 1900s. He loaded them up onto his iPad using his Google Books app and got to work.

Bob says the Surrey Top was especially difficult to design, but that the vast number of digital books were a great resource, with drawings and texts describing various car tops and the pros and cons of each.





Bob plans to continue using Google Books to help him on future car-building projects. In the next few years, he plans to build a 1902 De Dion Bouton French car, a 1920 Norton Racer Motorcycle and an Orient Buckboard. He is studying early engine designs, as he wants to build the engine from scratch on his next replica car.

While he's still a fan of physical books, Bob has increasingly turned to digital books for their convenience, and to find obscure and useful information. “It has really, really been fun,” he says. "I don't know how many books are out there that I would like to try to read each one, cover to cover."

Do you have story about using Google Books in an interesting or helpful way? Write us at googlebooksblog@google.com Read the full post 4 comments

Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 2:20 PM

Posted by Dan Abbe, Book Search Support Team

Who would have thought that Google Book Search would be so useful to researchers of international roads? Hot on the heels of our series of videos from Book Search innovators comes this story from Gerald Cummins, author and proprietor of the website Old Roads of Scotland. His research calls to mind the story of Jo Guldi, another road expert who we’ve highlighted on this blog before.

We invite you to have a look at our new User Stories page, which collects all of the interesting uses of Book Search we've found so far, and to let us know if you've had a special experience yourself. As for Gerald, he's found Google Book Search useful for his work, and we asked him to highlight a few of his interesting finds for Inside Google Book Search:

Having written a book on the history of roads and tracks of Ayrshire, a county in the west of Scotland, I decided to include it in my website on the old roads of Scotland. I’ve found Google Book Search really useful for making it possible to link to original source material, as well as general research. In my own case, I’ve been able to link to the Old and New Statistical Accounts of Scotland, which provide a description of each parish in Scotland in the 1790's and 1830's. I've found various other works, some of which are very difficult to find otherwise.

One fascinating example comes from Charles Bertram, who in the early 1800s forged a document, The Description of Britain, which was allegedly written by a medieval monk named Richard of Cirencester. The document supposedly chronicled the time of the Romans in Britain, giving details of non-existent Roman roads. This work wreaked havoc amongst antiquarians 200 years ago, and is now almost forgotten, but there it was in Google Book Search.

I recently came across references to the Girthgate, an old route that led from Melrose Abbey to the medieval hospital of Soutra, in the hills south of Edinburgh. Apart from books on Melrose Abbey, Google Book Search had a superb illustration of a medieval bridge on this route that has long disappeared.

Dare we dub these interstate intellectuals "roads scholars"? Could we really stoop so low as to recycle a second-rate pun for the third time? Apparently so. I guess when it comes to inane wordplay, we're pretty sure never to take the road less travelled. Read the full post 0 comments

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 1:42 PM

Posted by Katharine Lu, Book Search Support Team

Whether it’s finding a moonwalking bear or researching Shakespeare, we’re known for a broad range of searches here at Google. But Miriam Midkiff of Spokane, Washington uses Google Book Search for a very specific reason – discovering her family’s history.

Miriam became interested in genealogy after visiting relatives in Michigan when she was twelve. She’s since devoted her career to teaching and writing for a genealogical society, and recently discovered how Google Book Search can help illuminate her understanding of her own ancestors. The Google Book Search index contains pamphlets, directories and other printed documents that can be useful for historical searches like Miriam’s.

Among her discoveries on Google Book Search, one surprising find was the role that a relative played in helping a bear to fame for a unique talent. Let's just say this happened before the time of the moonwalk, but not so long ago that a bear couldn't be strapped to roller skates. Watch this video to get the story from Miriam:



If you’ve already looked up your name on Google (unthinkable we know), why not try it on Google Book Search? We can't promise that you'll be regaled with tales of novelty bear acts, but you might find something equally unexpected. Read the full post 0 comments

Friday, June 06, 2008 at 11:41 AM

Posted by Dan Abbe, Book Search Support Team

Here’s another video from a reader who found an exceptional use of Google Book Search. This week’s installment comes from Samuel Wheeler, a graduate student at Southern Illinois University who’s writing a dissertation on the poetry of Abraham Lincoln.

Wheeler makes the challenge of researching Abraham Lincoln clear: with the possible exception of Jesus, he estimates that there’s been more books written about him than any other historical figure. Take a look at this video to find out how he used Book Search to find just the right material for his project.



On top of that, you can’t miss the slammin’ soundtrack. Read the full post 0 comments

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 5:17 PM

Posted by Dana Nguyen, Associate Product Marketing Manager

I'm always fascinated by the ways that readers use the books they find on Google Book Search. Take Diane Gilleland, an avid crafter from Portland, Oregon. A while ago, she posted an entry on her blog about using Google Book Search to discover generations-old crafting techniques.

We asked Diane to share some of the ways she's used Google Book Search with her hobby, and it turns out she's not just learning about the history of crafting, but finding new projects as well.



We're always excited to hear experiences similar to Diane's, so don't hesitate to share your story with us too. Read the full post 0 comments

Wednesday, April 09, 2008 at 10:49 AM

Posted by Katharine Lu, Book Search Support Team

Having trouble finding a full view version of Hamlet or Pamela? Do you suspect that an old book listed as limited preview may actually be in the public domain? Nicola, a reader from Chicago, had the same feeling when searching for a full view copy of Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment in Google Book Search:

I am at it again, trying to find “Critique of Judgment." Now, some 200 years later, it must be well in the public domain, however, I find that someone republished it, and therefore there is no public copy on Google Book Search. I have found this with a lot of old titles; that someone reprints it, and then the full view copy disappears... Help!

Books can go through many editions, but we still strive to make books as accessible as we can for readers. In cases like these, it’s easy to search for other, full view editions of a book in Google Book Search.

One simple way is to check out the ‘More Editions’ link, which is located under book listings on the search results page.


After clicking on this link, you'll be directed to another results page that lists more editions of the same book in our index. Like all Google Book Search results pages, you can restrict the results to only display books in full view. Sure enough, there's a version of the third Critique that's fully browsable.

You can also search for full view books using the Advanced Book Search option, which you'll find to the right of the Google Book Search query box. Make sure to select “Full view only” under the ‘Search’ section.

So next time you need to compare or locate other editions of an older book like the Critique of Judgment, simply click on the ‘More editions’ link and explore its various incarnations. Read the full post 0 comments

Thursday, March 06, 2008 at 2:34 PM

Posted by Jennie Johnson, Global Communications and Public Affairs

One of the best things about working on Google Book Search is hearing all the imaginative and creative ways people are putting Book Search to work—ways we never could have imagined. Last year, for example, we heard from Jo Guldi, a graduate student studying 19th century British roads, and Erin McKean, a blogger who scouts Book Search for descriptions of Victorian dresses and dressmaking.

Last September, we came across a blog post by Dr. Joshua Schwimmer, a medical doctor who practices and teaches in New York City. We wouldn’t necessarily have thought of Google Book Search as a medical resource, so we were intrigued to read that Dr. Schwimmer had turned to Book Search as a teaching aid while in the emergency department with a group of students and residents.

We recently invited Dr. Schwimmer to share all the ways he’s found Google Book Search useful as a physician, and here’s what he had to say.



If you’re interested in reading more of Dr. Schwimmer’s thoughts on Book Search and medical education, you can read his full post here. And, as always, if you’d like to share your own story with us, let us know! Read the full post 0 comments

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 1:55 PM

Posted by Bethany Poole, Product Marketing Manager

From time to time, we stumble across great stories about the unique and interesting ways you're using Book Search. Recently, we invited Jo Guldi, the "roads scholar" we told you about last spring, and Erin McKean, the writer behind the A Dress A Day blog, to tell us more about how they use Book Search for the work they do. Here's what they had to say:



If you have a story like Jo or Erin's, or ideas for ways we can make Book Search more useful for your work (and play!), send it our way. We'd love to hear from you. Read the full post 0 comments

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 1:44 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Product Marketing Manager

A friend forwarded me a link over the weekend to a televised demo of Google Book Search by Justin Piehowski from KSTP 5 Eyewitness News. Last week, Piehowski introduced viewers to Google Book Search with a clever bit of newscasting, searching for a book (Inside the Ropes with Jesse Ventura) written by none other than his co-anchor, Tom Hauser.

Want a live refresher on Google Book Search basics? Piehowski may be your man. Read the full post 0 comments

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 6:15 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Product Marketing Manager

Once in a while, I read about a user's experience with Google Book Search and am blown away by the power of having over a million books full-text searchable. Take Jo Guldi, a Berkeley grad student in the depths of her dissertation research, who has spent the last two years deep in the stacks of libraries around the US and UK reading every book related to her area of historical research.

Last week, she rediscovered Book Search and quickly found twenty new books to add her to wealth of research. As Guldi writes, sometimes it's not easy without tools like Book Search:

To give just one example, this little puppy -- Henry Parnell's A Treatise on Roads (1833) -- one of the key texts for my dissertation exists on our campus in Berkeley's transport library, a quaint but understaffed, spare room hidden on the third floor of the engineering building, far, far away from where historians ever go. It wasn't actually on the shelf when I got there, so it took some patient emailing with the transport library librarians before the book was found, returned to the correct place, held at the desk for me, to be picked up during the library hours specific to that particular institution (10am-4pm, M-Fr). Wild with enthusiasm at having at last obtained it, I held the volume prisoner at my desk in San Francisco for six straight months. . . .But thanks to Google Book Search, these days of scavenger-hunt and tug-of-war are drawing to an end.

The rest of her post is definitely worth a read. And if you too happen to be interested in 19th century texts on road construction, Guldi includes a nice list complete with links. Read the full post 0 comments

Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 1:43 PM

Posted by Roland Lange, Strategic Partner Development Manager, Book Search

OK, it's true. Google Book Search works the way we say it does. During our many discussions with publishers, we often cite a statistic from a Google/Jupiter Research Consumer Survey: 66% of people conduct research online before making a purchase offline. We also say Google Book Search helps people find and sample the right book at the right time and, through this discovery, helps the physical book circulate. I'm happy to provide a precise example of how this really works.

I got an email over the weekend from one of my college buddies (now a lawyer) who found himself using Google Book Search to get exactly the book he needed. Here is Mike's happy tale of Book Search discovery:

I was asked by a client to make a check list of every employment law issue that might arise in a merger situation. That's a huge question and I wasn't sure that I would hit every issue — especially the benefits issues since I don't often practice in employee benefits matters. I typed a search into Google ("employment law issues in mergers and acquisitions") and the first hit was a book reference to Employee Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions by Ilene Ferenczy. The Google Book Search link gave me the table of contents and some other information — more than enough to tell me that this was a great book for my project.

Searching Google further, I was able to determine that the book was at a library in Chicago. I thought about purchasing the book but it sells for approximately $800. My local law library tried to arrange to borrow the book, but ended up buying it when it looked like the inter-library loan would be a problem.

All of this took less than twenty minutes of his highly billable time. Exciting news, indeed, for Google Book Search, the publisher, the library and, of course, Mike. Read the full post 0 comments

Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 6:32 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Ah, 2006. Conventional wisdom has it that most New Year's resolutions are broken by January 2nd. So, if you're feeling bad about not making it to the gym this week or procrastinating yet again, take some time to reflect on last year's good times. We did -- and, without further ado, here's our look back at the top ten Inside Google Book Search moments of 2006:

10) Amy Sedaris, Sebastian Junger, Alice McDermott, and more appear on video at BookExpo America, and we share their readings with you.

9) Pam tells you about the Google Librarian Center, which includes free downloadable teaching tools for a number of Google products, including Book Search.

8) The four book views are explained.

7) We celebrate the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week with the ALA.

6) Tom shares our first Google Book Search zeitgeist: a list of most-viewed English language books supplied by our publisher partners for the week of September 17th through 23rd.

5) Ben tells the story of how Bernie Robichau found a familiar face in an obscure and wonderful gem; Jaclyn picks up the genealogy bug months later.

4) Shakespeare in the Park kicks off its 50th year with free performances of Macbeth in Central Park, and we create a place to find and search the Bard's complete plays online.

3) Four new libraries join the Library Project: the University of California, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Complutense University of Madrid, and the University of Virginia.

2) Public domain treasures are made available for downloading.

1) Google Book Search gets a whole new look -- and a number of cool features too.

Here's to a great 2007 filled with even more discovery, more thoughts on cool books and the power of digitization, more exciting announcements, and more tips and tricks straight from the Google Book Search team. Read the full post 0 comments

Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 5:51 PM

Posted by Jaclyn Madden, Google Book Search Support Team

At some point, we’ve all wondered about our ancestors. And with the advent of online genealogy sites, finding them in passenger lists, city directories, and the census has never been easier. Anyone with an internet connection can begin to fill in the names, dates, and places that made up their ancestors’ lives.

These facts, essential to any family tree, certainly provide a solid foundation. But building a story around those dates and places is the true challenge, and it often takes countless hours of diligent research, digging through dusty county histories, squinting at microfilm, and performing gymnastic maneuvers to reach hidden library shelves. To further complicate matters, these important materials are often held at only a few libraries in the world.

But, as many of us (including genealogy blogger Dick Eastman) have discovered, Google Book Search and its partners are making genealogy research a little bit easier, and often a lot more rewarding. By allowing you to search the full text of books, even a simple search on a last name or a place can yield exciting results, from books you may have never thought to look for.

For instance, a search for my ancestor John Carpenter of Jamaica, NY, lists Henry Onderdonk’s Queens County in Olden Times among the results, a public domain book held at only a few libraries in the US, but available in full view through Google Book Search. Another search brings up Flag: An American Biography, which contains the memories of his great-great-great-great-grandson and Civil War veteran Milton Scott Lytle as the 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers were sent off to war. Without Google Book Search, I may have never come across the wonderful stories in these books -- the former because of its rarity, and the latter because, well, why would I think to look for my relative in a book about the flag?

Whether you create family trees as a profession or a hobby, or even if you’re just a bit intrigued, Google Book Search is a great way to broaden your research and better understand the events that shaped your ancestors’ lives. And with our large and continually expanding selection of books, you never know who you may find in your family tree.

Here's another of our genealogical gems. We'd love to hear your story too! Read the full post 0 comments

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 at 3:12 PM

Posted by Bethany Poole, Product Marketing Manager

Riffing off of Dan's post last week about how Google Book Search is great for doing research, I wanted to pass along a story from an author who's using Google Book Search to help write his next book.

I was at a community swimming pool in New York City last summer when I heard about Google Book Search from a friend who works at Google. I had never heard of Google Book Search, but I use Google like everyone else, when I need to get information.

The next day it dawned on me that while I'm in the process of writing a new book, Google Book Search might be a useful tool for my research. I'm writing a biography, so I went to the site and typed in my subject's name. Instantly, I got all these references to books where he appeared. Each reference would give me the 2-3 pages where he was the subject of that particular book, and I could tell from reading that short synopsis whether the book was something I could use. I went out and bought books, borrowed books from libraries, and even tracked down some from my own collection that I hadn't realized before were relevant. In the old days, it would have taken half a day to go the library, find the book, wait for the book and then determine if it helped or not. Now, I can do that work in five to ten minutes. That is truly amazing.

I come down very strongly in favor of what Google is doing. The bottom line is that I wound up going and buying books that I never even knew about while also saving a ton of time on research.

To read more from Warren Kozak, check out his latest book, The Rabbi of 84th Street: The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser.

Have a similar story? We'd love to hear it. Read the full post 0 comments

Thursday, November 02, 2006 at 10:50 AM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

When I read this fashion-loving lexicographer's blog post about stumbling upon a book on shopping in Paris circa 1907 (Sojourning, Shopping & Studying in Paris: A Handbook Particularly for Women) while waiting for a plane, I had to share.

Writes the blog's author:

Here's what Elizabeth Otis Williams has to say about shopping in Paris, before the Great War:

...In England or in America a hat made for a middle-aged woman is often quite too 'old ladyish,' or else it has no character, and its appropriateness consists solely in the fact that it is not noticeable! In Paris a middle-aged lady can get a hat that is suited to her years and yet handsome and stylish; and as for hats for young people, they are bewildering in their variety and beauty.

Isn't this marvelous! And yet it's something that I'd probably never have run across if not for GBS. (...According to WorldCat, twenty-six libraries have the 1907 editions, and two have the edition of 1911.)

Have a similar story? We'd love to hear it. Read the full post 0 comments

Thursday, September 07, 2006 at 6:43 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

In the main lobby at the Googleplex, there's a display showing a three-dimensional globe, with exploding geysers of color representing search queries typed in by people around the world. It's always fascinating -- even a little awe-inspiring -- to see such a vivid demonstration of people's curiosity.

I had a similar feeling the other day when a colleague showed me this blog by Laura James, Esq. -- a true crime aficionado and history buff who tracks down and publishes information about "forgotten true crime stories and the fascinating people who wrote them." One of her recent discoveries: out-of-copyright crime history books in Google Book Search:

So far, the gem of the Google crime collection is Hanging in Chains, a book by Albert Hartshorne published in 1891. The book details severe punishments through time and cultures, covering everything from the disposal of murderers in ancient Egypt all the way up through various European manifestations of severe punishments like gibbeting or hanging in chains -- a punishment not solely reserved for pirates, and one used until well into the nineteenth century. Until Google digitized the book, you'd be hard-pressed to find a copy for less than a hundred bucks. Now it's free.

I can hardly believe our collective luck at having these amazing old books, all of them out of print for generations, free, online, and text-searchable. Wow. Enjoy!

It's great to know we're helping people unearth hard-to-find books that satisfy their curiosity -- about historical events and every other topic imaginable. (Speaking of history, I can't resist adding a pointer to our brand new News Archive Search, which lets people search news articles stretching back more than 200 years. Give it a try.) Read the full post 0 comments

Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 2:27 PM

Posted by Dan Abbe, Book Search Support Team

Google Book Search presents an exciting possibility for researchers of every kind: since each page of each book has its own unique URL, it's easy to share direct citations to individual pages.

Not long ago we told you about how one person, Bernie Robichau, searched for his last name and found details about his family history. But he's hardly alone; there are groups of people investigating their shared ancestry, unearthing and documenting pieces of history they've discovered in books.

One cool example is Alabama Genealogy in Color, a blog written by a group of "family history researchers with African American Alabama ancestry" to share the "triumphs and trials" of their personal research. Check out this post from July 19th to see how the group uses Google Book Search citations to point readers to particular pages in books. Read the full post 0 comments