July 1, 2009
Google Books
I use Google Books frequently when trying to turn up interlibrary loan material(s) that have been requested with part of a citation missing, or if I cannot verify a citation. Google Books is also great for finding recreational reading. I like the fact that the book cover is indexed with many of the titles.
Google Books for mobile is now available for Android and iPhone users.
You may have seen Google in the news as publishers were concerned about the copyright implications of the Google Books service. However, Google has reached a groundbreaking agreement with authors and publishers. Click on the link to see particulars of this agreement. Bottom line-books that are in the public domain and no longer covered by copyright restrictions can be viewed online or downloaded, free of charge.
http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement/#5
Here is a bit of the agreement, from the Google Books site, describing The Library Project:
“We’ve partnered with renowned libraries around the world to include their collections in Book Search. For Library Project books that are still in copyright, our results are like a card catalog; we show you info about the book and, generally, a few snippets of text showing your search term in context.
For Library Project books that are out of copyright, however, you can read and download the entire book.”