Google Inc., the Internet search provider that wants to make every published book readable online, launched new features for “Google Book Search,” that allow users organize, annotate and lets Web visitors search through the titles in their “My Library” list.
With My Library, users can create lists of links to books and articles in their collections and provide reviews and ratings, Google said today in an e-mailed statement.
Users select books to be included in their library and then annotate their selections by adding labels, writing reviews and rating books. These users can then share their collections with others by sending them a link to their library in Google Book Search.
Google, owner of the biggest Internet search engine, plans to put “the entire world’s books” into digital form, the e-mail said. In 2004, the company started working with universities to make millions of volumes available online. It now has 27 partners, including Harvard University and Japan’s Keio University.
According to Google, the new features allow users to:
Create and search your own library: Now you can create and search your own library built on Google Book Search, which you can organize, annotate, and of course, full text search through the books you select.
“For example, a student could build a collection of sources for an upcoming term paper, and then use Google Book Search to quickly find which book and page contains a needed reference.”
“If the books cannot be downloaded or read online, Google will link to sites where they can be purchased.”
Share your expertise: While you are creating your library, you can also annotate it by adding labels, writing reviews, and rating books. Users can also share their collections with others by sending them a link to your library in Google Book Search. Users can also create RSS feeds with friends so that they are alerted when you add new books to your collections.
Explore popular passages: Google has also added a “Popular Passages” feature, which displays quotations or some other excerpts of a book that appears in a variety of other book sources. For example, this feature can tell that a quote has appeared in more than 140 books from 1759-2007:
“An Original may be said to be of a vegetable nature; it rises spontaneously from the vital root of genius; it grows, it is not made; Imitations are often a sort of manufacture, wrought up by those mechanics, art and labor, out of pre-existent materials…” – Edward Young
By exploring popular passage links, users can see how an excerpt has been used throughout time and discover connections between books.
Select, Clip and Post Text: Another feature that Google has added lets users clip and post portions of text from out-of-copyright books allowing users to share their favorite passages and quotes with others.
Publishers have sued Google for violating copyright law by putting books online. Google says it complies with the “fair use” provision of the law by showing snippets of copyrighted works and only making public-domain works available in their entirety. The suits are pending.
Refine your search: In addition to the many new features that let you interact with Google Book Search, Google has also added search refinement links on the results pages. These links direct users to categories of books that match users search and give you a new way to peruse the index.
Charging For Books:
Google plans to start charging users for full access to some books in its database later this year, the New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the company’s plans. Publishers will set the price of the books and Google will share in the revenue, the Times said.
“We are confident that our efforts will continue to result in benefits for users, publishers and authors, but have nothing specific to announce at this time,” Google spokeswoman Jennifer Parson e-mailed in response to a question about the Times story.
As we continue to digitize the world’s books and the index grows. We hope that these new features inspire you to explore, organize and share your book finds on Google Book Search.
Google makes almost all its money selling ads alongside search results on its own pages and on partners’ Web sites. In addition to upgrading the book site, the Mountain View, California-based company is adding features to Google Maps and the video-sharing site YouTube, as well as improving mobile technology, to attract more ad spending.
You can try out Google Book Search by visiting http://books.google.com.