List of all magazines now available in Google Books

Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 9:21 AM

Posted by Jeffrey Peng, Software Engineer, Google Books

I'm a software engineer on Google Books. One of my main projects is adding magazine content and features to the site. In September we were excited to announce the availability of over 1,860 issues of the iconic LIFE magazine on Google Books. One of the feature requests that I got from friends and family was to add a way to browse all the magazines available. Someone even created a Facebook group called Get Google Magazine Search to provide a list of indexed titles. The group has 45 members and growing, so before it reached millions of members and there were protests in front of my house, I decided that I better act fast. I'm happy to announce that last week I coded up a page on Google Books that lets you browse the available magazine titles. You can view the page here.



I can't promise that I can respond to every Internet protest with a feature addition, but you're always invited to send us feedback here. Rest assured that we're working hard to make the magazine browse, search, and reading experience better each month. Happy reading!

Announcing the winners for the 10 Days in Google Books contest - Part III

Friday, October 30, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Posted by Hicham Alaoui, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google Books


Following our first announcement this week, here is the third and final set of winning entries for the 10 Days in Google Books contest. As a reminder, to enter the contest users had to submit a short essay describing what the experience of reading will be like in 100 years.

"Out jogging, Jim spied a news stand, its spire bright red. Looking at it, his ocular implant scrolled headlines about the stand. Seeing one that caught his fancy, a quick motion towards the stand debited his account, and brought the story scrolling over his vision as he continued."

Alexander Hollins, Phoenix, AZ

"Well the problem with reading in the year 2109 is we will at that point in time just start creating paper once again, and then its about another 1000+ years till we invent the press again. What am I talking about? 21 Dec 2012! EVERYONE RUN!"

Lowell Wann, Albuquerque, NM

"One innovation of the future will be real time novelists who craft their stories online as readers interact with the writer and each other, commenting, questioning, and pleading for their favorite characters to achieve deserved greatness or avoid gruesome death."

Jonah Hurwitz, Coral Springs, FL

"Now available in attractive spex, signet ring, wristband, or pendant! Our full-on interactive holographic projection readers connect you to a world of information. News from around the world, classic novels, instant info on any topic, presented in your personalized reading style: language, video, pictograms or symbols. No wireless fee!"

Cheryl Kuchman, Sacramento, CA

"Ah, but to have a book read to you. That will be one of the great advances. Imagine a mechanism which takes a sample of a voice, perhaps from your own memory, and extrapolates a narator's voice from the sample. Choose Grandpa or Winston Churchill to read to you."

Alan S. Gardner, Milo, IA

"Libraries will become time travel portals, and readers will become adventurers, taking a trip to the time period during which the book was written. Immersion into the time period will allow readers to have a more connected experience, and to better grasp the context wherein the book was created."

Shaina Dyson, Taylorsville, NC

"A grown man shrieks in horror! Frightened children cry throughout the museum as their teacher is carted off by paramedics. It was the first papercut this town has seen in decades. Horrible to think how just a century ago, children everywhere were being sliced daily in the pursuit of knowledge."

Kristopher Blake, Norristown, PA

"Touch the bump behind my ear, images of words readily appear. Favorite books to my delight, all within my line of sight. I am traveling today, so I command, "Autosay"! The Literary visions fade, replaced by voice narration (as I bade). Reading, a century changed, unlocked using our brilliant brain!"

Lisandra Sletton, Phoenix, AZ

"For children, the pastime of reading is challenged by other forms of communication and entertainment. In 100 years, traditional reading material (e.g., novels, etc) will be incorporated into multi-media experiences like video games allowing for both classics and new literary works to compete using the latest pop culture preferences."

Jade Harris, New York, NY

"In 100 years reading will be free. There will be no banned books and people of all ages will have access to the vast choices available. Currently taboo books will be discussed openly, and without hatred, amongst the literate."

Brittani Dayton, Mason, OH

Announcing the winners for the 10 Days in Google Books contest - Part II

Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 9:45 AM

Posted by Hicham Alaoui, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google Books

Following our first announcement this week, here is the second set of winning entries for the 10 Days in Google Books contest. As a reminder, to enter the contest users had to submit a short essay describing what the experience of reading will be like in 100 years.

"It's Earth Memorial Day. Under the Martian sunset's romantic glow, Janet removes her shirt. "What's on your back?" her boyfriend Carl asks. "Part of a book. Did you know books once were printed on murdered biomatter? Isn't that awful? I temptatooed myself in memory of the trees..." "Um," says Carl."

Rachel Sealfon, Cambridge, MA

"Although I've been dead for 35 years, in 2109 my great-great-grandson and I read stories together through our telepresence system. He wrinkles his nose when I bring up a favorite story from my boyhood, leading me to chastise him, "don't judge an ebook by its icon."

Len Wanger, Chicago, IL

"We almost returned to paper, when the oil ran short and dear. The technologists saved us again, folks said they wouldn't, but their eink, memristors and led lamps take less power than their solar cells and thermal engines make. We don't read by candlelight. But we almost did."

Kim Reece, Duarte, CA

"I placed my book on the nightstand next to me and turned off the light. Then in a soft voice, my book picked up where it had left off earlier in the evening. Bookmark it please, I asked the book, and it hummed in quiet, literate, satisfaction."

Michael Gillespie, Charleston, SC

"I pause, run my thumb across the pages and smell the paper. Tonight a classic. Finding it on the shelf, I gently tap my book to its spine. Pages dance and the cover transforms, firmware upgraded so embossing works nicely. Rewrite complete. Config loaded, coffee brewed. Call me old fashioned."

Gavin Cheng, Silppery Rock, PA

"7/27/2109 - Dear Diary, "Someone" swiped my reading glasses today and I had to use the PUBLIC glasses at the libary. Disgusting! The ancient things didn't even accept retinal commands so I had to use the 'page' button. My brother is SO dead!"

Alan Hald, Adams, NE

"Even my great-great-grandchildren will still need paper books to read, because somehow 'Goodnight Moon' is not the same unless the child can take it to bed and slowly love the book to death. Every child who has this experience will never stop loving physical books as mementos of childhood."

David Smedberg, Washington DC

"She was late for class, stuffing books into her bag: biology, chemistry, the complete works of Shakespeare, the English dictionary, the every language everywhere dictionary, the Galactic Encyclopedia. As she strode out the door, ping! A newly discovered chemical element had been added to her chemistry book."

Sonja Harpstead, New York, NY

"Reading (PA city, Monopoly railroad, ESL) will (intention, testament, onomastics) no (negative, nitrous oxide, kana) longer (Dan Fogelberg, unrequited love, anatomy) be (degree, copula, beryllium) linear (y = mx + b, Cretan script, asteroid detection)!"

Sandy Lawrence, Delanson, NY

"Power: ON Resume: The Great Gatsby page 17 Activate reader theme: Classical 20th Century--Gilded Age. Music: ON Contextualizer: ON [..her eyes moved gradually out into the velvet dusk]. User-initiated Query: velvet dusk. Accessing Wikipedia: Dusk "Dusk is the beginning of darkness in the evening." End query. Resume reading."

Gabriel Loupe, Boston, MA

Announcing the winners for the 10 Days in Google Books contest!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 9:23 AM

Posted by Hicham Alaoui, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google Books

In his 1901 book Anticipations, H.G. Wells predicted how the world would develop in the 20th century. Here with a different set of predictions are the winners from the 10 Days in Google Books contest we held this summer.

To enter the contest, users had to submit a short essay describing what the experience of reading will be like in 100 years. After combing through some tens of thousands of submissions, we're excited to present the winners, who will each receive a Sony Reader.

The winning entries range from science fiction to drama, from heartfelt to humorous, and demonstrate the wide range of thought and uniquely personal connection that people have with books and reading. The entries were selected based on a number of creative factors including originality and expression of the theme. (Please note, the opinions expressed in these essays in no way represent the view of Google or those of us working on the Google Books team.)

With that said, congratulations to our first 10 winners. Stay tuned this week for the other winning entries!

"A completely immersive experience. Seeing, feeling, smelling. I run, I jump, I fall. My heart races as I experience it. And then, as I get closer... "Stop reading" I hear. "Come do your chores." I'll have to land tomorrow."

Richard Stewart, Famington, UT

"Books will still exist for those who have not chosen The Implant. The rest of us will mentally turn on the Neural Implant Knowledge Stream anytime we like and let it run subconsciously. We'll control the "volume" mentally, allowing us to tune in -or out- the things around us."

George Beecher, Lawrenceville, GA

"When you walk by a book in the bookstore or your home library, the books, if determined to be of interest to you, will call out your name and given a short description of themselves to you."

Jacob P. Silvia, Houston, TX

"In twenty-one-o-nine, they'll make a new vine. It will flex and twist and sway, and words will form in such a way. When news is bad, and life is hard, you'll read it from your luscious yard. It's hard to feel any despair, when standing in the garden air."

Richard Call, Sonora, CA

"Books will come equipped with music players specially designed to play complementary music to the books as they are being read. Music will change as different events take place, much like the soundtrack to a movie."

Shaina Dyson, Taylorsville, NC

"In 100 years, most modern literature will be written by apes. Through the haphazardly combined efforts of global warming and cosmetic testing gone horribly wrong, apes will develop the skills to read and write. Many critics will be bludgeoned to death for bad reviews by tortured ape artists."

Erik Good, San Jose, CA

"In 100 years, reading will still be a popular way to wind down from a hard day. Stories will be read to sleepy children before being tucked in. The way we access books might change, but those who love reading will continue to make it a part of daily life."

Jennifer Garcia, Hartford, CT

"Reading a book will be prescribed as a relaxing activity for folks with a variety of health concerns. There will emerge a variety of "reading spas" where people can go to read books in calming environs."

Adam Ness, Long Beach, CA

"My daughter will celebrate her 100th birthday in the year 2109. Aging vision will not deny her the pleasure of reading a book; rather, the whole library of human civilization will be accessible and portable. Textual appearances will adapt. Pages will flood with summoned content: words, images, and sounds interacting."

Andy Unrein, Scottsbluff, NE

"100 years from now reading will still inspire, inform, and entertain. Students will have not only the local library but the entire world's library at their fingertips. Information abundance will be organized so as to be useful and relevant, leading to informed decision making."

Nadine DeMartino, Anaheim, CA

LIFE magazine now available on Google Books

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 7:20 AM

Posted by Brandon Badger, Product Manager

When I was a kid I used to enjoy thumbing through a collection of older magazines that my grandfather had at his house. I remember flipping through the pages and feeling as though I was peeking through a window into life from decades past. Unfortunately, we lost my grandfather's magazines some time ago, and we've never quite managed to recreate his collection. But I know that if we could, those magazines would be just as fascinating today as they were years ago, which is why we've been partnering with publishers to digitize magazines and bring them online.

I'm excited to announce that starting today, visitors to Google Books will be able to search and browse even more magazines on Google Books. We've partnered with Life Inc. to digitize LIFE Magazine's entire run as a weekly: over 1,860 issues, covering the years from 1936 to 1972. Most of us are familiar with the term "American Century," but chances are few of us have been able to read Henry Luce's defining editorial in its original context, a 1941 issue of LIFE. You'll be able to find and read Leonard McCombe’s iconic cover and photo essay on a Texas Cowboy and Richard Meryman's famous last interview with Marilyn Monroe. You can find a 1968 cover story on Georgia O'Keeffe (which you may want to read if you're visiting the Whitney Museum anytime soon).

You'll even find Alfred Eisenstadt's famous photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on VJ Day in 1945.

This is part of a broader effort across Google to help bring offline content online and allow people to find it with a simple Google web search. In addition to viewing these and other extraordinary photographs printed in the original issues of LIFE, you can also search and browse millions of individual photos produced by LIFE on Google Image Search. The LIFE photography collection on Google Image Search includes more than 10 million images, 97 percent of which were never published in the magazine. Both are blended into Google Web Search, so when you do a search from google.com, you're also searching millions of images and thousand of magazine issues from LIFE.

To start your journey through history, hop on over to Google Books where you can browse through all the available issues of LIFE. Be sure to try out our recently launched Thumbnail View to see the layout of all the pages in the magazine.

You can filter your search to magazine content by choosing "Magazines" for the content type on the advanced search panel on Google Books.

You can also use the magazines filter in the Search Options Panel in web search.

Discover Books and Magazines using Search Options

Friday, September 18, 2009 at 9:55 AM

Posted by Matthew Gray, Grant Dasher, and Garrett Rooney, Google Books Software Engineers

Earlier this year, we introduced the Search Options panel in web search, making it easier to perform queries that limit results to a particular type of content- such as videos, forums, and reviews. We are now making it even easier to find books and magazines by making all of the content on Google Books searchable using the Search Options panel.

This will provide easier access to books and magazines by letting you slice and dice your results with certain characteristics. For example, you can now search for only books or magazines or for only content that you can preview in Google Books.



Try this yourself when you search the web using Google by clicking "Show options..." and selecting "Books".

Please note that this is currently only available in the United States, but we look forward to making this available elsewhere in the future.

Books Digitized by Google Available via the Espresso Book Machine

Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 9:46 AM

Posted by Brandon Badger, Product Manager

I'm a sucker for a cool piece of technology. The Espresso Book Machine, which can print a book in minutes before your eyes, fits the bill. If sentient robots ever succeed in taking over the world, this is how they will print their books.

We founded Google Books on the premise that anyone, anywhere, anytime should have the tools to explore the great works of history and culture. We recently made available over a million free public domain books for viewing and download from our web site. Reading digital books can be an enjoyable experience, but we realize that there are times when readers want a physical copy of a book. To that end, I'm excited to announce that we're partnering with On Demand Books to allow readers to purchase public domain books digitized by Google from any Espresso Book Machine at bookstores and libraries around the world.

Here's some video footage of the Espresso machine in action:

We believe in an open ecosystem where people can access and read books, whether at a computer, on their phone or electronic reader, or from their local library or bookshop. This announcement is yet one more step towards fulfilling that mission: it helps people find and read these books in more ways.