The next best thing to being there

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 11:03 AM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Product Marketing Manager

In the spring of 1907 Kenneth Grahame sent his seven-year old son, Alastair (nicknamed 'Mouse'), the first of a series of letters telling the story of a group of animals and their various adventures along the river, in the woods and on the road. These letters, centering on the swaggering Mr. Toad, formed the first whisperings of what would become one of the best-loved children's stories of all time: The Wind in the Willows. (http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/news/2007_feb_23)

Tomorrow, to celebrate World Book Day, Oxford University's Bodleian Library will display these original letters as well as manuscripts and special illustrated editions of this children's classic.

If you happen to be near the Oxford area, you'll be able to view these precious artifacts in person. And while young children from local schools listen to readings from the book in a specially decorated corner of the library's Divinity School, people around the world can explore Grahame's classic tale online through Google Book Search (we have the original 1908 edition digitized as well as multiple in-print versions). You can even take a virtual tour of the Bodleian's exhibit, as the library has made images of the original letters and manuscripts available online. Near or far from Oxford, you'll be able to enjoy The Wind in the Willows and explore the rich history of a story that has delighted readers for a hundred years. Read the full post 0 comments

Buddy Book Searches... and it works!

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

Getting personal with Google Book Search

Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 3:01 PM

Posted by Dan Abbe, Book Search Support Team

It’s safe to say that we write about ourselves a fair amount on this blog. We don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but for this post, we’re going to catch some other writers in the act of writing about themselves. Strange but true: before blogs, people used writing implements such as pen and paper to record their thoughts. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at some of the evidence.

One of the founding works of this genre is certainly St. Augustine’s Confessions. It’s estimated that this book was written around 400 AD, making it one of the first autobiographies ever. For a different brand of confession, you can have a look at Thomas De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium Eater.

Both of these books are interesting reads, but personally, my favorite sort of autobiographical writing is the journal. If you’re nostalgic for the American Revolution, have a gander at the diary of George Washington, or if you’re feeling particularly old school, why not spring for Christopher Columbus’ journal? You can download both of these books if you'd like to catch up on the lives of these figures on the go.

If history’s not to your liking, you can browse Henry David Thoreau’s journal Autumn, which is dominated by the experience of nature. Or explore the minds of two of twentieth-century Europe’s most acclaimed authors, Bertolt Brecht and André Gide, each of whom journaled extensively. There are four volumes to Gide’s journals, all of which are on Google Book Search, and the volume of Brecht’s writings spans 20 years.

Some of these authors had a heightened awareness of their audience — both confessional works, in particular, weren’t written for the benefit of the authors themselves but rather for the reader. Now that all of these books are part of Google Book Search, they’re open to everything from scholarly searches to the most inane of queries. You can discover the most revelatory minutiae of towering figures of literature and history just as easily as you can call up the most useless facts about their lives. Out of all the works I’ve listed here, guess who writes most frequently about their breakfast? Trust me, it’s not even close: George Washington.

Update: George Washington's journal is not currently available as a PDF download. We're working to include this option on all public domain works. Read the full post 0 comments

Find some love (stories) this Valentine's Day

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 at 9:24 AM

Posted by Katharine Lu, Book Search Support Team

This Valentine's Day, it's easy to get in the mood for love by reacquainting yourself with some classic love stories with Google Book Search. Try re-reading the star crossed love affair of Romeo and Juliet, or if you're looking for something more modern, there's always Jay Gatsby's dream of winning over Daisy. Though Pride and Prejudice has been made in to a movie four times now, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett remain an excellent choice for those inkling for some romantic bickering.

While some have argued that poetry has died, the poetic form has been and is still associated with love and its many expressions. So if you love poetry, you can count the ways Shakespeare wrote sonnets about a summer's day or John Keats composed odes to beauty and truth.

And if you want to show your devilish charm throughout the year, there are plenty of ideas on how you can. Whether you look through old books on love or read the geeky guide to romance (according to The Princess Bride), go ahead and browse whatever your heart desires. Read the full post 0 comments

From the (personal) mail bag: Books on film

Monday, February 12, 2007 at 10:13 AM

Posted by Dan Abbe, Book Search Support Team

My friend Neal is a production assistant, and recently he asked me if I knew of any good books about film production or screenwriting he could check out on Google Book Search. I told him that I would answer via a blog post, so others might discover a new book or two as well.

Hey Neal,

Like I said, I’m going to answer your question about screenwriting and film production books on Google Book Search through this blog post. I thought it might be useful to start us off in the early days of cinema before bringing us up to the present day.

The Lumière brothers are widely credited with advancing the first cinematic technology, but there’s a lot of other interesting film devices that developed in the 19th century. For example, take the zoopraxiscope, which was pioneered by Eadweard Muybridge. It’s a precursor to modern cinematic technology that was described as “a magic lantern run mad.” Even further, the author of this description said he was “afraid that, had Muybridge exhibited his ‘Zoopraxiscope’ thirty years earlier, he would have been burnt for a wizard.”

But you asked about screenwriting and film production. If you’re looking for an overview of these subjects, I’d suggest taking a look at Screenwriting in the 21st Century and Film Production Management. You’ll be able to find a lot more titles similar to these by taking a look at the ‘Related books’ section, which you’ll find on the ‘About this book page for each title.

To take your film production to the next level, have a look at Film Production Theory, which will place your work in the context of European critical theory — save this one for a rainy day.

As for refining your screenwriting skills, why not learn from a master? I would check out the screenplay for Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll see on the page how you don’t need much dialogue to produce a powerful effect. Here’s a book called Aristotle in Hollywood, which you might enjoy if Greeks are more your thing. If you want a more philosophical view of screenwriting, have a look at The Way of the Screenwriter, which was published in 2006, so the title could very well be a Ghost Dog reference. For a historical perspective, there are also some interesting older titles like Writing for the Photoplay (1919) and Photoplay Scenarios: How to Write and Sell Them (1915) which you can read in full.

Well, I hope that you’ve found this useful. Definitely take a look at the ‘Related books’ to find more useful books in this vein. Thanks, Neal, for asking about these books, and enjoy your experience with Google Book Search.

Dan

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Add Book Search results to your site

Wednesday, February 07, 2007 at 11:35 AM

Posted by Posted by Leslie Yeh, Product Manager

Why not add a cool book widget to your website? The AJAX Search API now supports Google Book Search and comes with an easy way to add a dynamic "book bar" to your web page or blog.

I created the one below by plugging in "wedding plans" and "flower arrangements" — two subjects I've been interested in lately.

Just tell us what your website is about, and we'll generate the code you need to add a bookshelf of titles related to it. It's a cool way to show off your favorite books and add interesting content to your site. Find out more about the book bar on the AJAX Search API blog. Read the full post 0 comments

Remembering Dickens

Tuesday, February 06, 2007 at 7:09 PM

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

February 7th marks the 195th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, among one of my favorite authors. We love him for his altogether unforgettable characters — both good and truly evil, his teeming representations of life in the mid-1800s and his generous sense of humor.

Rather than read every Dickens work, I savor one per year — working hard not to read them all too quickly. While I cannot help but ration my Dickens as there will be no more books forthcoming, back when he was writing, people greedily gobbled up his stories as they appeared in serials.

In celebration of his life, let us think about the rabid eagerness the people on the docks in Baltimore must have been feeling as the boat carrying the last chapter of The Old Curiosity Shop and the fate of Little Nell pulled in. A review by none other than Edgar Allen Poe (Chapter 3), describes the frenetic scene in which several people were pushed to their watery deaths by the restless crowd.

Today, getting to my next installment of Dickens is not quite so perilous. In the process of looking into Mr. Dickens for this post, I just came across a preface for an 1861 version of The Old Curiosity Shop by someone as big a fan as I am today. Checking my own bookshelves, I discovered I had somehow lent out or misplaced my own copy, so I browsed Google Book Search further and found an in-print edition to order. I got started with the 1861 version online, but I can't wait to get that Dickens' masterpiece back in my hand. Read the full post 0 comments

Welcoming Princeton University to the Library Project

Monday, February 05, 2007 at 9:10 AM

Posted by Jodi Healy, Library Partnerships Team

Today, I'm excited to announce that we have a new partner in the Google Book Search Library Project: Princeton University. Over the next several years we will work with Princeton to identify approximately one million public domain works to digitize from their library system, which consists of the Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library and thirteen special libraries located around the campus. Because the books being digitized with Princeton are out of copyright, readers will be able to view their full text online, download them for leisure reading or research, or print them for later reference.

We look forward to working with Princeton to make works from these libraries available not only to the students and researchers of Princeton, but a broad audience of students, researchers and book lovers around the world. Read the full post 0 comments

Some thoughts on books in our digital world

Thursday, February 01, 2007 at 2:52 PM

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Not too long ago, we organized Unbound: Advancing Book Publishing in a Digital World, a conference examining how the book business has changed and how it will continue to evolve. Publishers from every part of the industry — some who are already part of the Google Books Partner Program and some who are not — heard from thought leaders and industry veterans who are taking advantage of our increasingly digital world.

One presenter summed it up quite nicely:

The future of the book is secure. It's what we do with it, how we promote it, how we develop it, and how we put new layers of meaning around it in a digital context which becomes extremely important.

From positive posts, like this summary from GalleyCat, to this more critical review from if:book, we've seen mentions of Unbound on a number of blogs.

Want to see some of what Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Cory Doctorow, Tim O'Reilly, and others had to say? Check out this short video of highlights:

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