Tools - Google Print

Google is once again proving itself an innovator as a provider of online search services. This time they have extended their reach off-line into the card catalogues and stacks of libraries and the inventories of publishers all over the world. The creation of Google Print will allow for the quick retrieval of all information pertinent to almost any publication in the world.
Once you open the Google Print search page, you are given access to two programs. Google Print Publisher Program allows publishers and authors to submit publications for listing. If the title you are searching for is in that database you will be directed to a page containing its submitted information. You will be given the choice of either examining a couple of pages from the text and availability information, or short excerpts plus information.
If the book your searching for is in a library, the Google Print Library Project will provide your results. If the book is no longer copyrighted, you will be free to browse through the complete text at your leisure. Otherwise, only information similar to the publishing program will be available. The only difference being that instead of the option to buy, you will be able to enter your zip code to ascertain the location of a library near by where you can obtain a copy.
Of course, as this is Google, you will also be offered a number of related search options: find reviews, other web sites related to the book, information about the publisher, or even refine your original search to find passages that link to other pages in the book.
As a research tool, this will prove invaluable for people developing a bibliographic database prior to beginning a project. Simply enter your topic keywords and any book whose content matches that subject will be called up from either program. Imagine how quickly you will be able to develop a listing of books most appropriate for your work.
It seems that some people aren’t happy about this program. According to this article in Publishers Weekly publishers have got their knickers in a twist over the copyright implications and the manner in which Google is creating its data base for Google Print Library Program