WHAT IS GOOGLE BOOKS?
Google Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converts it, and stores it in their digital database.
A click on a result from Google Books opens an interface in which the user may view pages from the book, if out of copyright or if the copyright owner has given permission. Books in the public domain are available in "full view" and free for download. For in-print books where permission has been granted, the number of viewable pages is limited to a "preview". For books where permission for a "preview" has been refused, only permission for "snippets" may be allowed, but the full text of the book is searchable on this limited basis.
HOW DOES GOOGLE BOOKS WORK?
To find a book, a person would search a specific title or genre into the search-bar. Depending on how popular the book is or how specific the genre is, you could get anywhere from 1 to 30+ results. Click HERE for a tutorial on how to read free eBooks using Google Books.
(Example of what a book preview would look like using Google Books. This book would be one of the ones that would cost the user some money.)
(The inside of a free, ready to read eBook)
WHY SHOULD I USE GOOGLE BOOKS?
Google books has thousands of books for any interests and can be used on iPhones, Androids, and on the computer! You can take your book wherever you go! Plus there is also an app for Google Books that is connected through Google Play. If the book you want is available for a free e-book download, then you save some money.
WHY WOULD I USE THIS IN SCHOOL?
Teachers would be able to have students log onto iPads or computers, sign in with their student email/ID, and be able to read, highlight, and take notes on a book in school. Plus students will be able to read this book on a computer or tablet at home.
Great post, Rebecca. Did you know that when Google scans a book and their computers have trouble converting it to text, the troublesome words are sent to ReCAPTCHA, Google's version of the device where you type in a scrambled word to prove you're human? Not only does it prove your humanity, you help to digitize old books for all of us to read online!
ReplyDeleteEvan, that is an interesting addendum to this article. Do you have a link to more info on this process?
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting Google tool. Thanks for sharing about it with us. As a teacher, if I wanted to check a piece of writing from a student as plagiarism, this tool could be useful as well since the data in Google Books search is different than the data in a general Google web search.
ReplyDeleteFrom the reCAPTCHA homepage,
ReplyDeletereCAPTCHA digitizes books by turning words that cannot be read by computers into CAPTCHAs for people to solve. Word by word, a book is digitized and preserved online for people to find and read.