Google Books is a database that was established by Google in 2004 with the goal of digitizing as many books, magazines, and other similar materials as possible. As of now, there are millions of materials that have been scanned and made available in a digital format through the Library Project and the Partner Program. There are many libraries around the world that have contracts with Google to share their collections to be scanned, and in turn made into eBooks that libraries can offer back to their patrons. It is for the most part a mutually beneficial deal that can also benefit people who are conducting research from home.
As a tool for research, Google Books allows people to use key terms to search through their vast catalogue and find specific books pertaining to any topic. The only difficulty is that the broader the topic or keywords, then hundreds if not thousands of books can appear in the search results. It will be useful to decide beforehand on aspects such as specific authors you would like to read from, certain niches within your area of research, and/or an appropriate range of publication dates.
As mentioned both on the Google Books “about” page and in the Natural History Day video, there may be instances of a book showing up in the search results even if it has not been scanned by Google yet. In those cases, only the basic bibliographic information will be displayed.
This video also mentions two alternatives in the situation that Google Books does not have the necessary resources that you were looking for, or if pages happen to be missing from the file:
- The website worldcat.org allows you to check which libraries have complete digital or physical copies of the particular item.
- The staff at your local library may also be able to help you find the item in question, or redirect you to other relevant materials in their catalogue.
Sources
Google. (n.d.). About Google Books – Google Books. Google. https://www.google.com/intl/en/googlebooks/about/index.html
National History Day. (2020, September 15). Quick Digital Research Tips: How to Use Google Books. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYMElFTE6EU
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