Google Print (Beta) is up and running!

[Ninong]

Wow! This is great!

http://print.google.com/

I was afraid that you wouldn't get much from copyrighted books because of the unsettled legal disputes but I was suprised at how much you actually can see.

For example, I entered the word "Acropora" just to see what I would get. I got 1,030 hits. The first one listed was Ecology of the Indonesian Seas (this is the two-volume set that Eric Borneman uses as a text in his online tutorial). They actually show 76 full pages! And that's a book that is still copyright protected.

Books without copyright protection are supposedly available in full. I haven't bothered to check anything else yet. Oh, I did enter a few phrases in languages other than English just for the heck of it and I got results. Amazing results. This is going to be incredible!

Check it out for yourselves!

[GaryZ]

Should I bump that thread about the reef books and repose the question?

[Ninong]

Should I bump that thread about the reef books and repose the question?

Not exactly.

Any "reef books" that contain current information would still be copyright protected and Google is involved in legal disputes with the publishers right now on that issue. To tell you the truth, I was surprised at how much they are giving out from copyrighted books.

I wonder where this whole field will be ten years from now? Just think about it, ten years ago was when Windows 95 came out and revolutionized home computers. Who knows where we will be by 2015. I admit that I'm a certified computerphobe but even I like what you can do with the stupid things when they aren't on the blink.

[GaryZ]

Even if you cant get the whole volume. It will be nice to be able to at least preview protected books. Or get a jist from a book that someone has recommended. Very cool. As a matter of fact, I'm going to preview that book you recommended in that Reef Book thread.

[Penguin]

Very cool project. Too bad they are being sued.