Google Search Secrets

Citation

Raewyn Adams (2015), "Google Search Secrets", The Electronic Library, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 603-604. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-12-2014-0223

A book written for librarians by librarians is usually worth a second look, and this one certainly is. The layout goes through Google’s functions systematically with an introduction to each followed by a point-by-point description covering functionality, use and any helpful tricks. The book is illustrated throughout with screen shots to make everything totally clear.

The soft cover feels quite floppy at first, but, in using the book, this facilitates its ability to lie flat on a desk, which enhances its usefulness as a library desk reference. The open layout and relatively large font are also appropriate for this purpose. It is easy to browse through and quickly find a specific section.

Most, if not all, readers will already be familiar with Google to some extent. The authors acknowledge that readers may not wish to read the book from cover to cover, but do recommend reading Chapter One first to familiarize themselves with the basics. I thought I knew Google fairly well, but did learn new skills in the basics where functions were new or had changed. The information in the history section is also interesting.

After getting the feel for the layout of the book, it was reasonable to move forward into the chapter on Google Web Search. This is followed by chapters on images, news, videos and maps. Later in the book the chapters cover blogs, Scholar, patents, books and alerts. The order of these chapters did not seem immediately logical to me, as they were neither alphabetical nor arranged in what I feel was the right order of importance. This would likely be a different order for each individual reader so is not really a problem.

The final chapter on tips and tricks is the one that many readers are likely to head to first. It covers Google’s extra features such as language translation, mathematical calculations, public data, etc. Most of these are just simple search defaults, but some are rather clever. Some I had used before but many were new to me and interesting to try out.

My only real criticism of the book is the lack of acknowledgement of the use of browsers other that Internet Explorer. Others are occasionally mentioned in passing but readers need to be aware that many of the features highlighted in the book will look and behave differently according to what browser the user has chosen. I use different browsers between work and home so noticed this factor immediately. Others who are used to just one browser may be disappointed when something looks or works differently from how it is shown in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Google search secrets and feel that it is a good addition to a library’s desk reference collection and also its main collections. Library users are also heavy Google users and I feel would also find the book valuable.