Despite the ongoing battle over the Google Books scanning project, the search engine giant on Thursday introduced a variety of upgrades to the service, including the ability to embed certain books on Web sites or blogs.
Discussing a certain book on your site and want to allow users to easily read the passage in question? Google has added a section to Books that includes a link and embed code for easy placement, much like the options available on YouTube videos and google map.
"Programmers comfortable with API tools could accomplish this via our Embedded Viewer API, but this new solution is much easier for everyone to use," Brandon Badget, a Google Books product manager, wrote in a blog post. "For readers, this means they can more easily share pages from books you love, while publisher partners can gain even more awareness across the web to promote their books."
Google also improved the search function within each book. If you search for a certain word within the text, for example, Google will return image windows that include the entire sentence for more context. Click on the image and you will be taken directly to that page.
Results will also include "previous" and "next" buttons for easier navigation.
Perusing a magazine but not sure what page you are looking for? The new "thumbnail view" feature will tile a book or periodical's content to give a better overview of what's inside. Click a thumbnail and Google will take you to that page.
Similarly, Books now includes a drop-down menu that will allow you to navigate directly to a certain chapter or article within a magazine.
Google is also making available a plain text mode, which can be helpful for visually impaired readers using text-to-speech software, as well as a page turn button and an improved book overview page.
Discussing a certain book on your site and want to allow users to easily read the passage in question? Google has added a section to Books that includes a link and embed code for easy placement, much like the options available on YouTube videos and google map.
"Programmers comfortable with API tools could accomplish this via our Embedded Viewer API, but this new solution is much easier for everyone to use," Brandon Badget, a Google Books product manager, wrote in a blog post. "For readers, this means they can more easily share pages from books you love, while publisher partners can gain even more awareness across the web to promote their books."
Google also improved the search function within each book. If you search for a certain word within the text, for example, Google will return image windows that include the entire sentence for more context. Click on the image and you will be taken directly to that page.
Results will also include "previous" and "next" buttons for easier navigation.
Perusing a magazine but not sure what page you are looking for? The new "thumbnail view" feature will tile a book or periodical's content to give a better overview of what's inside. Click a thumbnail and Google will take you to that page.
Similarly, Books now includes a drop-down menu that will allow you to navigate directly to a certain chapter or article within a magazine.
Google is also making available a plain text mode, which can be helpful for visually impaired readers using text-to-speech software, as well as a page turn button and an improved book overview page.
source:http://www.appscout.com/2009/06/embed_google_books_selections.php
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