Thing #14: Google Books!

I already mentioned my interest in the digitization of books in my "any technology that interests you" blog entry. So it's no surprise that I am familiar with Google Books. I use it frequently, in fact. Particularly when I am looking at a book to make an order card for or thinking of buying one personally that we don't have a copy of here. The Google Library project has some amazing institutions associated with it, so I think only good things are to come from such a collaboration--particularly for people like us who live in rural areas. Most public libraries can only give you access to so much via their own collections. It's wonderful to have an alternative for accessing hard to find books other than interlibrary loan...or a trip to Oxford! And the search feature is great for someone who is really trying to narrow down within a book.