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Klausgraf's bookmarks 2018-09-10
Summary:
Can a Google Custom Search help identify free eBooks?
Published 10 September 2018 by Klaus Graf
Why not? The involvement of a spiritual healer could also be useful in certain circumstances.
As you know, I am not a friend of such search tools (CSE):
What is not included in Google's index will not be found by a CSE either. And ranking problems that prevent relevant hits from being found are not alien to a CSE either.
In "Using Google's Custom Search Engine Product to Discover Scholarly Open Access and Cost-Free eBooks from Latin America" (http://hdl.handle.net/10760/32751) you will find a useful literature review on Google's CSE. The created CSE can be found at https://cse.google.com/ . Parameter file format: pdf
- File Format: pdf
Query Addition: (pdf OR epub) AND libro -issn
abstract
Search these sites: *.org *.edu *.gob *.ar *.bo *.br
*.bz *.cl *.co *.cr *.cu *.do *.ec *.gt *.hm *.hn *.mx
*.nl *.pe *.pr *.pt *.py *.sv *.uy *.ve
- Domains and URL Patterns Excluded:
*.org/*artic*
*.edu/*artic*
*.org/*revista*
*.edu/*revista*
*.gob/*artic*
*.gob/*revista*
Academia.edu
Five different thematic searches are tried out. About 50% of the 500 results were the searched free ebooks.
WorldCat does not do a good job: "Of the 247 total monograph results, 135 (55 %) were found in OCLC WorldCat in the corresponding printed edition. Of these results, only 19 WorldCat records (18 %) included links to any open access or free copy of the eBook edition". Therefore the author is convinced: "the results emphasize the urgent need to consider open access scholarly monograph preservation and access".
Since it depends on matching search queries what you get, the instrument is NOT suitable for providing a systematic overview of all free ebooks that are in Google's index from Latin America. However, I would like to admit that it may be able to support such searches, which perhaps best emanate from well-known large providers, in a meaningful way.
The (extremely useful) cataloguing of such free ebooks by libraries (and free projects) must not be separated from the question of their permanent accessibility. What is the use of a catalogue if the ebook is lost?
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator