Customer Reviews

Google Pocket Guide

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Review
When I got this book from O'Reilly, my first thought was "How cute! A little book for people who can't figure out a search engine." After reading it, I either have to include myself in that group or change my opinion of the book. This is really good stuff!

I knew there was more to Google than what I was probably using. I've seen the Google groups area, I've used the image area, and of course I've done web searches. But I didn't realize the power of the search syntax they use on the site. I didn't know that you can restrict searches to document types, include/exclude sites or domains, include/exclude based on posted/updated date, decide whether you want the search term in the title, the entire page, or as part of an anchor link. I didn't realize you could modify the URL on the fly to refine your search without going back to the search page each time. I didn't know anything about Froogle. And I definitely didn't know you could change your interface page to a variety of languages, including Klingon and pig Latin!

In a very concise, readable manner, the authors show you all you need to know to get started with the creation of much more powerful searches than you've had in the past. And they repeatedly emphasize that learning how to use Google is best done by experimentation. After reading this book (and it won't take you that long), you'll never view web searches in quite the same way again.

Conclusion
I used to say that if you give me five minutes, I can find what I'm looking for on the web. After reading this book, I may have to revise that to three minutes. If you get a chance to get this book, do so!

I've always said "What good is a resource if you don't know how to use it?" Imagine walking into your public library and not being able to differentiate between fiction and nonfiction books, or being incapable of deciphering the Catalog Retrieval System to find your book.

With the plethora of obscure information at the deepest reaches of the Internet, you clearly understand the ramifications of not using a top notch search engine. To that end, Google is unmistakably and unequivocally the best search engine available in assisting you with your searches.

O'Reilly's Google Pocket Guide, by Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, and
DJ Adams, should be required reading for not only learning the capabilities of Google, but for getting the most out of your searches as well. They say we only use 10% of our brains (don't quote me on that, but just go with it). I guarantee the majority of Google users tap into less than 10% of the search engine's voluminous capabilities.

The Google Pocket Guide is 129 pages broken down into four main sections complete with an appendix and Syntax Summary (very useful). Part 1 explains exactly what Google is and isn't. It also provides a concise overview of how to improve your Google search results. Part 2 called "Asking for What You Want," should be considered Google 101. Here you will find the essentials such as Phrase Searches, Basic Boolean, and putting the wild cards to work for you. The Google "Advanced Search" is demystified as well. You will also find special syntax searches and how to mix them to create powerful possibilities in your investigative quests. Part 3 is all about making Google work for you and understanding the results you requested. This includes not only setting preferences, but how to interpret the results of your Google search. Additional coverage is provided in the "Anatomy of a Search Result" and how Google guides your questionable spellings to assist you. Part 4 for many will be like opening up a whole new world of Google services that will absolutely amaze you! I'm not going to give the store away, but I will tell you this-you will become a much smarter and more resourceful individual after reading this section.

As a person that lives and dies by the Internet, I can tell you the Google Pocket Guide is the best ... investment you can make to grow your web experience. Resist your fast food drive-through lunch and go to the bookstore with your [$$]instead...nourishing your mind is a much better alternative!

The Google Pocket Guide contains a lot of good information in a small package. But - a book about how to make better use of Google? Isn't this information on the web already? For free!?! Well, some of it is but most of it isn't. Beyond presenting the various Google services and the syntax for using them the authors share tips and suggestions for getting the most out of this really cool set of tools.

The book goes over searching the web including the advanced search page and the advanced search operators (or special syntax) that Google provides. How operators can be combined to improve your search and what combinations to avoid is discussed. The ten-word limit on search terms and how to get around it is also presented. How to interpret the results you get, how to tweak the URLs you receive back to improve results, and when and why you should (or shouldn't) pay attention to Google's spelling suggestions make up the third section.

Part IV presents the other services and tools that Google provides beyond web searching, suggestions on how to use these tools effectively, and the advanced operators available. The last section of the book provides a quick syntax summary and an overview of Julian dates.

The discussions of Julian dates and the daterange: operator are good examples of the value the Google Pocket Guide provides. The book talks about how Google uses Julian dates for date restricted web searching. OK, you could find this out on Google's site if you know where to look. But there is more! The book also mentions that the Julian date associated with a page is when Google indexed the page not when it was made available to the web - a subtle but important distinction.

Overall I found this book an informative and easy read. My only concern is how current the information will remain since, as the authors point out, Google has been adding capabilities slowly over time. However, this concern is greatly outweighed by having the information available. This book is a good, quick reference to Google. Add it to your utility belt!

Book Review: Google Pocket Guide
By Gregory West
Editor, SCUG Report
Sarnia Computer User's Group - www.scug.ca

By Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, and D.J. Adams
Published by O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
Category: Internet Search Engine.
ISBN: 0-596-00550-4
Format: Paperback, 129pp
U.S. $9.95 / CAN. $15.95

For many, surfing the Net is a matter of going to Google (or any other search engine) and simply typing in a name, a phrase, or any relative brief statement that will hopefully bring them the desired results for their search. However, for a lot of people today, surfing the Net is a very cumbersome job, and nets very few exacting effects. In fact, many surfers will find the results to their search in the millions - yes millions of web pages that are offering the right answer to a desired query. At first, this is fun to see all those pages, but after a few scrolls down the item list of possible correct sights, one soon gets discouraged and the sites that have no real information regarding the initial request.

So, how does the serious surfer get the information they request in Google? How does one eliminate a few million hits down to a more manageable search? It is not easy, yet with the help of Google Pocket Guide you will be able to narrow down and zero in on the item you are searching. As the authors claim, "The Internet is not a library" as many now believe. In fact, the authors point out that "So search engine - not even Google - knows everything." But with the guidance of this easy-to-follow pocket guide, you can certainly target your search to a much more manageable result, thus saving you hours of frustration and possible failure to disclose any relevant information you desire.

The book takes you from a "Simple Example" to an "Advance Search" guiding you along in each step to successful searches. The table of contents is clearly marked out, the main parts are in BOLD text for a quick and easy reference. You are taken on a quick tour of the relevant ways in which Google works, using syntax, wildcards, exacting query wording, phrase searches, basic Boolean, and much more. Part III, "UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU GET", goes into detail about interface language, search language, SafeSearch Filtering and more...this all sounds quite technical, but the Google Pocket Guide explains all this technical stuff in very easy-to-follow language, and it gives you the basics of how and what Google is doing while you surf. Part IV highlights Google's other services and features that can save you even more time and narrow your searches to specific areas, such as News, Images, Browsing Groups, Stock Trading, Searching Article Archives and much more.

For the more adventurous surfer Google Pocket Guide explains how to find Technical Definitions, Consulting Phonebooks, Directories of Information, Finding Weblog Commentary. The Google Toolbar is a great add-on to your web browser and the how-to-install is easily explained herein. Don't forget to check out the "Googling with Bookmarklets". These Bookmarklets "are like bookmarks but with an extra bit of JavaScript magic added. This makes them more interactive than regular bookmarks; they can perform small functions like opening a window, grabbing highlighted text from a web page, or submitting a query to a search engine."

As you can see, surfing the Net is changing and Google is at the forefront of this change. Surfing with the guidance of the Google Pocket Guide is not only extremely efficient, but also it is fun to check out all the various features that make surfing a much more efficient and enjoyable adventure. Happy Googling!

Gregory West is the Editor of SCUG Report www.scug.ca and affiliated with the Association of Personal Computer User Groups www.apcug.net.

Like all great products, the ability to start using it should be instant, but the possible features up for usage should be very deep.

Google makes it simple for anyone to do a search. This book helps make it simple for anyone to do a GREAT search.

Well worth the money.

Google Pocket Guide, 2003
By Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest, and D.J. Adams
Published by O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
ISBN: 0-596-00550-4
Paperback, 129pp


The search engine Google, born on September 7, 1998, derived its name from a word invented by a nine-year-old child, Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician, Edward Kasner. As with precocious children like Milton or the giant bean stalks of English fairy tales, it is difficult to keep up with Google's rapid development. Until I read the Google Pocket Guide, by Tara Calishain, Rael Dorfest and DJ Adams I was unaware of all the things Google has learned to do. Now, in addition to finding Web pages that contain keywords, Google helps me find telephone numbers, solve mathematical equations and cook -- Google can convert cups to pints or just about anything to anything else. Using google maps, I can look at the crater, Giordano Bruno, on the dark side of the Moon, fly to Mars or see my house and yard in a satellite picture that seems to have been taken from only few hundred feet away. The pocket guide is full of information about how to use features I never knew existed. Did I mention Google Images? After reading Google Pocket Guide, I want to read more books about Google. I would like to read Google Hacks, Google: The Missing Manual and Google Maps Hacks.

In addition to describing all the things Google has learned to do, the Google Pocket Guide explains how to make searches more efficient (Part II), "explains how to interpret Google's results pages and URLs, and set preferences to influence what those pages contain" (Part III), and goes into advanced functionality like Language Tools, Groups, Directories and News (Part IV).

The authors say, "Knowing how to be specific with your search criteria is key. That's what this book is all about." To remember this I think (ASAP=ASAP) the key to getting results ASAP is being As Specific As Possible. For instance, instead of searching every Web site on the Internet, limit your search to educational sites by using special syntax (also referred to as advanced search operators). For example, when I search for "plenoptic camera site:edu" Google will return results from educational sites only. The authors also suggest using basic Boolean operators like NOT, represented by the minus sign, AND and OR. Did you know that Google limits queries to ten words and ignores the rest?

Tara Clishain, Rael Dornfest and DJ Adams have delivered a lot of information in only 129 pages. This book is a great starting point for anyone wanting to know Google better. This is a link you might find useful: http://www.google.com/help/features.html.

Google is fun:)

Michael Morgan

I was interested in this book from the beginning, and I wasn't disappointed. Though I'm basically a computer power user, this book offered tons of info I didn't know about Google.

learning how to quote strings, use the minus operator, see which sites link to which, and restrict a search to a specific site are so useful and all covered in this book! Become 10x more productive by learning how to search google!

Google's search functions have changed a bit since this book was published in 2003, but it remains a valuable reference.

Why?

First, because Google's help function for search is not overly sophisticated or detailed.

Second, because the fundamental of Google searching have not changed and most people never learn all the subtleties that can make searching on Google far more effective. Most people, for example, don't know about special syntax elements like "intitle", "intext", "inanchor" and others.

About half the book is about other Google services, some of which have been deprecated or merged into other services.

Also, some of the information is, as you might expect, obsolete: Google changed its limit on the number of words in a search from 10 to 32 in 2005.

I am surprised in a way that the book has not been updated.

Still, considering its low price and high information ratio, it remains a worthwhile addition to any researcher's library.

Jerry

The Google Pocket Guide is a small subset of the main google book.

this is a handy refernce in its own right.