O'Leary on Google Book Search

Mick O'Leary has an excellent overview "Google Book Search Has Far to Go" for his Nov. column in Information Today. In particular, he compares Google Books Search to Amazon's Search Inside the Book and notes that

. . . Amazon’s feature has several critical advantages over Book Search. The most important is that Amazon has the latest books; Book Search does not. Perhaps because of differing licenses with the publishers, Book Search is often several years behind; Amazon has the latest releases and also lists forthcoming titles. For example, Amazon’s feature has the latest books by Pat Buchanan, James Lee Burke, Ann Coulter, Jeffrey Deaver, Tom Friedman, and Robert B. Parker; Book Search does not (and is usually two or three books behind with these popular authors). This seriously devalues Book Search as a tool for finding, buying, or researching books.