Tips from the Library for Book Amnesia!
How to Find a Book without knowing the Title or Author
Can't remember the title of a
book? These tips will help you can find any book with just a vague description
of the plot.
Do you want to find a book title when you can only remember the plot? It's easy when you know how.
Sometimes you
remember a book you read by its jacket. Sometimes by the actions of an obscure
character. However, there are times when you can't even remember the author or
title. Everyone has book amnesia at times, so expect to see (or ask) a
question like this one day:
"What was that book which
had something about a puppet master as a murderer?"
In the old days,
you could have asked the librarian, which you can still do!! However, if you are at home feeling impatient
or on school holidays then the tips below will help with your book amnesia!!.
How to Find a Book with a Google Search
When you can't
(or even if you can) remember the name of a book, author, or the characters in
it, Google or another search engine should be your first port of call.
What is true for
any generic search is true when trying to find a book without knowing the name
and the author too. Use any details you remember from the book as keywords.
In case of a
forgotten title or author, you have to remember anything you can use from the
book. It could be the name of a character, a line of dialog, or even basic plot
points. The more specific the phrase, the better the result.
All rules of a
normal search apply (for instance, for exact searches put it in quotes). Google
auto-suggestions will also tell you if you are on the right track.
Tip: The search
for a long-lost book is a good way to master advanced Google Search skills. For example,
you can include or exclude specific keywords, search with an exact phrase, or
use the wildcard operator to guess the name of a character.
Try Google Books Search
The
massive Google Books Library Project was the largest book
cataloging project of its kind. It scanned millions of books and set off Google
Books Search which works just like Google Search.
The difference
is that the reference page displayed in the search results also contains extra
information like various covers, tables of content, common terms and phrases,
and popular passages from the book. You can view sample pages and check if this
is the book you were searching for. Also, you can search within a book.
The number of
search parameters at your disposal can help you even find books using a vague
description.
Use the Advanced Google Search Page with filters like
subject, publisher, language, publication date, or ISBN and ISSN numbers.
However, you're unlikely to remember these last two.
Experiment with
keywords and wildcard operators to grab a clue. Even if you do not find the
book you're looking for, you might come across a reference which could then
lead you to the answer.
The Best Online Catalogs to Find Any Book
There are some
search engines that are more specialized for book searches.
1. BookFinder
BookFinder is an
advanced search engine that taps into the inventories of over 100,000
booksellers worldwide. Try a keyword search, or, if you can recall it, restrict
your query by the publication year.
The advanced
search fields on BookFinder can help you find books that are out of print or their
first editions. It's also a popular site for finding the cheapest textbooks.
2. WorldCat
WorldCat is the
world's largest network of library content and services. You can search the
worldwide database of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries. Search for a book and
then locate it at a nearby library. Membership of the library allows you to
check out the item online.
Try the Advanced
Search with unique filters like Audience and Languages.
Peek into WorldCat Genres (or
Fictional Finder) which helps you browse through fiction genres for hundreds of
titles, authors, subjects, characters, locations, and more, ranked by
popularity in the world's libraries.
The Library of
Congress (LOC) is the world's largest library and today it also hosts a huge
digital collection. An online book search through its catalog of 167 million
items---including books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, images,
and electronic resources---shouldn't take too long.
To top it all,
the LOC has a friendly Ask A Librarian form for queries.
Use Amazon Search to Find the Name of a Book
Amazon started life
as an online bookstore. Books remain the leading category by sales with
millions of titles in stock at any one time. If Amazon doesn't sell the book
you are looking for, then it's probably no longer available or a fuzzier memory
than you think.
You can start
with the basic search bar and a keyword to name a book. But the real spadework
can be done by Amazon's Advanced Book Search.
Amazon does not
have an official list of advanced search operators. But it does display a few
search tips on the above page. The API documentation also lists a few power
searches you can try out for your book.
Go through the
documentation by clicking on "Next". For instance, experimenting with
the [title-begins] keyword could help you name books quickly.
The trick is
to cut through the clutter of Amazon search results.
Try this neat Amazon advanced search tool called JungleSearch.net which can
help you fetch hidden Amazon search results too.
And if all
fails, do a site search with Google. You might just get lucky. For example:
"Rachel
Childs"+journalist site:amazon.com
Use Amazon's Look Inside to Search Inside the Book
Amazon not only
matches your keywords to titles and authors but also on every word inside a
book. You can discover if this is the exact book you are looking for by
clicking the Look Inside link and going through the preview
pages. Use the Search Inside This Book field to look for
sentences, key phrases, and even citations.
Ask for Help From Online Book Communities
Any website
which helps you discover your next book will have an online
community behind it. Tap into the collective memory of book lovers on these
recommended book platforms.
1. Goodreads
Goodreads is an
Amazon subsidiary. As such, you can expect the knowledge base to be just as
vast. This social network for book nerds has discussion
boards on a variety of topics.
You can go to
any genre-specific group and ask for help. But it might be worth trying these
two first:
2. Abe Books: BookSleuth
Want to find a
romance novel description? Or that thriller you read in your childhood? The
appropriately named BookSleuth is another good hunting ground
for forgotten titles. Use the community forum that is organized by genre, and
provide as many details as you can for the members to help you out.
3. LibraryThing: Name That Book
LibraryThing is
a less hip, more cerebral alternative to Goodreads. Start a new topic for your
specific search in this community group and enter all of the book details you
can remember.
Ask Your Social Networks to Name That Book
By now, you
should have got either the book or your memory back. If not, your search has
probably reached a frustrating hurdle because the book-loving masses haven't
been able to rescue you yet. It's time to broaden your scope with an SOS on
your social network of choice.
1. Facebook
The social
network isn't only for finding long lost friends. You can also call upon the
wisdom of the crowd to help you find that elusive book. Your own social circle
might be too limited, so broaden your search using book clubs.
Mark Zuckerberg
started A Year of Books, and now it has close to 800,000
followers. Even smaller public groups like the Andrew Luck Book Club and Friday Reads are worth a try. Some book clubs
follow a niche genre too.
2. Twitter
Start with a
Twitter search. Hashtags are what makes micro-blogging work, but a generic
#books or #bibliophile hashtag might be too broad. Try to plug the specific
genre into a hashtag search (e.g. #DarkFantasy or #UrbanFantasy) to narrow your
results, and/or when you ask for help.
3. Quora
The Q&A site
could be the largest gathering of "experts" outside Facebook and
Twitter. The best thing about Quora is that you can expect a quality response.
A potpourri of
168 Q&A communities makes up Stack Exchange. Stack Overflow might be the
most popular with programmers but there are niche communities for Ebooks and Literature. Then, you can also go into a
genre-specific community and drop a question. Sci-Fi and Fantasy is popular.
Help Others Find Forgotten Books Too
The internet
relies on the kindness of strangers. The good thing is that book lovers are
everywhere and the fraternity is amazingly co-operative. So, the next time you
ask yourself "what was that book?", try to recall any tiny detail of
the book.
Even a little
detail is a clue. For instance, any physical feature or illustration. Try to
bring up some associated memories: What were you doing when you were reading
that book? How old were you? Was it a gift or did you borrow it?
I hope the above tips help you to find that 'on the tip of your tongue' book!
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