"Librarians and technical staff, as well as future librarians, will benefit from this book no matter how technologically literate they are. Those who have solid technical backgrounds and are familiar with the presented tools will get some fresh ideas on how to use them in the library setting. Other people, with less technical capacities, will find several working paradigms which could fit into their library or museum."
Fotis Lazarinis, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Archival and Library Sciences
Ionian University, Greece
Published in "Program: Electronic Library and IS, vol:48, iss:2"
“The author presents conversations with social media innovators to show how learning from their experiences can create success for your institution’s library. Chapters cover important aspects of social media for libraries including: how they relate to the internet; web services such as Google Custom Search, Facebook and Twitter, Flickr, iGoogle, and more that are relevant to electronic books, discovery platforms, and mobile applications. “
Library HiTech News
“One other useful aspect of Ballard's book is that it suggests resources from social media sites that librarians can share with patrons. Did you know...
The Library of Congress, New York Public Library, and the National Library of Ireland share their photo archives on Flickr?
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) provides a richer source of information about films than your library catalog (and that you can link to it in your MARC records)?
YouTube hosts a myriad of educational video collections including videos from the Smithsonian and math and science lessons from Kahn Academy?”
Shawn Behrends, State Data Coordinator, South Dakota State Library
“...A very useful and insightful study of the ways in which social media can be used in enterprising libraries. This work is highly recommended.”
Online Information Review 37,1
"My engagement with the possibilities presented in Google This! is an
example of how it could be beneficial for medical librarians. I saw possibilities for my own library in the case study examples and was able to follow the well-written descriptions of how to implement enhancements (e.g., creating a customized Google search box). Most importantly, in Ballard’s cheerful, collegial, and tenacious approach to figuring out how to make a new tool
work for his patrons, I found a model for approaching any social media tool,
whether familiar or new to me."
Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, Volume 10, Issue 4, 2013
"Terry Ballard...takes readers on an inspirational social media ride in “Google this...At the end of the book Ballard writes, “We are in the midst of an information
tsunami. Libraries can either embrace the best of the new tools, or
resist and get swept away” (p. 178). This book will help bring you and your
library fully into the social media age so that you can surf the tsunami wave
and help your patrons and your library. A timely and well-written book, it is
recommended for academic, public and special libraries."
Melissa Aho, MA, MLIS, MS, Public Services Quarterly, Vol. 9, #2.
About the book About Terry Ballard About the publisher Join the Google This for Libraries online forum