There are several services out there today that offer free or free samples of books online. Two of the biggest companies doing this would have to be Google and Amazon. Neither really has a great way of searching for titles or text inside the books, though.

This article by Gary Price at Search Engine Watch shows you how to get to searching for some of this information on your own. Sure, there might be a few extra steps in there, but for some of this content, it is worth it.

Google, Amazon and others offer really useful “search inside the book” tools, but they’re not always the easiest features to use. Here’s a closer look at getting the most from online book search services.

A few weeks ago we blogged about Google offering a new shortcut that allows searchers to include books from the Google Print program on a search results page. By beginning your search with the word “book” or “books” you should see three book titles in a OneBox on your results page.

One problem: Google doesn’t offer any way to limit your search to only Google Print material. However, there’s a simple “hack” I’ve discovered that lets you run a keyword search with results limited solely to items included in Google Print.

[Continue reading Going Under Cover with Book Search Tools]