Mapping the Book January 29, 2007
Posted by Minerva in Google, mashups.trackback
Google Book Search is working on a new enhancement: including maps of the locations in a particular book. To anyone with a good collection of Norton Classics Editions, the concept of maps to highlight the action of a literary work is rather old hat, but the Google Map is interactive, and linked to parts of the text where the locations are given.
Our team has begun to animate the static information found in books by organizing a sample of locations from them on an interactive Google Map, with snippets of text from the book, and links to the actual pages where the locations are mentioned. When our automatic techniques determine that there are a good number of quality locations from a book to show you, you’ll find a map on the “About this book” page. (from Inside Google Book Search, Books: Mapped)
A few titles have been added, most notably Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
A great advantage to Google maps for books would be that, unlike in your Norton, the maps are current. The reader could know after a few clicks whether that cathedral is still standing, or whether that lovely meadow has become an interstate highway. It would also be useful for creating your own literary walking tour. I am very impatient to see the Google map of Dostoevsky’s Petersburg for Crime and Punishment.
via Bibliotan
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