Q Could you give me some pointers on where I can find information about books – particularly buying second-hand ones? Are there any book search engines out there?
A There are the obvious examples (which you mentioned you already knew) such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You’ve also got Google Book Search (http://books.google.com/) and BookFinder (www.bookfinder.com). If you’re interested in used books try Alibris (www.alibris.com/) or AddALL (www.addall.com/). There is also Used Books Search (www.usedbooksearch.co.uk/) that is worth a look. To be honest, there are a huge number of sites available, and this is just a tiny selection of ones that I know personally.
Q I want to introduce our students to some of the mapping services that are available on the web, but due to security concerns we’re not allowed to use Google Earth. Can you suggest anything else we can use?
A First of all there’s nothing wrong with Google Earth from a security standpoint, and I’d suggest having a chat with your technical support people. However, be that as it may, I’d point you towards Flash Earth (www.flashearth.com/). It’s my favourite map service and far superior (in my opinion) to the Google offering. If you want to have some fun with your students I’d suggest visiting Secret Bases (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret.htm) which lists and illustrates various ‘secret’ places in the UK. This uses Google’s mapping service and is where you can spend hours seeking out missile launchpads, secret motorway junctions, cold war centres and much more besides.
Q Is there a website that I can use to find out how much a house is worth?
A If you go to Our Property (http://ourproperty.co.uk/) you can type in a post code and it will return matches giving you details of property that was sold in that area recently, and for how much. It’s free, but you have to register.
Q I want to provide my blog readers with an easy way to add it to their news readers. Any suggestions?
A Try Add to Any (www.addtoany.com/) which is what I use on my own weblog, and it seems to work well. It’s also free, which is a bonus.
Site of the month
My site of the month is one that everyone can get involved with. It’s called the WikiMapia (www.wikimapia.org). The idea is that you display the satellite map on the screen, zoom in, and then annotate places that you know. It gets very addictive very quickly and before you know it you’ve been tagging familiar and favourite places for hours! I’ve added in CILIP – why don’t you add in your own library?
Phil Bradley is an internet consultant, trainer, web designer and author. Visit www.philb.com for free information on internet introductions, search engine articles, web design tips and a host of other free information. New: 3rd edn of The Advanced Internet Searcher’s Handbook is now available! If you have any questions about the internet send an email to mailto:philb@philb.com?subject=Column query. This column and its hotlinks are available on www.cilip.org.uk/update under Online Articles.