How to Find a Book Without Knowing the Title or Author
Have you ever wanted to find a book title but can't remember the title? Sometimes you would remember a book you read by its jacket. Sometimes it would be by the actions of an obscure character in the book. However, there are times when you can’t even remember the author or title.
How to Find a Book With a Google Search
When you can’t remember the name of a book, author, or the characters that are in it, Google or any other search engine should be your first call.
In a situation where you have forgotten the book title or author, you have to remember anything that you can use from the book. It could be the name of a character in it, a line of dialog, or even some basic plot points. The more specific the phrase is, the better the result would be.
Try Google Books Search
The massive Google Books Library Project was the largest book cataloging project of all kinds. The difference is that the reference page that is displayed in the search results also contains extra information like the various covers, tables of content, common phrases and terms, and popular passages from the book.
You can use the Advanced Google Search Page together with several filters like subject, publisher, publication date, language, or ISBN and ISSN numbers.
An experiment that are with keywords and wildcard operators to grab a clue. Even if you do not locate the book that you are looking for, you might come across a reference that might lead you to the right answer.
The Best Online Catalogs to Find Any Book That you Want
There are some search engines that are more specialized for book searches and some of them are.
1. BookFinder
BookFinder is an advanced search engine that taps into the inventories of more than 100,000 booksellers over the world. Try a keyword search, or, if you can remember it, limit your query by the publication year.
2. WorldCat
WorldCat is currently the world’s largest network of library content and services. You can search on the worldwide database of over 72,000 libraries in 170 countries. Search for a book and then look for it at a library nearby. Membership of the library would allow you to check out the item online.
3. The Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the world’s largest library of books and today it also holds a huge digital collection. An online book search across its catalog of over 167 million items including books, serials, manuscripts, music, maps, images, recordings, and electronic resources should not take too long.
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 would have probably reached a frustrating level because the book-loving masses have not 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 is not only for finding long lost friends. You can also call upon the wisdom of the community to help you find that some book. Your personal social circle might be too limited to help out, so widen your search by using book clubs.
2. Twitter
Start with a simple Twitter search. Hashtags are what makes the micro-blogging very popular, but a generic #books or #bibliophile hashtag might be too wide. So, try to add in the specific genre into a hashtag search (e.g. #DarkFantasy or #UrbanFantasy) to narrow down your results, and/or when you are asking for help.
3. Quora
The Q&A site Might be the largest gathering of “experts” aside from Facebook and Twitter. The best thing about Quora is that you can expect a high-quality response. so it is fully recommended that you use it
4. Reddit
You could not have thought of a better name for a subreddit on books than the Tip of My Tongue. Just scan your eyes through the solved answers with the green tag to understand the power of collective memory. You can also, try other subreddits like What’s That Book, Books, and printSF when you can only remember the specific book cover.
