Searching a book's contents instead of a book title on internet archives?

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The discussion revolves around the desire to perform a topic-based search on Internet Archive, similar to the functionality available on Google Books, where users can find books containing specific topics or chapters in their content. Participants note that such searches are only feasible for books that have been digitized and indexed, which is often limited due to copyright concerns. While some books may be fully indexed, there is no guaranteed method to find them. Suggestions include using Google for subject-specific PDFs or seeking recommendations from knowledgeable sources. The legality of using Internet Archive is debated, with references to ongoing legal battles regarding digital lending. Ultimately, the user expresses a need for a search functionality that displays results in a way that highlights relevant content, akin to the "FOUND INSIDE" feature in Google Books.
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hi..

I am using internet archives for searching a book.

Normally the method of searching a book on internet archives is as follows-- we enter a word/ phrase/ book title that we want to search in the search tab and hit the search button, the result that is displayed are all the books that have that word or similar in their "TITLE".
But I want to make a reverse search instead, a TOPIC search.
i.e by entering a topic or chapter in the search tab.. the result that should be displayed must contain all the books having that topic or chapter in their contents... how can I do that.?

thanks!

https://archive.org/
 
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That would be possible only for books that have their content released in digital form and indexed by the search engines. Publishers are not too happy about doing that.
 
Borek said:
That would be possible only for books that have their content released in digital
Yes, I am talking of only those books.

Borek said:
That would be possible
How??
 
Search for a subject.
 
brainbaby said:
Yes, I am talking of only those books.

You have missed the second part:

Borek said:
and indexed by the search engines

Yes, some books are fully indexed. No, there is no sure way of finding them.
 
brainbaby said:
hi..

I am using internet archives for searching a book.

Normally the method of searching a book on internet archives is as follows-- we enter a word/ phrase/ book title that we want to search in the search tab and hit the search button, the result that is displayed are all the books that have that word or similar in their "TITLE".
But I want to make a reverse search instead, a TOPIC search.
i.e by entering a topic or chapter in the search tab.. the result that should be displayed must contain all the books having that topic or chapter in their contents... how can I do that.?

thanks!

https://archive.org/
You left out the most important part: why?

In detail: Why do you want to possibly, i.e. very likely breach the copyright laws?

A list of books is in my mind pretty worthless without reading at least a chapter of each. A suitable book depends on the preferences of the reader. Even asking on the internet, e.g. here, will get you answers that cover the entire range. By range, I mean something like: from Bourbaki, over Russian literature, to pre-Bourbaki novels. How could anybody choose without having classified the type, let alone the style?

My procedure was always to know whom you can ask for a recommendation.

If you want to study a certain subject, then google "<subject> + pdf" and you will find dozens of lecture notes. Now you can choose simply by opening one after the other.P.S.: arxiv.org is a good location if you want to break the law!
 
fresh_42 said:
You left out the most important part: why?

In detail: Why do you want to possibly, i.e. very likely breach the copyright laws?

A list of books is in my mind pretty worthless without reading at least a chapter of each. A suitable book depends on the preferences of the reader. Even asking on the internet, e.g. here, will get you answers that cover the entire range. By range, I mean something like: from Bourbaki, over Russian literature, to pre-Bourbaki novels. How could anybody choose without having classified the type, let alone the style?

My procedure was always to know whom you can ask for a recommendation.

If you want to study a certain subject, then google "<subject> + pdf" and you will find dozens of lecture notes. Now you can choose simply by opening one after the other.P.S.: arxiv.org is a good location if you want to break the law!
I believe you mean archive.org, not arxiv.org. (unless you are against preprints :wink:)

It is not clear that archive.org is illegal. It is being fought in the courts.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litig...fate-digital-book-lending-lawsuit-2022-09-06/
(from September 2022)

PF currently does not allow archive.org links. It used to, so one might find some old links.
 
Frabjous said:
I believe you mean archive.org, not arxiv.org. (unless you are against preprints :wink:)
No. I meant arxiv.org. This is not only a preprint server!

I am against the many books on arxiv.org which - at least in principle, i.e. younger than 120 years - still have copyright protection.
 
If you're just looking to discover the existence of a book (and not have its whole contents for free), then Google Books is fairly good. Google won the copyright infringement case brought against it for Google Books.
 
  • #10
sorry to reply a bit late..
just to clarify my point..

As we do some search in google books...the results that are displayed there are just exactly the way I want them to be displayed on internet archives.

for e.g I searched the following--" design a datapath from given instruction set" in google books & the result which is displayed contained all the books which contained my search item listed specifically under FOUND INSIDE section..
I've shared the screenshots of what I exactly want..
 
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