I found it difficult to understand the purpose of this book, or to identify the intended audience – surely there cannot be anyone in the information profession who still asks, “What does the internet have to do with my library?”, the title of chapter 1. The blurb claims that, “Google This! describes the variety of free or nearly free options for social media, and shows how libraries are adapting”. Admittedly, the book does this, with chapters dedicated to Facebook, Flickr, Blogger and so forth, but it adds little to our existing understanding or knowledge of the use of social media in libraries.
Most chapters start with a short history of the resource under discussion. These are adequate summaries, but are covered much more adeptly elsewhere. In the majority of chapters these is detailed guidance describing how to use these tools; some of these are useful, but many of the procedures described, such as uploading photographs to Flickr, are intended to be self-explanatory. Unfortunately, a significant amount of space is devoted to slightly awe-struck accounts of a visit made by the author to Google's headquarters. Alongside deferential reports of interviews from this visit, correspondence from librarians and other commentators are reproduced at length, but usually without any accompanying comment or analysis.
In summary, this is a rambling and uncritical book. There are much better guides to social media in libraries available elsewhere.
