Google Book Search is an innovative search engine provided by Google that allows users to search for books and find places where they can borrow or buy them. An important feature of the service is, as Google employees said, the genealogy research function that enables us to find out more information about our ancestors and other details.

"But, as many of us (including genealogy blogger Dick Eastman) have discovered, Google Book Search and its partners are making genealogy research a little bit easier, and often a lot more rewarding. By allowing you to search the full text of books, even a simple search on a last name or a place can yield exciting results, from books you may have never thought to look for.

For instance, a search for my ancestor John Carpenter of Jamaica, NY, lists Henry Onderdonk's Queens County in Olden Times among the results, a public domain book held at only a few libraries in the US, but available in full view through Google Book Search.

Another search brings up Flag: An American Biography, which contains the memories of his great-great-great-great-grandson and Civil War veteran Milton Scott Lytle as the 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers were sent off to war. Without Google Book Search, I may have never come across the wonderful stories in these books -- the former because of its rarity, and the latter because, well, why would I think to look for my relative in a book about the flag?" Jaclyn Madden, Google Book Search Support Team sustained.

Another attractive function of the service is the family tree creator feature that helps you build and observe your family evolution.

"Whether you create family trees as a profession or a hobby, or even if you're just a bit intrigued, Google Book Search is a great way to broaden your research and better understand the events that shaped your ancestors' lives. And with our large and continually expanding selection of books, you never know who you may find in your family tree," the Google employee concluded.