Author of book on search engine to hold area presentations.
By: Jillian Kalonick
Looking for an ex-boyfriend’s phone number? It finds it. Double-checking a job candidate’s resume? It can help you. Word definitions, stock quotes and driving directions? They’re all there.
The magic fact-finder is Google (www.google.com), the Web search engine that has changed the way people find information on the Internet. Nancy Blachman, co-author with Fritz Schneider and Eric Fredricksen of "How to Do Everything with Google" (McGraw-Hill Osborne, $24.99) has been a loyal user of the site and an expert since its inception in 1998. On Monday, the company announced its initial public offering would be worth as much as $3.3 billion.
Ms. Blachman, who will give talks on Google at the Institute for Advanced Study, Barnes & Noble and Princeton Public Library beginning Wednesday, aims to expose Google’s "deceptively plain interface" to show users how to get better search results, track news and fit the site to their needs.
"Our attitude was that people aren’t using (Google’s) capabilities," says Ms. Blachman. Her co-authors are software engineers at Google, as is her husband, David desJardins, giving her an insider’s viewpoint on the site’s capabilities.
Ms. Blachman first began teaching how to use the site through her "Google Guide" (www.googleguide.com), an online tutorial that has received more than 1.5 million unique visitors since Feb. 1. "People like to learn different ways through books, or an online tutorial, she says. "I envisioned this as a class people could go through."
Protected under a Creative Commons License, the tutorial is free to use and republish, as long as the site is given credit.
"My ‘Google Guide’ has become way more popular because of the license people are entitled to copy it, they don’t have to check with me," says Ms. Blachman. Nonetheless, people do check for her permission, in addition to offering corrections and tips a testament to a sense of community among Web users.
When Ms. Blachman used Google Answers, a paid research service, to find someone to read through her guide, she found a mutually beneficial deal.
"Somebody proofread my entire guide," she says. "I was only offering $25, and it took hours and hours, but she was a copy editor and wanted to learn about Google."
After working on Google Guide, Ms. Blachman found a new project in "How to Do Everything with Google," which details the ins-and-outs of the site, including how to fine-tune search results, find bargains using Froogle, search for graphics and understand how the search engine works.
"(Google Guide and the book) work together but they weren’t meant to go together," she says. "You’ll find slightly different information and some similarities."
Ms. Blachman earned a master of science degree in computer science from Stanford University, where she has taught for eight years. The mother of three-year-old twins, she is working part time in the computer science department at Princeton University for the summer while her husband has an appointment at the Center for Communications Research.
A natural teacher, Ms. Blachman explains Google’s capabilities in a way that is simple to understand, and her enthusiasm is contagious.
"Now everybody in certain circles knows about (Google)," she says. "I see it as a social phenomenon. It’s used a lot for people to check each other."
Nancy Blachman will give the following presentations on Google:
"What Google Can Do For You" at the White-Levy Room at the Historical Studies Social Science Library, Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.;
"How to Do Everything With Google" at Barnes & Noble in West Windsor, Thursday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., and
"How to Use Google More Effectively" at Princeton Public Library, Wednesday, Aug. 11 at 1 p.m. and Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.
All are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.googleguide.com.