I first blogged about Amazon’s "Search Inside the Book" feature last October when it was introduced. Almost a year on, as I sit in front of my computer at midnight, trying to write a term paper and finding myself in need of looking up this, that and the other thing in a stack of books that I didn’t or couldn’t get out of the library for whatever reason, I can only say this: "Search Inside the Book" rocks my world.

I know I’m using it in a way that Amazon probably wouldn’t like (i.e., I have no intention of buying the books I’m searching through), but, well, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. And at the moment, I’ve gotta look a bunch of stuff up.

I would pay to have access to a more comprehensive service like this (which would essentially amount to an electronic library). Don’t get me wrong, I love actual libraries filled with actual books. But I can’t go to the university library in the middle of the night, and even during the day a trip to the library at the University of Sussex involves several hours of my time - and then there’s no guarantee that the books I need will even be there (thank goodness I can check the library catalogue from home).

An electronic library would make academic life a good deal easier. I would always have access to the books I needed, even if 50 other people were using the same book at the same time; I could "check books out" whenever and wherever I wanted; I could search through books in a flash; and the books I used wouldn’t be all covered with other peoples’ highlighting and underlining and notes scribbled in the margins (honestly, what kind of boor writes in a library book - in pen?!).

But that’s just a dream. For now, I’ll frequent Amazon and offer up a word of thanks to all the publishers (Cambridge University Press, you rule!) who are willing to let humble folks like me trawl through their books electronically. It really is a Very Good Thing.