The herculean task of compiling books in a digitized format has been taken up by many groups and individuals. Here, we explore some popular free digital libraries.
Google Books
Explore Google Books to find research materials. Thousands of out of print, copyright free, books are available for full-text viewing. Many of these texts in the "public domain" are availible for download. Bibliographic information along with a few lines of text are provided for copyrighted books along with information as to where to buy the text from booksellers.
The Universal Digital Library
The folks at The Universal Digital Library have scanned over 1,000,000 titles for free distribution through their website. Many title's are available for full-text viewing.
The Library of Congress American Memory
The Library of Congress has put together a collection of primary documents, books, writings, photography, videos and sound recordings, for use in academic settings. The materials are freely available and constitute a valuable resource for those engaged in research. The American Memory project makes historical documents available digitally for those who would otherwise have no access.
Project Gutenberg
This site offers thousands of downloadable full-text ebooks. Most texts have expired copyrights and therefore may be distributed freely. A mobile version using QR codes makes texts available for reading on mobile devices. Check out Project Gutenberg today.
Internet Archive's Open Library
Internet Archive has begun a project called Open Library, a collaborative effort of uploaded ebooks compiled by users.
Important Note: Please use wisely. User-generated content is often inadmissible in Academic settings. Verify with instructor before using materials from
these sources.
