Free Textbooks?

Does your Shakespeare course require you to read Hamlet? Don't wait in line at the college bookstore or spend scarce resources for a book that you can read free online. "Google's new Book Search"://books.google.com/ service allows you to search the text of books and in some cases, download them in full to your computer. You can download exact copies of out-of-copyright books, including "Hamlet"://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC14763089&id=2-iPD1DrwgYC&pg=PA3 and "Dante's Inferno"://books.google.it/books?vid=OCLC13779284&id=iQ5Glx7BGZkC&printsec=titlepage, in PDF format. This means that you will also get to see antique illustrations, interesting typefaces, and perhaps torn corners and yellowed pages of older books. While this is a great way to read public domain books, especially "The Classics," Google does not allow downloading of any book currently under copyright. For books currently protected by copyright, Google displays only snippets of text surrounding your search term unless publishes allow Google to display more. !http://www.universitychic.com/system/files/google1.jpg! Writing a paper? You can use Google's Book Search to quickly find that quote you're looking for instead of thumbing through the book. Also, you can copy and paste large quotes directly into your paper instead of typing them into your paper by hand. Another use for the search is to find themes in the book that you can write about. A search for Hamlet, for example, yields numerous scholarly works that analyze and explain themes in Shakespeare's work. Of course, Google's book service is not revolutionary. "Project Gutenberg"://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page, started in 1971, provides free downloads of 19,000 ebooks today. The main difference between the services to the average user is that Project Gutenberg's books are provided in pure text format, not in PDF format. Downloading a book in text format allows you to adjust the font size and typeface as you wish. The text file is also much smaller than a PDF file, leading to a faster download. Thus, if you're on a dial-up connection, check Project Gutenberg first. I also use Project Gutenberg to email myself a chapter of a book for reading on my phone when I'm in line at the post office or on the subway without needing to lug anything extra with me. "Amazon.com"://www.amazon.com also provides a useful search functionality within books. Amazon hopes that you will use this feature to confirm that you've found the appropriate book and will proceed to purchase it. Currently, the system tries to limit your view to only a few pages surrounding your search term. To get around this, simply conduct a new search for a chapter title or even a page number from the item's main sales page. In this way, you can read the entire copyrighted book on Amazon's website. For example, search for the book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." On that book's page, click "Search Inside this Book." Once the book has loaded, click on the Table of Contents. You will see a list of each chapter title. Search for "Be Proactive," which is the first chapter. After reading it, run a search for "Begin with the End in Mind," which is the second chapter. Alternatively, you can search for "95" to get to that page in the book. After looking at approximately ten pages, Amazon will cut you off but you can simply go back to the book's main sales page and click "search inside" again in order to continue. I don't encourage abusing Amazon's system or violating intellectual property rights. Strangely enough, Amazon's system clearly allows users to run multiple searches in this way. !http://www.universitychic.com/system/files/amazon1.jpg! Interested in eBook gadgets? The bottom line is that you should wait for more user-friendly and affordable models to be released. For the time being, I recommend using your personal computer, your PDA, or even your phone to read eBooks. "The Sony Reader"://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/pa/prs/index.html is the newest eBook gadget, but its release was delayed from March until this "Fall," so a clear release date is yet unknown. The Sony Reader ranges from $300-$400. Read more about eBook gadgets at "ZDNet."://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/pa/prs/index.html *Happy Reading!* delicious | digg | technorati
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