How to find the best digital library for you

Even though e-books and digital libraries are becoming more commonplace – many people still do not know that there are hundreds of digital libraries that you can access online for a multitude of different topics. While it may be assumed that digital libraries only carry the basic and most popular books, the opposite is true. Many digital libraries carry books that can be used for academics, database finding, videos, and even audio recordings. While browsing online on a digital library, anything can be found.

e-Books are Available for Free At Libraries


For starters, one of the most extensive, and free, online libraries is the Internet Archive. It is home to over three million versions of texts and a million video and audio recordings. This digital library of the prime example of showing people all that digital libraries have to offer. The Internet Archive gives its users access to thousands of academic related texts, novels and graphic novels to be read for personal enjoyment, audio-books or audio recordings of interviews and famous events, and videos as well. Plus, users can access information all the way back from 1996 and earlier by using the Way Back Machine offered on the homepage.

Or, if you are more of a history buff, you could always visit the U.S Library of Congress to see all the digitalised archives. It features thousands of photography, articles, prints, newspapers, recordings, exhibits and collection from the vast history of the United States. Although, this information can be overwhelming for a single person who is only trying to find a single topic or a specific item. Which is why like other digital libraries, the Library of Congress featured an “ask a librarian” option which will link a person to a librarian and they will show them the correct information and how to access it properly.

Digital Libraries for University Students

However, if you’re a college student just looking for a legitimate source, the Stanford University’s High Wire online library is the perfect source to find thousands of academic texts along with academic journals from some of the top professionals in a certain field. Which gives students, professors, or even just researchers a haven to find accurate and secure information.

Sometimes digital libraries are either free or come with a price tag in the form of a yearly or monthly subscription. This is something that people who are considering looking for one for their own personal use should keep in mind. Students are at an advantage as most schools already use a digital library that the student does not have to pay for – while in other cases people must pay a fee. However, most digital library fees are not overly expensive, and in some cases offer discounts. Though, many digital libraries, such as the U.S Library of Congress, or ones that offer free public information, happen to be free of charge.

Overall, choosing a digital liberty is the same as choosing a shoe. You must browse through a few until you find one that fits you and your needs perfectly. Just keep in mind that digital libraries are unique and offer an array of services other than providing books to read.

Best Free Online Libraries

Best Free Online Libraries

There are some times when the need for digital books becomes so important that only an Online Library can help out. This is true especially if one has an academic project or assignment or even a personal research to carry out maybe in the shortest length of time – overnight maybe. In times like this it will be almost impossible to locate a physical library and then go over all its collection to get the required resources.

What if the local library is already closed at time and that research needs to be done through the night with the result available first thing the following day. This is where the importance of online libraries comes to play. In these urgent times, one can only resort to digital libraries through the internet. The sweet thing about it is the fact that everyone has access to most of these online libraries, which are the ones that will be mentioned within this context.

The focus of this write is to provide a guide to free online libraries where anyone can have access to at any time to read online and conduct researches for academic work. This information would come as a life saver to those with urgent academic work that needs to be completed without delay. It is also useful for those that need books to read online from different free sources without having to spend a fortune in their purchase. Below are the best online libraries that can be accessed freely:

Online Book Page

This is an online library owned by the University of Pennsylvania. They provide the service for the public which can be accessed from any part of the world. There are over 30,000 learning materials available on this digital library, comprising of resources from all categories. All the reading materials in their collection are all rendered in English. The user needs to get access to their, browse through their collection of books to get the required one needed. Reading can be done via the online reader available from the site.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the first ever online reading website developed, and it dates back to 1971. On this website you can find the world’s oldest EBook that is titled – The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. It contains the widest collection of books from all categories possible, comprising of more than 46,000 sections of reading materials. The truth is that other online reading websites connect to the great resource as well.

This is the way it works, a user get to visit the site and conduct a search for the required book needed out of the whole lot. The search can be refined based on the category of knowledge interested in. When the required book is seen, a click on that link will navigate one to the eBook’s page. Once on the page, the user is expected to click on the ‘Read this eBook’s link and then it is available to be read online. The desired resource comes in different format, and the user can choose the best format to view and read the eBook.

Questia

Questia is another free online library where anyone can locate free books to read online. All the books contained in this collection can be accessed and read by anyone at any particular time. This website is aimed at providing literary support for both students and writers alike. There are about 10,000 books available for free on this digital library. Free books as implied within the context of this article are the books one can view, read or even download without any restriction and payment required. Once a user gets online this library, a search is required to access the needed book. When the desired book is in sight, then reading or research can commence.

Internet Public Library

The Internet Public Library is a digital place where links are provided to guide to locations on the internet where you will find all the resources you need for free. This is a complete internet collection of materials from different sources. The important fact here is that all the links provided about books guides the user to all the websites on the internet where they can locate the book they want for free. There are numerous magazines, references and newspapers available onsite to be used for research or just for reading purposes. A vivid direction is provided to correctly guide every visitor to the correct material needed on the internet. All these links are frequently updated to guarantee relevance of information provided.

Open Library

The Open Library is an online study website established by a nonprofit organization. This essence of its creation was to have a free vast collection of library items from different popular physical libraries, so that users can have access to these through a public domain. These founders are seeking to have a single collection that comprises of all published material in the world. This fantastic online library has over 20 million books in their collection. Anyone at any time can get free books to read through this digital library. It is only required for users to perform quick search to locate needed materials and then reading can commence easily. All  the materials available here are all on-site.

The Dawn of the Digital Age – How it has impacted libraries

We’re living in the dawn of the digital age. Long gone are the days when people buy their music on CDs and cassettes (downloadable music from legal stores is all the rage). We stream television series and movies instead of popping on the television, and we buy games online instead of nipping out to the local game shop. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that many people now buy their books online, too. There are several types of online libraries out there, and each one offers a very different range of books, some of which are free, and some cost money. Let’s take a peek at some of the top places where you can buy books online.

The Book Depository and Kindle Book Store

The Book Depository and the Kindle Store make up two of the most popular places for you to buy online books. Of course, it is ideal if you have an e-book reader (such as a Kindle) to get you started, but even if you don’t, you can still find ample e-books available in PDF format which you can read online at your computer or laptop.

The Book Depository contains millions of books and offers them in multiple formats. As well as having the best-sellers, they also carry plenty of free books, so you don’t necessarily have to fork out a fortune to read a good book.

The same is true of the Kindle Store. If you’ve got an Amazon Kindle, then the Kindle Store is the place to head to. This Amazon-owned e-book library has pretty much everything ever written and is easily the leading online library to head to if you want books. The drawback to the Kindle Store (and what makes The Book Depository stand out) is the fact that you often need a Kindle device to read Amazon books.

Project Gutenberg, Many Books and Bartleby

There are plenty of places which do not charge a penny for their books, too. The types of books you can find in these online libraries are often dated, classic pieces of literature, historical books and books from unpublished authors, some of which have created truly amazing work.

Project Gutenberg is arguably the most famous of these online libraries. Over 56,000 free e-books can be found there, including some of the most popular pieces of literature ever written. No registration or sign-up fee is required to download books from Project Gutenberg, although they do take donations.

Many Books has over 29,000 e-books for Kindle, iPad, Nook and other e-readers. These books cover everything from fantasy to sci-fi, crime, and horror. If there’s a book written by a famous author long since dead, or by an up and coming young writer, Many Books could be the online library for you.

If you fancy a taste of history, then Bartleby is a must visit online library. This e-book site offers free historical books, including essays, texts and analysis, as well as study books. For the history buff, Bartleby is the place to get all your dusty old manuscripts and beyond.