Libraries
"Never lend books, for no one ever returns them. The only books I have in my library are books that other folk have lent me." - Anatole France
Fortunately libraries, public and private, have found a way of avoiding the problem above. The virtual library is not here just yet. And online books, limited in number, are difficult to read on a monitor; printing them with your ink-jet printer is not cost-effective. However, online library resources can enhance your access to all sorts of library materials. Library Web sites often provide searchable catalogs, allow you to reserve and renew materials online, find materials at other libraries, and have extensive electronic resources (databases, e-journals, and reference works) that are very useful for research purposes. Although free online books are presently limited to only tens of thousands of titles and generally only to titles for which the copyright has expired, this service can be very useful at times. If you should ever find yourself needing a classic work and the library is closed, don't despair. You can download the text of a 300 page book in less than five minutes. You can then search the complete digitized text for that particular phrase you were looking for.
The Internet Public Library (IPL)
www.ipl.org/
Drexel University's College of Information Science and Technology hosts this site. A consortium of colleges and universities with programs in information science is developing and maintaining the IPL. The library maintains a collection of online ready reference works, responds to reference questions, creates web resources, and evaluates and categorizes resources on the Internet.
The Library of Congress
lcweb.loc.gov
The Library preserves a collection of nearly 121 million items, more than two-thirds of which are in media other than books. The services and resources of the Library of Congress are available to institutions, businesses, and individuals through this site.
Berkeley Digital Library - Library Servers
lists.webjunction.org/libweb/
Links to the Web sites of libraries all over the world.
University of Saskatchewan Library
library.usask.ca/worldCatalogues
Links to library catalogs all over the world.
The Boston Public Library
www.bpl.org
Electronic resources (e-books and databases), 24/7 live reference service, online catalogs, and much more. A great research resource.
The New York Public Library
www.nypl.org
Access CATNYP (Catalog of the New York Public Library) - includes over 3 million records for titles cataloged since 1972 and more than 2 million records for roman alphabet books and periodicals cataloged prior to 1972; Digital Library Collection - provides digital versions of books, manuscripts, photographs, engravings, and other items.
Harvard University Libraries
lib.harvard.edu/
This web site is an online gateway to the extraordinary library resources of Harvard University and serves as an important research tool for Harvard's current students, faculty, staff, and researchers who hold Harvard IDs and PINs. The site also provides practical information on each of the more than 90 libraries that form the Harvard system. Visitors and guests should consult the Library's Frequently Asked Questions before navigating the site
The On-Line Books Page
onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu
Over 14,000 free titles available over the internet. Library closed and you need to peruse a copy of Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities"? Go to this site. The complete text is available online.
Online Book Links
www.yorkcommunitymaine.org/literature.html
Links to free online books. "You won't find the latest bestsellers or modern computer books here. You will find the classic books from the start of this century and previous centuries, from authors like Shakespeare, Poe, Dante, as well as well-loved favorites like the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Tarzan and Mars books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Alice's adventures in Wonderland as told by Lewis Carroll, and thousands of others.
WayBackMachine
www.archive.org
This internet archive is building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, it provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.
Local Libraries
In addition:
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