Friday, April 08, 2005

The Online Books Page, U. Pennsylvania Library Here's another resource for online books, "Listing over 20,000 free books on the Web...." The listings are searchable by author or title and can be browsed by Authors, Titles, and Subjects. "The Online Books Page is a website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all." ___JH 5:30:48 PM    COMMENT []

Wikibooks Following up on the two previous postings about free online libraries, here's a link to Wikibooks, a collection of open-content textbooks. "Wikibooks is a Wikimedia project set up July 10, 2003. Since then, volunteers have written around 7654 book modules in a multitude of books." Wikibooks is yet another resource for students, teachers, and online learners. More information about Wikibooks is provided in the section Why open textbooks?: "The textbooks on this site are all released under an open content license that means that they are free forever. No one can keep you from using these materials, modifying them or distributing them. Also, the license guarantees that any works that are derived from these materials will be similarly free to modify and distribute, forever." "Are you really going to spend $100 or more for a textbook when you can get the same information for free? These texts are owned by the community and the world." "Our textbooks are started by people who are familiar with the subject. Content is continually augmented by Wikibookians. This is no lone professor seeking additional income, it is a community of people who are there to learn the material in the least painful way to get the grade and be prepared for the next step. That means textbooks that make sense." "You will never have to wait months or years for another edition to come out that incorporates the latest changes in the field. The very minute a discovery or advancement is made the text can be updated to reflect that change." "Every module in the textbooks has its own associated talk page where students can ask each other questions and help each other with the material." "Learners from around the globe who have access to the Web can find quality educational information, regardless of financial status, local/regional educational restrictions, or proximity to an educational institution." The books can be browsed by Category, by Dewey Classifications, by an Alphabetical Index, and by Bookshelves. The top page also lists the most actively viewed 10 books, New Books, and shows a featured Book of the Month. ____JH 10:33:06 AM    COMMENT []