eBooks

General Collections

Literature & Fiction

History, Politics and Government

Philosophy & Religion

Science

Children's Books

Reference

MetaLists

An eBook is an online version of a printed book. They are available either by permission from their author or are part of the public domain. Many eBooks require special technology or software for them to be read. However, the following web sites provide free, unrestricted access without additional technology.

The UWF Libraries offer over 75,000 online books through the Library Catalog to its affiliates. To find eBooks, do an Advanced Search and select "Computer File" for format.

General Collections

Google Book Search
http://book.google.com: Google Book Search finds books across many subject areas and then shows where they can be purchased or borrowed. If a book listed in its search results is in the public domain, its full text may be available. Viewing books with copyright protection requires sign-in with a Google account.
NetLibrary
http://www.netlibrary.com: NetLibrary has thousands of books available through the UWF Libraries for students, staff and faculty. Limited access is available to the general public. Online books can be accessed by creating a free account.
Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org: Contains 17,000 free eBooks across various subject areas. One of the largest sources of free eBooks on the Internet. Its special formats include audio books and sheet music.

Literature & Fiction

CELT - Corpus of Electronic Texts
http://www.ucc.ie/celt: Contemporary and historical texts covering Irish literature, history, and politics.
Electronic Text Center - University of Virginia
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/: University of Virginia Library has 10,000 texts available in the areas of history, literature, philosophy, religion, and history of science. Its collections include many books written in world languages such as Latin, Apache, Japanese, and Chinese. In addition, it has 164,000 images from rare books, manuscripts, and book illustrations.
Google Book Search
http://book.google.com
Library of Southern Literature
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit: Includes books published on the American South before 1924.
NetLibrary
http://www.netlibrary.com
Online Medieval and Classical Library
http://www.omacl.org: A collection of Old and Middle English texts such as The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Codex Junius 11, and Troilus and Criseyde. Searchable by author, title of work, genre, and language.
Page by Page Books
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com: Provides online texts of English and European authors.
Penn State University's Electronic Classics Site
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/jimspdf.htm: Includes many works in the Humanities and philosophers such as Nietzsche, Descartes, and Thoreau. Texts on this site span throughout the ages and are from around the world. Titles include The Upanishads, Crime and Punishment, and The Prince.
Perseus Digital Library
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu: Online collection of primary and secondary sources of ancient and classic Greece and Rome. This collection also includes the Bolles Collection, the Robert Boyle papers, and other texts from the English Renaissance.
Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org
Project Gutenberg - Poetry
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results?title=poem
The University of Adelaide Library - eBooks @ Adelaide
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au: A collection of classic works in literature, philosophy, science, and history. Search by author, title or theme (subject).
Women Writers Resource Project
http://chaucer.library.emory.edu/wwrp/index.html: A collection of edited and unabridged texts by women authors from the 17th to 19th century.

History, Politics and Government

CELT - Corpus of Electronic Texts
http://www.ucc.ie/celt
From Revolution to Reconstruction
http://www.let.rug.nl/~usa/revolution.html: Documents on American History from the colonial period through modern times. Includes essays, documents, speeches, and text throughout American History.
The National Archives
http://www.archives.gov: Firsthand access to the U.S. government's historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence. Research tools for this site are available at http://www.archives.gov/research/tools/index.html
PALMM: Publication of Archival Library & Museum Materials
http://palmm.fcla.edu/: "PALMM is a cooperative initiative of the public universities of Florida to provide digital access to important source materials for research and scholarship," according to its site. Collections providing e-Texts include:
The University of Adelaide Library - eBooks @ Adelaide
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au

Philosophy & Religion

Internet Sacred Text Archives
http://www.sacred-texts.com/: A collection of documents from world religions and faiths. This site also includes online books of mysticism and other spiritual practices from around the world.
Electronic Text Center - University of Virginia
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/
Penn State University's Electronic Classics Site
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/jimspdf.htm
Perseus Digital Library
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu: Online collection of primary and secondary sources of ancient and classic Greece and Rome. This collection also includes the Bolles Collection, the Robert Boyle papers, and other texts from the English Renaissance.
Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org

Science

Google Book Search
http://book.google.com
The National Academies Press
http://www.nap.edu/: This site has over 3,000 books in the sciences, including the areas of Behavioral & Social Sciences, Earth Sciences, Engineering and Technology. Look for the link "Read this book online, free" on each individual book page.
PALMM: Publication of Archival Library & Museum Materials: Go to the PALMM homepage for access to their expansive environmental science collections:
Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org
The University of Adelaide Library - eBooks @ Adelaide
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au

Children's Books

Children's Books Online
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/: Children's Books Online has a collection organized by reader level. Its concentration is on picture books and readers from the early 20th century. Many of its books are available in world languages.
International Children's Digital Library
http://www.icdlbooks.org/: This site provides full access to picture books and children's stories. Children and adults have the option to read books in English or other world languages.
Literature for Children - PALMM
http://palmm.fcla.edu/juv/: Literature for Children is a collection of British and American children's literature published from 1850 to beyond 1950. This collection is a project of Florida's PALMM: Publication of Archival Library & Museum Materials.

Reference

Bartleby's.com: This site has e-Text for reference sources such as encyclopedias, almanacs and dictionaries as well as full-text literature and poetry.

MetaLists

The following websites provide additional links to eBooks on the internet.

Eserver.org
http://eserver.org/: A site of free-access materials ranging from text to streaming audio and video recordings. This site categorizes links by subject area of other e-Texts and eBook sites on the internet.
Literature e-Texts: A Directory
http://www.zeroland.co.nz/literature-etexts.html
Stockton - San Joaquin County Public Library: A site with links to many free eBook sites; includes links and information on eBook reader software.
University of Florida eBooks and e-Texts

By Kristy Padron, English Literature Librarian
Updated March 14, 2007
University of West Florida Libraries