Virtually Borrow Books from Several Sources Directly from the Internet Archive/Open Library
We have three info sources for this post. The Internet Library / Open Library now allows users to borrow books from several libraries. In addition, users with access to OverDrive from their local library(s) can literally check out e-book titles while using the Open Library. No need to move from page to page. Finally, all of the public domain text (what you have known the Open Library is about until total are available, viewable in a number of formats, and free.
You'll also find info in this announcement from the Internet Archive and a third item from the OpenLibrary (an IA) initiative.
+ We've talked about OpenLibrary.org (how much we like it after it relaunched in May). We also posted an in-depth overview about what OpenLibrary offers including a number of advanced syntax options. If crafting very specific queries using search syntax is not your thing, take a look at all of the ways to "Zoom In" on your results. One more note, Open Library is not only about ebooks, they have entries about print resources as well. To limit your search to only e-books either select the "e-books only button" directly below the search box.
All of the searching and checkout of books will take place on the OpenLibrary.org web site.
Public Domain Titles (What's Always Been Available)
+ All users can search and view public domain materials. Open Library makes e-book material available in several different formats. Here's a very complete entry record for the 1906 classic by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle. Btw, don't forget a new option that Open Library offers. You can send the full text of any public domain title found in the Open Library directly to your Kindle with just two clicks. Simple directions here.
OverDrive eBook Material
+ Depending on the library or libraries where you have access to material from the OverDrive Digital Library Reserve (about 70,000 ebooks) you're in luck. To determine if you have access to Overdrive Digital Library Package use this database and select find a library and enter your Zip Code. In other words, you can virtually checkout OverDrive titles from your local library through Open Library.
Here's a search and a results page for OverDrive materials via OpenLibrary. This link will show the titles most recently published and now available from OverDrive.
The Lending Collection
Three partner libraries are involved:
1) Boston Public Library (Genealogical Books)
2) Biblioteca Ludwig von Mises at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala (Spanish Language Texts)
3) Marine Biological Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Wood’s Hole, MA (Marine life reference materials)
and the Internet Archive (How-To and Technical Book Collection)
At this early stage, about 200 titles can be borrowed from these libraries and the IA on the Open Library site. You'll need Adobe Digital Editions (free) to view the books.
How Lending Works
If the book can be provided without restriction [the content and the dates vary widely] then it is offered in a variety of formats for laptops and mobile devices. If the book is not commercially available and no one else has checked out the book, then the user can borrow it for a 2 week period.
Books are automatically "returned" (it's no longer accessible on your computer) after the 14 days.
Only one person at a time will be allowed to check out a digital copy of an in-copyright book for two weeks. While on loan, the physical copy of the book won't be loaned, due to copyright restrictions.--WSJ
...participants including the Boston Public Library and the Marine Biological Laboratory will also contribute scans of a few hundred older books that are still in copyright, but no longer sold commercially. That part of the project could raise eyebrows, because copyright law is unclear in the digital books arena. Google Inc., which is working on its own book scanning efforts, has been mired in a legal brouhaha with authors and publishers over its digital books project.
"We're trying to build an integrated digital lending library of anything that is available anywhere, where you can go and find not just information about books, but also find the books themselves and borrow them." -- Brewster Kahle, the founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive
Mr. Kahle said, "We're just trying to do what libraries have always done." (WSJ)
Positive Words from Library Friend, Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand, author of the 1988 book "The Media Lab"—one of the scanned books that will now be available for loan—said he didn't mind seeing his title made available this way. Mr. Kahle at the Internet Archive asked his permission, he said, and he gave it because he thinks digitizing books has the potential to improve knowledge.
"I figure libraries are one of the major pillars of civilization, and in almost every case what librarians want is what they should get," Mr. Brand said.
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