Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Project Gutenberg

I love to read.  It's pure escapism to me.  I spend my day inside teaching history, so when I'm free I like to walk somewhere quiet, sit under a tree, and read.  The more fantastic the better.

When Project Gutenberg was envisioned in the late 90s I got excited.  They were going to be a collection of all public domain works that anyone could browse and download.  Today they have over 38,000 free books in HTML, epub, Kindle, Nook and other formats.  In less than 5 minutes I can read Alexadre Dumas' catalog on my Kindle for free. 

As a teacher this is invaluable.  I don't have to buy books anymore.  If I'm discussing the Reformation I can pull quotes from many of Luther's works.  I could also turn my students loose and have them find their own quotes.  Because Gutenberg checks copyright status, I can freely use any part of any of their books in any way I choose.

Here is one of my favorite books - The Three Musketeers

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