l'Empereur des diables

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How to find textbooks online for free: a post.

obsessionfull:

Textbooks are fucking expensive, and if your professor doesn’t require a physical copy (most don’t - they just want you to have the book at hand. Or maybe even not. Some professors literally give no fucks about whether you have the book or not) and you don’t mind having your copy as an electronic copy - this is the post for you!

Most textbook companies put out new editions every year or so even though there isn’t really that much new information. Sometimes they’ll eliminate questions if it’s something like a math or chemistry book or they’ll add in a few sentences about updated legislation (the professor I work for teaches human sexuality, and the newest edition of the book she uses included the 2009 decision to allow same-sex couples have hospital visitation rights). These new editions are pointless and only created to make the textbook company money and to cut down on students selling to each other. You’re going to ignore that. We love older editions. Make sure when you’re searching on the following sites that you don’t include the edition number to give you more search results. If one with your edition comes up - great! If not, you can usually stick to something one to three editions behind without any major changes.

I should also mention that checking your school’s library for a book you can check out to either keep for the semester or scan the pages you need is also a great option. I saved $90 the semester after I wrote this by borrowing a chemistry lab manual from the library and just scanning the labs I needed instead of buying one for myself that I couldn’t even sell later on.

Sites you should be searching:

  • FilesTube - FilesTube searches THE ENTIRE INTERNET for files uploaded to file-sharing websites such as Rapidshare, Mediafire, or WuUpload. Sometimes people will upload pdf files of your textbook. This is always an important first search.
  • Google Books - You usually won’t find your textbook on Google Books, but it’s always worth a look. Sometimes pages are missing because it’s only a preview of the book, but again - always worth a look.
  • Scribd - People upload documents to Scribd and by becoming a member (free!) or connecting through Facebook (if you’re lazy!), you can download whatever files you may find. This sometimes includes textbooks.
  • BookBoon - website specifically for finding pdf versions of textbooks
  • Curriki - free open source materials
  • Flat World Knowledge - free business, humanities, and science textbooks
  • California Learning Resource Network
  • Open Culture
  • Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources
  • TorrentScan - textbooks are also uploaded to torrent sites in some cases - you may as well check.
  • If push comes to shove, you can try variations of googling “textbook name torrent” or “textbook name download” or “textbook name download free.” Sometimes things pop up and I never would have known about them.
  • LibraryPirate is a torrent search site specifically for textbooks. (Added 10 October 2011)
  • AMAZING Reddit post (Added 2 November 2011)
  • JenkThat - I haven’t tried this out yet, but I’ve heard good things from others. It’s also a good place to find other ebooks that aren’t textbooks. (Added 29 December 2011)
  • Bookfi - I just briefly looked at this site and searched for a few common terms and it looks great! Download links are provided straight from the search results. Definitely useful! (Added 1 August 2012)
  • Ink eBook - Recommended by a few. Seems to just be a general eBook search site! (Added 12 January 2013)
  • Ebookee - This one had a few textbooks on the recently viewed section when I visited it, so it looks promising! (Added 12 January 2013)

I’ve found all 8 of my textbooks for this term (19 credit hours, six classes) through one of the methods above. I’m not even going to look at retail prices, but checking BigWords.com (which, if you want to buy your books/can’t find them anywhere with one of the previous methods, will give you the cheapest price on the internet), I saved $497.87 by doing this. It takes time, but it’s definitely worth almost $500 worth of time. If you know of more ways to find free textbooks - please let me know!

(via nocticola)

Filed under College university if my professors required a physical copy I wouldn't have read any of the books I was supposed to read

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This semester is WON

I’m going to do an essay about the British reaction to the French Revolution, especially from the Parliament’s point of view. I’m going to talk about Edmund Burke and his writings, I’ll have to analyse Pitt’s decisions and Fox’s speeches in Parliament. I’m going to talk about the Glorious Revolution.

 I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY.E

This will be the first of many works on British Parliamentary History.

Filed under Edmund Burke Charles Fox William Pitt The Younger Glorious Revolution College XIX century I AM SO HAPPY British Parliament

3 notes

It was in my senior year, after being taught about the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution that I decided to take History, abandoning my initial idea of going to Law. At the time I wrote an article for the school newspaper that said and I’m quoting: “It is England. It has to be. It is History. It has to be” Today, two years afterwards, I received a grade to a subject called “Modern European History” where we discussed England in the XVII century. Where we discussed the themes that had pushed me towards this degree - towards my dreams. One of the questions of the test was about England. It was about XVII Century England. And the puritans, the Americans, the Glorious Revolution, the Civil War, the English thinkers.  And because of this question I managed to get a very good grade, especially considering how stern and exigent the professor is.  I will need this subject for my Master Degree - which I’ll take in England - and this was the subject that made me go to History. England was since my early teenager years very present in my life. From TV-Series, (the famous British humour) to the Royal Family, to the newspapers, to the diversity and the contradictions that I learned to accept and respect. To the History. Especially to the History.  England helped me when I most needed, it became a refuge when I needed one. I always felt incredibly happy in England, in ways that I never have felt in my own country. It shaped my life and my goals. Some people think I overreact - maybe I do sometimes - but the lack of identification that I find in my own birthplace, I find it in England, completely, totally, fully. I may be disappointed one day. But if that day comes I will have a clear conscience about my choices. And after today no one should dare to ask me “Why England?” or “Why History?”

It was in my senior year, after being taught about the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution that I decided to take History, abandoning my initial idea of going to Law. At the time I wrote an article for the school newspaper that said and I’m quoting: “It is England. It has to be. It is History. It has to be”

Today, two years afterwards, I received a grade to a subject called “Modern European History” where we discussed England in the XVII century. Where we discussed the themes that had pushed me towards this degree - towards my dreams. One of the questions of the test was about England. It was about XVII Century England. And the puritans, the Americans, the Glorious Revolution, the Civil War, the English thinkers. 

And because of this question I managed to get a very good grade, especially considering how stern and exigent the professor is. 

I will need this subject for my Master Degree - which I’ll take in England - and this was the subject that made me go to History.

England was since my early teenager years very present in my life. From TV-Series, (the famous British humour) to the Royal Family, to the newspapers, to the diversity and the contradictions that I learned to accept and respect. To the History. Especially to the History. 

England helped me when I most needed, it became a refuge when I needed one. I always felt incredibly happy in England, in ways that I never have felt in my own country. It shaped my life and my goals. Some people think I overreact - maybe I do sometimes - but the lack of identification that I find in my own birthplace, I find it in England, completely, totally, fully. I may be disappointed one day. But if that day comes I will have a clear conscience about my choices.

And after today no one should dare to ask me “Why England?” or “Why History?”

Filed under College England English Civil War English History Glorious Revolution Goals Life On Tumblr or everywhere else Stuff that I am proud to say English Parliament Westminster