Free Great Books Available
July 26, 2018
Amazon may not be able to replace libraries…yet. It was a comparatively short time ago that some of the world’s brightest thinkers thought the Internet could be a utopian idea that shared knowledge and kindness and funny cat videos. Fast forward to now and the Internet is a place mostly filled with ads, fake facts and fakier news, social media, social media trolls, identity thieves, vendors of baby data, and cat videos. However, it’s not all a minefield, because the knowledge category is actually becoming a reality, thanks to inventive services like Harvard’s new site, “My Harvard Classics.”
The site claims:
If you would like to download a PDF of any volume of the Harvard Classics you may do so for free.” And features massive texts from Homer, Plato, Ben Franklin and many of history’s brightest thinkers.
This is just one of several ways in which the academic world is opening up to this idea. The University of California libraries now offer open access search options, which offers a world of knowledge to anyone with an internet connection. It’s rare that we see stories of goodwill and genuine advancement when we talk about online activity and especially databases, so it’s good to bask in the glow that people are really taking full advantage of the online world in one respect.
By the way, most of the Harvard Classics are available via Amazon for a fee… of course.
Patrick Roland, July 26, 2018
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