I enjoyed browsing the collection on the Guettenberg project (World eBookfair) site. Isn't there irony in having Plato's words now preserved in such a high tech space? I was lamenting with my sister recently about how I will miss the physical act of holding, folding and opening the newspaper on a daily basis once the paper newspapers disappear into cyberspace. I was pleased to see the 'flip book' formats of some of these digital books. With a click on the page, one can somewhat simulate the experience of turning the pages of a book. I also enjoyed seeing some of the older texts that were available, especially children's books that looked like....well, books from my childhood! Preserving those dated visual elements offers me some comfort in my old age!
Since this was not a free e.bookfair month, (July 4-August 08 and apparently will be again starting on July 4, 2009), I found little that was actually free on these sites. For access to downloads on most of them you have to register with a credit card and pay fees of some sort.
Did I miss something here?
Listening to the audio books or clips was also a treat. Being able to listen to a sample to hear the reader's voice is helpful. I listened to two versions of the Jabberwocky poem. The first was
a dramatic reading; the second was by a speaker in Romania whose vocal affect did not convey the verbal drama inherent in that work. The Librivox site and the other site listed in the class syllabus for access to free e-books and audio books are very nice resources.
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