Searching the Internet for
books
Getting started: what can you find?
Recently there has been a lot of publicity about Google and free ebooks. However, while an
increasing amount of information is available
Remember
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Not all books are free online
You should continue to search the LSE Library catalogue for items on your reading list.
http://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/
The LSE Library pays for access to a growing number of full text ebook databases. These
contain many titles (especially textbooks) which you will not be able to find using Google.
Comparing free ebooks with LSE Library subscription databases.
Free websites
Increasing access to historical out of
copyright materials.
However, texts may be available in
different versions.
Remember to check the citation for any
materials you use.
Google Books offers some access
access to recent textbooks. However,
this may be restricted to tables of
contents and selected pages – which
cannot be easily printed or downloaded!
Many publishers websites offer sample
chapters only
Free access to increasing numbers of
pamphlets and reports from charities,
pressure, groups and political parties can
now be found online.
LSE databases
Databases include recent textbooks on
your reading list
materials from the 18th, 19th and 20th
Centuries
All have correct citations.
Access to 1,000s of recently published
titles
Many are on current LSE reading lists
Accessing LSE Library ebook databases.
Links to LSE ebooks can be found via the Library catalogue
 If you know the title you need. First go to the LSE Library catalogue. Enter the title. Titles
which are available electronically have the location Networked eBook. Select the option
Electronic resource click to accessto go to the full text. Often a password is required. The
record will give you information on this. All passwords are stored on LSE for You. You
usually need to use your LSE Network username and password.
 Alternatively if you want to search the library catalogue by subject keyword you can restrict
your search to ebooks only . Run your search and then from the results screen refine the
hits by choosing one of the options from the left handside of the screen. There is usually an
option genre – electronic books.
 However, note that as some databases are very large not all titles available electronically
are listed. All e-textbooks will be listed on the catalogue. Other historical works and
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research books may not be be. A listing of all the databases we subscribe to with
information on whether they are listed on the catalogue is on the next page. If the full
contents of the database are not on the LSE library catalogue you should enter the
database and browse the title list. Note that in some cases you need to select the titles
subscribed to option to limit your search to full text only.
Additionally many library catalogue records also offer links to Google books. This means
that if a book is on loan you can see if there is a free version on the Internet or you can look
at some of the text/ contents pages to see if it is relevant to your needs. To do this expand
the full record of the book and look for the additional information box on the left handside of
the screen.
The main subscription databases.
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All these titles can be accessed via the LSE Library catalogue.or there is an a-z list on the lse
library ebooks page http://www2.lse.ac.uk/library/eresources/ebooks.aspx
Login using your LSE Network username and password.
Note many database have strict copyright restrictions and you may be restricted from
downloading or printing more than a few pages in one session.
The ACLS Humanities E-Book (HEB). (formerly known as the History E-Book Project)
Content: a project of the American Council of Learned Societies. It provides access to the full text
of over 1,000 books from over 60 US publishers. Topics covered include: history from ancient
times until the 20th Century. Areas include: Asian history, Latin American history, European
history, history of science and technology, comparative and world history.
Access : https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1151871 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Cambridge Histories Online.
Content: The complete 250-plus volumes of Cambridge Histories reference series covering
different geographical areas and periods of history.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1249066 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Dissertations and theses
Content: Covers N. American PhD theses. Full text of most titles from 1997 onwards. Abstracts for
titles submitted from 1861 onwards.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149203. Using your LSE network username and
password.
DawsonEra
Content: One of the largest LSE ebook databases several hundred text electronic books from the
social sciences. All have been identified as texts on LSE reading lists and the platform includes
recent publications from a variety of publishers. Many titles titles are also held as print books in the
Library’s Course Collection. Note this database has strict copyright terms. You may download a
complete book for 1-3 days. After this period the book will not be accessible(even if you have
saved it onto your PC or laptop) and you will need to download the item again. Note also that if you
start to read a chapter online, you will not be able to download the complete book in the same
session. The best advice is to download the complete title first.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1217795
Using your LSE network username and password. All titles listed on the LSE library catalogue.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Content : over 150,000 books published during the 18th Century. Topics covered include: social
history, political history, economic history, history of medicine, legal history and philosophy.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1151891 Using your LSE network username and
password. All titles are not listed on the LSE Library catalogue.
Handbooks in Economics
Content: 28 full text handbooks covering a wide range of subject areas of economics and
development economics. Accessible via the ScienceDirect website.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1190654 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Intelex Past Masters:
Content: collection of classic works by philosophers and political scientists. They include a
collection of British Philosophy 1600-1900 (Francis Bacon, David Hume, Adam Smith, Edmund
Burke), full text books by continental rationalists (Spinoza-Descartes, Leibnitz), OUP translations of
Hegel, full text works on the philosophy of science from Darwin, Wittgenstein collected works and
Kant Hauptewerke.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1151853 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Lexis Library
Content :major leading legal database. In addition to legislation and case law it also contains a
small number of practitioners works.. They include titles by Halsburys – such as the SI citator.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149247 Using your LSE network username and
password. Choose the option Commentary to view the list
MyiLibrary
Content: One of the largest LSE ebook databases several hundred text electronic books from the
social sciences. All have been identified as texts on LSE reading lists and the platform includes
recent publications from a variety of publishers. Many titles titles are also held as print books in the
Library’s Course Collection. Note this database has strict copyright terms. Do not try to exceed the
limit for downloading as this can result in other users being locked out of the database.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149737 Using your LSE network username and
password. All titles listed on the LSE library catalogue.
OECDiLibrary
https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/681022
Content : all the OECD's books and journals published since 1998. Statistical time series are also
available. Coverage includes the following subjects: agriculture; education; emerging economics;
employment; energy; enterprise, trade and industry; environment, development; finance and
investment; general economics; governance; information technology; international development;
migration; nuclear energy; science; social issues; statistics sources and methods; taxation;
transition economics; transport.
Access: Using your LSE network username and password. Note not all titles indexed on the LSE
Library catalogue.
Oxford Scholarship Online
Content: Several thousand books published by Oxford University Press. Subject coverage is
currently Business and management, economics and finance, philosophy, political science,
religion, history, law, mathematics, psychology, public health.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149259 Using your LSE network username and
password.All titles listed on the LSE library catalogue.
Westlaw UK
Content: Includes a small online library of practitioner works. These include Archbold Criminal
Pleading Evidence and Practice, Palmer's Company Law, Civil Procedure (White Book) and
Woodfall: Landlord and Tenant.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149292 Using your LSE network username and
password. Choose the option Commentary to view the list
Encyclopedia and reference titles
Additionally the LSE library subscribes to a number of dictionaries and encyclopedias online. The
main titles are.
Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online
Content: A major reference source containing over 1,800 articles covering all areas of sociological
research.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1189811 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Encyclopedia of social measurement
Content :this leading encyclopedia (accessible via ScienceDirect website) which contains articles
on the theory, history and technqiues of gathering and analysing data in the Social Sciences.
Topics covered include research design, analytical techniques, data collection, the handling of
datasets, measurement models and data interpretation.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1187529 Using your LSE network username and
password.
The international encyclopedia of communication
Content: The International Encyclopedia of Communication Online is published in association with
International Communication Association. It provides access to over 1,300 articles covering the full
range of communication studies. This includes media theories and concepts , research methods,
journalism, strategic communication/PR, communication and law and policy and media systems in
the world.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1150982 Using your LSE network username and
password.
The international encyclopedia of revolution and protest 1500 to the present (c2009)
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1203829 Using your LSE network username and
password.
International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences
Content: full text of this major multi-volume encyclopedia which was first published in 2001 by
Pergamon ISBN: 0-08-043076-7. It covers a wide range of subsject areas including economics,
psychology, gender studies, sociology and organisational studies, containing articles and
definitions. The online version is accessed via the ScienceDirect website.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/973749 Using your LSE network username and
password.
International organizations online
Content: This site provides access to the full text of the current issue of Yearbook of International
Organizations. This is published annually by the Union of International Organizations and contains
basic reference information about international bodies, organisations and agencies worldwide.
Entries include current addresses and basic facts about the history, purpose and current activities
of each organisation.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1151987 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Max Planck encyclopedia of public international law
Content: Fully updated online edition of the Encyclopedia of public international law published in
print between 1991 and 2001 under the general editorship of Rudolf Bernhardt.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1205957 Using your LSE network username and
password.
New Palgrave dictionary of economics online
Content: The online version of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, edited by
Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, contains over 1,850 articles by more than 1,500 of the
world's leading economists.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1150977 Using your LSE network username and
password.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB)
Content: provides access to over 50,000 biographies of influential men and women who have
shaped the UK from the earliest times to the current day. Each entry includes biographical details
and discussion of their contribution.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1151928 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
Content: full text searchable version of the famous dictionary.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/654536 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Oxford Reference online
Content: contains over 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works in the subject
areas of general reference, language, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences, and
business and professional
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149258 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online
Content: features over 2000 original articles from over 1300 leading international experts across
the discipline of philosophy. Each article links to a bibliography, related articles, and other internet
resources
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149269 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Who’s who online and Who was who
Content: contains thousands of short biographical entries for influential people from all parts of the
world and from all walks of life: the arts, business and finance, the church, the civil service,
education, entertainment, sport, government, the law, local government, the media, medicine,
professional institutions, science and the trade unions. This website enables you to search the
most recent volume as well as all past issues published annually since 1849.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1203419 Using your LSE network username and
password.
World Whos who
Content: access to the online version of the International Whos Who. This contains basic
biographical information about leading political and social figures worldwide. It also contains
obituaries.
Access: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1151914 Using your LSE network username and
password.
Searching for free ebooks on the Internet.
Google Books
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Aims to make available information and full text books. Constantly improving.
It is in negotiation with certain libraries to scan and digitise selected books. A list of those
involved is at; http://books.google.com/googlebooks/partners.html. updates can be found
on the Google Blog at http://booksearch.blogspot.com/
Search screen at: http://books.google.com/
Help screens at: http://books.google.com/intl/en/googlebooks/help.html
Note that in many cases copyright restrictions mean that you can only view a few pages of
the book. This is particularly true for recently published books unless the publisher has
decided to make it open access. Many charities and think tanks are increasingly doing this
but in practise most full text books available have been published before the 1920s.
Note this service does not comprehensively index the LSE ebook subscriptions.
Search tips
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The advanced search form enables you to search for full text books only. You can also limit
by publication date and language.
Select the full view button. The option limited preview retrieves items where abstracts or
selected chapters only are available. Library catalogues will search a database called
worldcat. This provides information about paper / print copies of the texts in Libraries
worldwide. If you are on the LSE campus or logged in via the LSE remote desktop it may
automatically launch a search of the LSE library catalogue for the ISBN number of the item.
Note this can be unpredictable. It is more effective to go directly to the LSE catalogue or to
use other sources such as Copac.http;//www.copac.ac.uk/ for searching for books in other
Uk research libraries.
Advanced searching also enables searching for exact phrases, authors, subject areas.
Viewing the books.
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Search results appear as book covers or lists. Click on the title to see the book.
A typical screen looks like this.
Image: screen grab of Google Books search results.
Preview of On the principles of political economy, and
taxation, by David Ricardo.
Subscription resource: no
URL:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iUUJAAAAQAAJ&print
sec=frontcover&dq=ricardo+david&hl=en&ei=w_qSTbXzF
5CzhAe204icDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum
=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Edited: Yes
Amendments: 1) cropped to exclude browser window
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Note you will not always be taken to the front page of the book. It will jump to parts of the
text where your search terms appear.
If the book is available in full text the option. Download – will appear on the right hand side
of the screen.
Click on about this book to retrieve the full publication details. Note you will need to do this
to cite works correctly.
The about this book option also retrieves cross references from other books. Sometimes
these include book reviews (although often many are not free). Related books (ranked by
users) and Google maps. A quirky feature with places listed in the book marked on Google
maps.
The contents option will retrieve the table of contents.
There is also an option to search within the book. Look for the box on the left hand side of
the page.
My Library feature
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If you have a personalised account on Google you can create add your own booklist or library .
Add items to you library by selecting the Add to my Library option next to any of the titles
This list can be opened every time you log onto your account by choosing the My Library
option.
You can add notes, tags or review the books
You can automatically search within these books
or export the list as an RSS feed. The URL of this can also be shared with other people. It
offers titles with links to the text.
Creating a personalised account if free full details are at on the main Google home page
iGoogle feature.
Other useful starting points.
Search Engines.
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A9 OpenSearch http://a9.com/-/home.jsp - A cross search service including Amazon inside
the book and Microsoft.
Another good tip is to try searching for the name of the institution/ body on Google. Then
browse the publications area of their website Many charities and research organizations put
full text papers on their website but the individual titles do not get indexed on Google until later
and sometimes not at all.
Major free online book collections.
Online ebooks collection
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
an excellent index maintained by Penn University. Covers all subject areas. Excellent at alerting new
titles. Over 1 million titles currently listed.
Digital book index: a union catalog of electronic books, texts and documents
http://www.digitalbookindex.org/index.cgi
maintained by Thomas R. Franklin. It is a recommended directory of links to more than 165,000
titles commercial and non-commercial publishers, projects, publishers sites and other online digital
libraries containing full text books and manuscripts. Many of the items offer resources free of
charge. It is possible to browse the site by publisher name or subject area. The subject listing
includes links to individual book titles. Records give publication details and formats unpublished
works such as these are not generally listed. Free registration required.
Europeana
http://www.europeana.eu/
is a European Commission funded portal which was launched in 2008 and is currently working to build
a virtual European library offering free access to Europe's cultural resources. It includes millions of
texts (manuscripts, papers, ebooks), images (photographs, maps), films (moving images, videos, film
clips, television broadcasts) and sounds from Europe's main research libraries, archives and galleries.
Organisations currently include the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the British Library in London and the
Louvre in Paris. It is possible to search the site by subject keyword, or browse by date, language and
theme. A wide range of topics relevant to the social sciences are covered including elections (historic
coverage), anthropology, social history, cultural events.
The HathiTrust
http://www.hathitrust.org/
is a collaboration of a number of leading American university research libraries, including the
University of Michigan and the University of California, who are working to provide an online digital
archive/ library of their major research materials. This includes the full text of books, monographs and
pamphlets out of copyright. All subject areas of the arts and humanities, sciences and social sciences
are covered. There is particularly strong coverage of American political, social and economic history,
and the American constitution, civil liberties in the USA, slavery, and the lives and political
achievements of the American presidents. Also numerous examples of full text US government
congressional and official publications. Material is being added to the site on a rolling basis and can be
searched by keyword.
China US million book digital library Project http://www.cadal.zju.edu.cn/IndexEng.action
is an international digital library project which is working to provide free full text access to 500,000 rare
Chinese and language books and 500,000 English language books about China. Partners include
leading Chinese universities; the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Funding has been received from with
funding from the Ministry of Education of China (MOE) and National Science Foundation of USA
(NSF). The site is interdisciplinary in nature covering all subjects from the sciences, social sciences,
arts and humanities. There is a special emphasis upon topics relating to Chinese language, history
and culture. These include coverage of Chinese communism and the history of Mao Tse Tung and the
Chinese Communist Party.
The World Digital Library (WDL) http://www.wdl.org/
was launched in 2009 by UNESCO in association with over 30 other national, university and research
libraries and archives. Current partners include: Library of Congress, Bibliotheca Alexandrina of
Alexandria, Egypt and National Libraries in Japan, China and Russia. It aims to provide free public
access to an online collection of cultural materials These are intended to include books, manuscripts,
prints, photographs, sound recordings and film clips covering all areas of the world from earliest times
to the present day. They include many examples of rare historic materials. Subject covered are broad
ranging - encompassing a wide range of social sciences and humanities topics. These include politics;
anthropology; the history of migration and colonisation; political history; philosophy; cultural studies
and social history. Items are presented in their original languages. The site can be searched by
keyword or browsed by time, place, topic or contributing institution
Gallica
http://gallica.bnf.fr/
is the electronic Library of the Bibliotheque Nationale it provides free access to a large number of full
text French language historical texts from the library covering all subject areas.
Universal digital Library million book collection.
http://www.ulib.org/
An international consortium starting to provide free access to online books. Funders include the
National Science Foundation. Contributing organisations, Carnegie Mellon University and Universities
in China and India. Includes Chinese Arabic and Indian language books. Currently some displays
showing abstracts only or requiring plug ins but a good project.
The Digital Library of India- http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/
a major portal to online collections of books hosted by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in cooperation with over 21 Indian universities and the Indian government. It provides free access to a
growing number of ebooks scanned from Indian library collections. They include many historic
monographs and books in Indian languages, covering a full range of topics from the humanities and
social sciences. There is particularly strong coverage of topics relating to Indian culture, history,
society and politics.
The Aceh books website http://www.acehbooks.org/
provides free access to over 1,200 full text monographs about the history, politics and culture of Aceh.
It was established by The Royal Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in Leiden
in association with a number of other Dutch educational establishments to preserve books about the
region. It includes materials in Dutch, Indonesian and European languages (published by both
Indonesian and European imprints) covering a wide range of topics from the humanities and social
sciences. Key fields include ethnographic and anthropology, historic traveller's accounts, histories of
colonialism and settlement in Indonesia. There is also strong coverage of Aceh politics, separatism
and relations with Indonesia. The site may be searched by keyword or browsed. Information on the
ongoing project to add further materials is provided.
Finally don’t forget that not all books are available electronically
Useful catalogues for tracing printed books are:
InforM25 http://www.inform25.ac.uk/ a free searchable database containing the catalogues of
over 40 academic (university and college libraries in London and the south east). Note it does not
include the British library. Choose the search catalogues option to cross search for books. Note
the results screen is divided into several parts. Below the brief results table is the list of results
found in each institution.
COPAC http://www.copac.ac.uk/ An excellent resource for researches. Quickly cross search the
catalogues of over 25 of the UK’s largest research libraries to find the location of books and
journals. They include the British Library, Senate House (university of London) and Universities in
oxford and Cambridge.
WorldCat http://www.worldcat.org/ is a union catalogue maintained by OCLC. It provides
access to over 52 million items held by libraries worldwide. It is of great value to researchers
checking bibliographic details.
Karlsruhe Virtual Catalogue KVK http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/kvk.html is a meta search
interface which allows you to access and search a large number of library and book trade
catalogues worldwide. These include the major research and national libraries from Europe and
North America as well as well established second hand and online book sellers. You can search
the catalogues by a range of options including keyword and title and quickly locate bibliographic
details and locations for books, pamphlets and journals. All subject areas and languages are
covered.
Further help
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
Consult the Library web pages to book a course
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/library/training/Home.aspx
Ask at the Help desk First Floor
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.