GET INVOLVED!
If you find these on-line books enjoyable and useful, we encourage you
to get involved. Here are a few ways you can do so.
- Join the Book People mailing list.
There you can talk about on-line books and related issues with other folks
who produce and use free on-line books.
- Give feedback to the people who are putting books on-line.
Many of us do this as a labor of love, and we appreciate knowing when
our work has been useful, or if there are problems that need to be fixed.
- Suggest more books to go on-line. See
this list for books that have
already been requested, or that are in progress. (Note that copyrighted books
can only go on-line with the permission of the copyright holder; see
this page for more details.)
- Tell us where we can find more on-line books. Write spok+books@cs.cmu.edu to point out ones we missed. You might want to look at
our selection criteria to see what we're
looking for.
- Put books on-line! It can be a great way to "get close" to
a favorite book, and your work, once done, can be read by millions.
- See this guide for information on how
to put books on-line.
- If you are an author, consider giving permission for your books to
go on-line. An on-line version of your book can reach readers worldwide,
and make your writing available to all long after print copies leave
bookstore shelves. (If your book is hard to find in stores, an on-line
version with ordering capabilities may even spur sales!) If you're interested
in giving such permission, either now or in the future, write to spok+books@cs.cmu.edu.
Dennis McCarthy has written about ways authors can
donate their work to the public, ranging from putting the work into the
public domain to retaining copyright and donating a license.
- Support free speech, fair use, and the public domain. They're
all good for society, and they also
make it possible to put books on-line more easily. See
this page
for more details about what you can do.
- Give material support to your favorite on-line book project.
The folks who put up books on-line for free often appreciate donations
of money, books, and equipment. Some of the groups soliciting support
include:
The links above go to pages giving more information about how you can help
them.
- Support your local library. Libraries are vital local resources
for literacy, learning, and community-building. (Many of them also provide
free access to Internet resources like this one.)
Libraries need volunteers, friends, and
advocates. Contact your local Friends of the Library group, if there is one,
to find out more.
(The Friends of Libraries USA site
also has some useful resources
for starting or running such a group.)
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The Inside Story
Copyright 1993-1999
by John Mark Ockerbloom (spok+books@cs.cmu.edu)