Open Access e-book collections
The following websites contain free e-books on a variety of subjects. However, some items on these websites may not be available in full or may be charged for.
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Books and journals from major natural history museum libraries and research institutions.
Canadiana
A collection of digitized books, maps, newspaper clippings, photographs, letters and other archival material in French and English.
The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online
Based at the University of Cambridge, this site contains at least one exemple of all known Darwin publications, as both searchable text and electronic images of the originals. The majority of these have been edited and annotated. It also provides the largest collection of Darwin's private papers ever published. Translations and audio versions of some of his books are also included, as are several relevant publications by his contemporaries.
Digital Book Index
Includes sections on geology, mineralogy and palaeontology. Most items are free but there is a charge to see items which are still in copyright.
Digital Library for Earth System Education
DLESE resources include electronic materials for both teachers and learners, such as lesson plans, maps, images, data sets, visualizations, assessment activities, curriculum, and online courses.
Early New Zealand Books
The Early New Zealand Books Project was developed by staff at The University of Auckland Library to provide the keyword-searchable text of significant books published about New Zealand in the nineteenth century.
eBooks@Adelaide
A collection of e-books on various subjects provided by the University of Adelaide Library.
Gallica
A collection of digitized books, periodicals, maps and images on a variety of subjects from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Bibliographic database for scientific publications of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). The database features over 85,000 records primarily of the Earth Sciences.
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is produced by a non-profit organisation founded to build an Internet Library. It includes digitized items held in academic libraries in the USA and Canada.
The National Academies Press – Earth Sciences Most books can be downloaded as free .pdfs. The National Academies Press publish books for National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.
New Zealand Digital Library
Produced by The University of Waikato, the Virtual Disaster Library section includes items on geohazards.
Online Books Page
This site is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.
Oxford Digital Library
Digitized versions of old and rare books, maps, records and images from Oxford University Library and the Geological Collections of the University Museum of Natural History: Key 17th, 18th to 19th century geological literature.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg was the first producer of free electronic books, and is produced by volunteers. There are more than 20,000 e-books in several languages and many subjects.
Scientia Digital Virtual Library
This website is available in several languages and includes a small geology section.
Virtual Landscapes of Texas
Early writings on the geology of Texas made available by the University of Texas Libraries.
World Public Library
World Public Library Consortia is a global coordinated effort to preserve and disseminate classic works of literature, serials, bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works in a number of languages and countries around the world. Some items are only available to their members.