I have to admit that ever since eBooks became popular, my life as a student became a lot easier. I remember having the need to read the Complete Works of Shakespeare as an undergraduate. For a self-supporting college student, any required book, especially those thick and expensive ones, can really burn a large hole in your wallet.

Good thing Shakespeare’s long dead and most of his works are in open domain, meaning you can get them elsewhere, copy and source them without having to deal with copyright restrictions. As an alternative, I just opted to get the Complete Works online from Project Gutenberg. It saved me a great bundle doing that. Though, I just had to contend with reading Shakespeare in plain text.

Here’s some great news for eBook junkies. The Internet Archive (same people who made the Wayback Machine) has embarked on a new project called The Open Library. It promises to provide an extensive collection of free eBooks. While the site isn’t finished yet and the collection still far from being extensive and comprehensive, it’s something to which someone can look forward.

View the demo site.