The Search for Free Knowledge in Different Formats

Anyone knows, that knowledge is power, but it rarely comes free. Well, for those of you on a budget, but have the interwebs, I have a host of places where you can either get some good .pdfs or books for relatively low cost. Or in many cases, free. Here is a list that this old she-wolf has in her bookmarks or dug up reference. Here is what I unearthed.

For .pdfs:

Scribed: This is a good place to get whole old books for virtually nothing. Some are free to download, others that are in the Scribd archive you would have to have a subscription or have wrote something yourself and posted on there. Subscription prices vary, but a one day pass for $5 will let you download anything for a day. Some info on there is priceless and the whole site covers a wide range of topics.

Project Gutenberg: This site I love to explore! They have a lot of books that are old, some of them from the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's, but the downloads are free and they have several download formats including Kindle! Again, they cover a wide range of topics from fiction and non fiction books to old how-to manuals. I found a whole 'bookshelf' section on crafting a lone! This resource is really good to check out.

Itunes: I have Itunes. I LOVE Itunes! Everyone knows this little program for just being able to download, catalogue and play music. But there is SO much more to it than just a pretty music program! I use it quite a bit for other stuff, as I download podcasts, but there was one feature that I did not explore too much until I found out what it was. ItunesU. I never really payed to much attention to it until someone told me what it does. (Sorry I dont remember his name, but I met him through a live stream chat! Who ever you are, THANK YOU!!!) If you go into Itunes Store, check out ItunesU. That is the area where college campuses take and upload course materials, work books, and recorded video and audio classroom lectures on almost every subject out there.... All FREE! And these are not just little rinky-dink vocational colleges, we are talking HARVARD, MIT, YALE, PRINCETON... you know... the big boys as well as tons of other colleges too. I personally found a good audio lecture on wild plants in New Mexico with Native teachers and also some demonstration videos on the technology that the pioneers used back in the old days. Podcasts are a good way to get information too. I have found plenty of podcasts like Todays Survival Show, The Prepper Podcast, The Chip Monk Family Survival Podcast, and The Survival Podcast. All of them are excellent to listen to. Do not overlook this resource.

For Books:

Swaptree: Here you can swap books for pretty much just the cost of shipping. But what you want and what you offer has to match up with someone else. I have not used the site, but I have heard of others that have and it works.

Half.com: I have gotten a few books on there for cheap. Sellers tell what physical shape books are in, and you can read reviews of the books. Pricing is reasonable.

Amazon: I have gotten many books from here for pretty cheap, anywhere ranging from a buck or two to $15 bucks used (before shipping. Most shipping is $3.99) Added plus is you can read reviews on the books.

Craigslist and Freecycle are both good places to look for books (and other prepping supplies) too in your area, and you can place wanted ads if you are looking for something in particular.

Oh, and don't forget your local library. You can check out books if you have a library card, and many times they will sell books for a $1 or two. I have bought a few that way.

I hope this helps you guys. I have used some of these resources on my budget, (really all except Swaptree), and have added a lot to my personal library. If any of you guys have more resources that I have not covered, please post them in the comments section, they are greatly apprectiated!

Quick Quote

"I am FOR growing my own food at home, so that way there will be MORE food for others to enjoy in the grocery stores!" - I came up with that one today. Sometimes it is more productive to tell someone you are for something than against something.

Cyclopath!

Hey guys, I found a few interesting resources, especially if you guys use a bicycle. Check these sites out

Bike Map: This site you can find good bike routes or post bike routes of your own and this site is used all over the world. Looking for a safe bike route in your home town or in another country? Then check this site out. It is good for pre-planning routes out of town.

Cyclopath: This site is kind of like MapQuest or MapBlast, but for bikes. You just input your location and the destination where you want to go, and it comes up with a directions safe for bicycles. The only downside to this is it only covers the Minnesota areas. However they do have an area on their Wiki on if you want to set up a Cyclopath website if you live in another state. The have the source code for it. Look for it in the FAQ of their wiki under the help section on their site.

Hope this helps you guys out there.

RW ^..^___)