This guide explores how to access free digital copies of college textbooks. Textbooks can be a significant financial burden for students, and this resource can help alleviate that pressure.
Table of Contents
hey everyone, i’m going to be showing you guys how I get all my textbooks for free online and how you can do the same a lot of people have been in my comments asking me to make this post so i will be doing that for you guys today today specifically i’m going to be talking about one really big and maybe a little known website that a lot of college students use for their textbook which is called libgen. libgen has literally saved my life and it has saved the lives of so many college students who have been previously spending hundreds of dollars at the bookstore for books that they’re only going to be using one semester so this is why i’m making this video i want to help you guys out and at the end i will be including an alternative website so that you guys don’t only have one option because sometimes books aren’t in one website but it’s in another’s okay so getting right into the video the things that you’re going to need is literally just your laptop i have my macbook here or an ipad i have my ipad here and i’m showing you guys how to do it on both because i know some people only have an ipad and some people only have a laptop but also you can get it on both and then have books accessible on both devices so that’s why i’m doing it on them so i’m going to screen share my screen so you guys can see everything i’m doing right here on my macbook okay so the first thing that we’re going to want to do is go on google i’m already on here and what you’re going to want to do is type in flip gen and just hit search and it’s going to be the first link you can also click the second link but i would just click the first link just because it always works for me but if it doesn’t work then you can always click the second link so i’m just going to go on here and then what you’re going to want to do here is literally in the search bar you can look up a book by the title you can look it up by the author the publisher year the isbn number which is literally that long code that they give you i personally would not recommend doing that just because there could be different editions on here and the exact addition that your professor wants you to get might not be on here so that’s why i would just look it up by the name okay so i quickly went to one of my syllabi and as you can see right here this is the recommended and required text civil liability and criminal justice so i’m just going to copy the title this is the isbn that i was talking about right here but it says
7th edition and i might not find the 7th edition that’s why i don’t want to copy that exact isbn number so i’m going to go back to library genesis just hit paste and then search here you can see that it has the fifth edition which honestly in college it does not matter i only have one class where it was required to get the exact edition because we have worksheets and stuff that’s inside the textbook that we’re going to have to do for homework but when it comes to these types of textbooks I promise you i’m literally a junior so if you want to take my advice i have three years of experience i guess it does not matter what edition you get as long as it’s not too far behind because literally the only difference is probably some of the words it’s not going to be that much of a difference and unless your professor tells you that you need the exact addition and gives you a valid reason because sometimes they just want you to have the specific edition just because i would get this edition and then ask my professor if it’s okay most of the time they’ll say yes sometimes they’ll say no but like i said if they don’t give you a valid reason then there’s no point in really listening to them so here
Now i’m going to be showing you guys the same process on your ipad i’m not really going to go in too much into depth because it is literally the same process but i’m just showing you how you can do it on your ipad as well go to google you’re just going to hit libgen enter um it was already on my ipad so that’s why it automatically searched but you do the exact same process just enter it into google click on the first website and that’s literally it i’m going to type in the exact title of my textbook t and criminal justice okay so here’s all the options that came up it’s pretty much the same thing here is the fifth edition one thing that you do want to look into is look at the pages every time that you go because the ones that say zero pages will not die and they will download but it won’t be anything on there so you want to make sure that it has something like this 507 pages just so you know that it’s reliable and that you’re not wasting your time downloading something so i’m going to click on this one that is the same exact thing click on the cover image click get sometimes you will be redirected just close that out um and then hit get again and then you’re going to hit download it’s going to download in this little corner right here and then it’s going to be downloaded where you’re going to want to do next hit this little share option in the right hand corner and and then you’re going to want to scroll all the way to good notes if that’s what you use i’m pretty sure notability also has an option import as new documents this is the class right here civil liability and criminal justice i’m going to import it and then you just wait for it to download and then it downloads right into that classes file so the last tip that i have for you guys is to not give up when you do not find your book in libgen libgen is probably the most known source to get college textbooks for free online but there are others the other website that i use is called z dash library.
Conclusion
LibGen and Z-Library website online is offer valuable resources for job seekers & students seeking to access online textbooks for free. Remember to check with your professor regarding edition requirements before relying solely on older editions. By utilizing these platforms, you can significantly reduce textbook expenses during your college journey.
Q: Is it legal to download textbooks from LibGen or Z-Library?
The legality of downloading copyrighted materials like textbooks is a complex issue. These websites provide access to copyrighted works without explicit permission from the copyright holders. It’s best to consult the laws in your region for the most accurate information.
Are there any risks involved in downloading textbooks from these websites?
Yes, there are potential risks. Some files may contain malware or viruses. It’s important to only download from trusted sources and use a good antivirus program.
What if I can’t find my textbook on LibGen or Z-Library?
These are popular options, but not the only ones. You can try searching for the textbook title followed by “PDF” to see if it’s available elsewhere online legally. Your college library might also offer free digital access to some textbooks.
My professor requires a specific edition of the textbook. Will these websites have it?
There’s a chance, but not a guarantee. These websites offer a variety of editions, but newer editions might be less available. It’s always best to check first before relying solely on finding a specific edition for free.