Internet Archive is a free online website with a vast collection of media, including books. I have used Archive for quite a few years, and since this platform is about books, I am reviewing the arrangement for reading the thousands of books available on the platform.
Before I get into the details, a quick disclaimer. I am not an affiliate for this platform, nor do I have a sponsorship. I am putting my opinion on this site on the internet so that you can understand the good and bad of Archive from my experience.
It is free. You will not have to spend any money or sign up for any trial to read books on this site.
You need to create an account. This shouldn't be a problem as long as you have your email address. All you have to do is put in your account ID, and click on the conformation mail in your inbox. Once you do that and create a password, you can start reading.
You can read on multiple devices. Once you have an account, you can sign in on any device you wish to read on, and you will be able to start reading immediately.
Tracks the books you read. If you want to reread previously read books, or just keep an account of them, you can refer to a section in your profile for the details.
You can borrow or download. Some books are available to download, so you can store them in your system for as long as you want, but others are only for borrowing. Once the given time limit is over, you won't be able to access the book, but you can reborrow it if you wish to. The next points will elaborate more on how the borrow system functions.
Borrowed books are available for an hour or a fortnight. This depends on the number of copies available and people in waiting list.
If a book isn't currently available, you can apply for the waiting list. Once the person who has the book as of now returns the book, or their time limit is over, you will be notified by mail. Note that there can be people who applied the waiting list before you. Incase there are other people before you, they will be given preference due to first come first service.
Look of borrowed book is similar to hardcopy. The book appears in a two page format, which you can switch to a single page view, as per your needs. When you click the page, it flips in a realistic way, as in an actual book, which adds to the experience.
Dark theme is not available as of now. If you prefer reading that way, then you have to adjust to the books on archive, as they do not have an option for change of theme. But the pages are not exactly white. They are more of a beige/cream shade, similar to that of used/old books. Personally, I do not find the theme a problem, though I normal prefer darker colors.
You need internet for borrowed books. Once your connection is unstable, you will be unable to load the next pages, so good internet is must.
A little bit on legal queries, that some of you may have. I have researched about the platform, and most sites state that it is legal. Archive itself has a separate page, saying that all the media is legal. I am not completely sure whether this is true, as I am no expert in this area, but I have found the site to be extremely professional. For instance, when I uploaded a downloaded book on the site (you can contribute to their collection), they sent me a mail saying that they didn't know if I had legal rights to upload this document, and that they had taken it down as a precaution. This is my personal experience, however, you can refer to the following sites for more detail about this topic.
I have told you all the pros and cons of Archive that I have experienced. It is up to you whether you would like to try this website. What have you decided? If you are going to use this site, then what books are you planning on reading? Let me know in the comments.
Saloni Porwal
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