Read Tyndale library books online

The Tyndale Library catalogue lists almost every Biblical Studies book worth reading.
Now you can read a large proportion of them online, thanks to Amazon and Google.
Just look up the book at http://www.tyncat.com/ and click on the link to read it online.
Passing on this news will transform you into an 'internet guru' in your community.

It is still easier and quicker to browse the books at Tyndale House Library, but until you can
come for a visit, we'll make sure you can read as many of our books as possible on your computer.


1) Reading books online at TynCat
2) How to use Amazon and Google online books
3) Google plans to scan 50,000,000 books!
4) Other sites with significant online books

1) Reading books online at TynCat
How many commentaries on Corinthians do you have in your office?
OK, too many. But often you don't have the one you need. So do the following:
- go to http://www.tyncat.com/
- in "Title Keywords" type: Commentary Corinthians
- click on "Search TynCat"
- almost all of the commentaries listed on this page can be read online

Try the first, by Murray Harris (a former Warden of Tyndale House)
- the note on the left says it isn't at Amazon, so click on "Google"
- this finds it at Print.Google, along with several similar books
- click to read it! (we will see how to get the most out of Print.Google below)

Try the next, by Alan Johnson (a Tyndale Fellowship member)
- it is at Amazon, so click on the word "Amazon" (not on the picture)
- and there is the full text (we'll see how to get the most out of it below)

Try the next, by David Garland, and you find the problem
- when you click on Amazon you get an apology that they haven't added it yet
- this usually means the publisher has given permission, so it is worth trying later
The next one, by Frank Matera is there. And many more...

2) How to use Amazon and Google online books
You probably don't need these instructions, but they include some useful tips.
To see the pages at Amazon you need to sign up with them, with a credit card
- this doesn't mean that you will be charged anything, but they want to know that
you could buy the book if you wanted to.

Try Frank Matera's commentary on Amazon
- when the cover displays, click on the right of it to 'turn the page over'
- turn over three pages till you get to the Contents page.
- let's look at the start of 2 Cor.4, which he titles "Paul's Apostolic Integrity" (p.97-)
- so type "Apostolic Integrity" into the search box right at the top of the page and click Go.
- this does a concordance search for every page using these words.
- look for p.97 (it is on the third page of results) and click on it.
- now that you are there, you can read forwards or backwards three pages
- if you want to go beyond this, look for a significant word on that page and search for it

Now try Murray Harris' book on Print.Google
- click on the cover at the top of the Google list, and you go to the Contents
- pick out the section you want and type significant words into the search box on the left
- you will have to sign on with a Google account to use this - but it is free
- like Amazon, you can turn over two leaves before you have to search again.

With both, you cannot print the pages, or save them, or read long stretches without interruption
- and when you have read too many pages they may tell you to come back another time
- but you wouldn't want to read too much of the book on a computer screen anyway.
- if you find the book so useful that you get frustrated, you'll buy a copy.
- then the price comparisons on the Tyndale site will search 1000+ outlets for you

3) Google plans to scan 50,000,000 books!
Google books come in three styles
1) Out of Copyright: 100% of the pages are scanned and readable
2) Copyrighted with Publisher's Donation: 90% of the pages are scanned and readable
- the other 10% are visible on Amazon, if they have scanned it, so always try them first
3) Copyrighted, with no permission from the publisher: only a few paragraphs are visible
- this is Google's interpretation of the legal term 'fair use', which has got the lawyers excited

Amazon wants to sell books, and Google wants to add material to their search engine.
But why would publishers and authors want to allow free copies of their books on the web?
They get free publicity and shelf-space in the largest bookshop on the planet - the web.
I always take a lot of trouble to put my books on the web, but for 6 months one publisher
forced me to remove a book, and the sales went down - till I put the book back on the web.
Many Christian publishers, such as Crossway now routinely give all their books to Google
(see Google's interesting page at https://print.google.com/publisher/crossway).

Google has plans to scan complete libraries and substantial collections from others
These include high-profile academic libraries and libraries in a number of countries, including
the whole of the University of Michigan Library, plus substantial collections from the
University libraries of Harvard, Stanford, Oxford (Bodleian) and the New York Public Library.
Students already do a lot of their research online. Now their legs could atrophy completely.

4) Other sites with significant online books
Google accepts books in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese
but they make up a small proportion of the total. In response to this:
France is imitating Google with their own scanning programme: see http://gallica.bnf.fr/.
German publishers are planning their own Volltextsuche Online (I haven't found it yet)
Yahoo are also starting their own (they say they thought of it before Google, but didn't announce it)
Google Scholar - http://scholar.google.com/ - finds results from scholarly sources only
- not another book collection, but a very useful service which filters out most rubbish
Project Guttenberg - most copyright-free books on the web: http://textual.net/access.gutenberg#E
For Biblical Studies, there are a few significant collections of free books. Links collected at
http://www.TyndaleHouse.com/links_books.htm#OnlineBooks

Some commercial sources (pay per book or subscription)
Powells Books - general Christian eBooks http://www.powells.com/subsection/ChristianityeBooks.html
Questia - general college books with a good Religion section http://www.questia.com/library/religion/
EEBO - Virtually every English book from 1473-1700. http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home
Ebrary - a lot of CUP books and other publishers: http://shop.ebrary.com/