Ever had a ten page paper to write and you started the day before it’s due? Then you hear the dreaded announcement, “The library will be closing in 15 minutes.”

When you are pressed for time and resources, look for E-books online. E-books is the product of Project Gutenberg, the oldest producer of E-books.

Luckily, Project Gutenberg’s website is not the only website with online E-books. www.netlibrary.com is a huge website devoted to E-books. Netlibrary.com’s website says, “We offer the only comprehensive approach to E-books that intergrates with the time-honored missions and methods of libraries and librarians.”

However, some websites make you pay before you download or view an E-book from their website. College students don’t have extra money to throw around, but there are websites on the internet that let people gain access to E-books for free.

Microsoft has their own website, www.mslit.com, that offers both free E-books and pay to view E-books. They have a list to search from with a separate category for free E-books.

Sometimes the E-book you’re looking for doesn’t show up on a particular site.

You can search Yahoo, Google or Ask.com by typing in “free E-books” in the search bar.

E-books does not replace the wealth of information a library has. Electronic databases also offer millions of articles from many different periodicals with the click of a button.

Before writing your entire ten page paper with E-books or even using them as a source, ask your professor beforehand if E-books are acceptable. Also keep in mind that you cite an E-book differently than you would a published book.

So, if you’re trying to think of excuses to give your professor about why you’re paper is going to be late, never fear. Just because the library is closed doesn’t mean that the research is over. Keep clicking away on the computer and burning that midnight oil and you’ll have your paper written in no time.