Rating: 5 

Version tested:  beta

Description: InFact Book Search is a web site containing over 14,000 searchable, free ebooks. Unlike most book search sites on the web, all books can be read in their entirety online, or downloaded in simple text files.

This site does not try to hook you into paying for books, nor does it contain any ads. InFact Book Search includes over all free online books from the Gutenberg Project. The books include novels, histories, poetry, short stories, dramas, kids books (including fairy tales) and many classics.

The interesting thing about this site is its proprietory search algorythm; it doesn’t just put all search terms in a bag and point you to where they’re located are when you search for them; rather, it offers offers tips for any term you search for. For example, if you search for Robin Hood, you will see tips which include other characters Robin Hood interacts with. If you click on Little John, you will be shown a list of all occurences where Robin Hood and Little John interacted together. The search algorythm also understands actions; it might find that one of the things Robin Hood does a lot is “give”, and so if you click on that verb, the search algorythm will show you all the instances in the Robin Hood books where this action takes place (see screenshot below).

InFact Book Search allows you to find out about things you encounter in a book. For example, if you run across the Sherwood Forest, but are not sure where it is, you can follow the information link for an explanation.

InFact also includes includes an automatically generated book index for each book you search, similar to that found in a standard physical book, which allows you to quickly navigate directly to everywhere a character, place, organization, or other term occurs in the book.

All in all, I think this is a great site, with a clean look and feel and some clever technology behind it. I especially like that everything is 100% free (and legal).

Go to The Infact free ebook search page.