7 ms·
No one sells scans of older books, which are often sparsely available in obscure (often private) libraries.
by mik1998 2y ago
No one sells scans of older books, which are often sparsely available in obscure (often private) libraries.
- rafram 2y agoSure, but I have a strong feeling that scans of out-of-print books only constitute a small portion of LibGen’s traffic. It’s like the idea that most BitTorrent users are just using it to share free software and Creative Commons media. (See the screenshots on every BitTorrent client’s website.) It would definitely be helpful if it were true, but everyone knows it’s just wishful thinking.
- crazygringo 2y agoWhy does the proportion matter? Academics are huge users of LibGen for academic books from the entire past century and beyond. It's infinitely more convenient to instantly get a PDF you can highlight, than wait weeks for some interlibrary loan from an institution three states away. Just because the majority of people might be downloading Harry Potter is irrelevant.