This is a detailed account of ‘www.gigapedia.com’ –”the knowledge sharing site”- including how to download ebooks from the website with elaborate instructions and snapshots. Gigapedia.com is the largest repository of ebooks on the internet and better than any torrent site and a boon for students and research scholars not born with a silver spoon in the mouth! This is a quick how-to [~1200 words] on the download site which offers the most quality ebooks and other resources for free download.

‘www. gigapedia .com’ has about 300000 items on various subjects for free download
 The internet has a lot to offer in the age of digital piracy and the net is full of websites and bit torrent sites from where you can download free ebooks [see some links at the end of post]. But none of these can hold a candle to ‘gigapedia.com’ which is the most exhaustive site on the internet hosting download links to some 3000000 books, magazines, comics, videos etc. It is a blessing if you are willing to compromise a bit and Variety of books for download
As you can see the snapshot of incomplete list of categories on the left, you can download books on various topics be it Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Humanities, Tin Tin Comics, Health, Sex, Novels, Fiction, Non-fiction, Instructional material, Graphic Novels, Audio books, English Grammar, Vocabulary books and whatnot! You can also subscribe to the RSS feeds to stay updated for latest downloads on your favourite topics [making a request for uploading some book is not entertained though as per rules].

So helpful to my International Relations Research
For my research I found so much there! Buying or even photocopying them would have cost me an arm and a leg! Information dissemination is the major aim of this post because there is little on Gigapedia on the internet. Please read the step by step process below on downloading books from the said site and then take the road to El Dorado.

How to download books from Gigapedia: A  step- by-step tutorial and set of instructions
Read the blow-by-blow deion and don’t jump the gun or else you may not be able to put it to an optimum use and your book downloading endeav
Gigapedia looks an innocent, unfriendly website at first glance but don’t judge the book by the cover
In Gigapedia homepage, At first glance, the website looks like a dull and boring book review site which has nothing to do with free downloading! For a moment the pirate in you will think you are barking up the wrong tree. But hold your horses dear reader because that’s just the facade! The heaven lies within and need to explore.
Key to El Dorado: Register an account to reap the benefits and download books on Gigapedia
You need to be logged in to be able to see all the greenery on Gigapedia. Click on the  ‘register’ link on the top right of the homepage and create an account. It takes less than a minute to do that. A Google account is mandatory and if you are living without one, you will soon be the odd (wo)man out! Save your login id and password after registration, needless to say!!

Login and Search Books for download
The next obvious step after registration is to search the website for the goldmine! You can also browse by categories or user tags.  So once you are logged in to Gigapedia, the then desert will throw up its verdant. On the right top search box, you type your keyword and choose the option ‘gigapedia’ search [the default is Google search and will take you to the Google book search results!] and press the search button. For example, I typed ‘Russia America Relations.’
Free book downloads
It will throw up all the results. The above search on 10 August 2009 returned 86 results! All these books cost the earth and in some cases are not even available in many libraries that you have visited!
The next step is clicking on the link for a book. If you click on the first book link and this is what you get. on the next page, there are comments, tags, preview and the links for download. Read the comments and look for bad comments, if any. You can also add a comment to it later if you liked the quality of the downloaded book or write a bad review if the downloaded item was not satisfactory. It is always nice to help other users when you are getting so much help from them. Please frequently use the option ’send a report to staff.’ You have to click on the ‘links’ to get the download links

Free book download on internet
Click on the ‘links’ and the page will throw up links to the sites like Ifileit, Rapidshare, Megaupload etc. Click on any of these and you can proceed for the download. I suggest you always use the Ifileit link because Rapidshare will make you wait in queue if you are a free user like me! The links page also has the info on size of file and whether or not it’s a PDF file [please note that you will not always get  pdf file]. Some files are zipped and  password protected. Note the password, if any, on the links page

Access to JSTOR [the US based online "Journal Storage" that archives academic journals]  is a major issue for research scholars and students particularly from the developing countries like India. The rule is that you need to be a member of a participating institution or library to be able to access it [individual subions to JSTOR archives are not allowed]. However there is a way to access JSTOR archives in developing nations with an internet connection right on your laptop or desktop. Many in JNU campus, Delhi and elsewhere including your truly access JSTOR from their desktop and those who do not know about it work on the JNU library computers  to access it! Read more to know how to access JSTOR without paying a penny or visiting an affiliated institution or library!

Global Development Network [GDNET] is  “a leading International Organization of developing and transition country researchers, policy and research institutes promoting the generation, sharing, and application to policy of multidisciplinary knowledge for the  purpose of development. Founded in 1999, GDN is now headquartered in New Delhi, with offices in Cairo and Washington.” In all probability, the access to JSTOR is only for members from developing nations ["eligible researchers"].

Join GDN, create an account for free JSTOR access in a developing nation

Click on the “new user, join now” link on the right and fill all the personal and research details of your work. Be
sincere and fill the details accurately and truthfully because the
organisation considers each application rather seriously and you do not
get automatic access immediately. You should get your login id and
password on email within 48 hours if you  have been sincere in filling
the form. You will get an email ["your GDN researcher profile has been
accepted"] when your profile is accepted.

 Then login to www.gdnet.org and you will see this box on the left of the page. As you see one of
your services is free access to JSTOR. Click on the JSTOR link, fill
the same GDN login and password and you will realize that the GDN is an
open sesame to free and hassle free access to JSTOR! You can also
create an account on JSTOR if you want to save citations or simply
download the PDF articles.

You can also surf Project MUSE which provides “100 per cent full-text access to a comprehensive selection of Social Science and Humanities journals.”

You can do a lot with the GDN. You can showcase your research,
contribute to the knowledge base, network with other researchers or submit research proposals and papers for the awards and medals competition and win thousands of US dollars!Check
out the 2009 competition which has prizes from US $5000 to US $30000
[last date for paper submission is August 28 and September 30, 2009 for
various categories]!

This is what the GDN site writes on JSTOR access

GDN has granted access to J-Stor Journal Collection to GDN’s Registered Eligible Researchers on the Knowledge Base through their Researchers profiles. Researchers are granted access to Business I and II and Arts and Science II and VI Collections. The current Collection brings together a compilation of titles in Economics, Finance, Education, Social Sciences, Political Science, Archaeology, Marketing, Managements and more. resource