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If you don't have a library near you and have Internet access, you can find plenty of public domain information online if you just know where to look.
One word of caution though, and this is very important. If you go to a site online that claims to have public domain works or information and the title of the site is "Joe's Little Odds And Ends" you might want to be careful about accepting what Joe has to say about what may or may not be a public domain work. No offense to Joe, but you just have no way of knowing if he is an expert. This is why, in this series, I am not going to give you any list on public domain works, because I am NO expert on this. Copyright notices lapse and are applied for all the time and there is no way anybody can keep up with it on a daily basis. That's why, if you want to find out if something is public domain or not, you go right to the sources. And there are several reputable ones.
University Of Michigan - This is probably one of the best places online to go to find public domain works of modern English collections. There is a lot of information at this site and it's easy to get lost. So take your time. If you have problems finding your way around, email them. They're very helpful.
Bartleby - This is another big one online. Bartleby has a ton
of works that are in the public domain, including the American Heritage Book of English Usage, Grays Anatomy (sound familiar?), World Factbook, and so much more. Too much to go into here. Bartleby is a virtual gold mine of public domain works.
Ibiblio - This site has a treasure chest of public domain works including art, geography, biographies, (how many life stories have been made into movies or books?) language, literature, natural science, reference, religion, and the list goes on and on. Most people who want to do life stories of somebody will come to Ibiblio for their materials.
Authorama - This site specializes in books by a number of authors whose works are in the public domain. These books include those written by authors like Hans Christian Anderson, Aristotle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lewis Carroll (who authored Alice In Wonderland), Charles Dickens (which explains all the Christmas Carol clones of the past 50 years or so), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Grimm Brothers, Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein, and yes it's public domain) and the list goes on and on.
Are the lights starting to come on? Do you see now how many people actually use public domain works to create some of the masterpieces of our era? All it takes is a little imagination.
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