E-Books

Should I read my e-book online, or download it?

• Read online is generally the best option. If you're on a computer with a stable Internet connection, we find it's often easier to get started reading by choosing to read or browse online, rather than trying to download the book right away.
• Are you reading the entire book, or just a few chapters? Many ebooks allow several pages (usually a chapter or two) to be downloaded as an unrestricted PDF, which is yours to keep indefinitely. Downloading the entire book usually means temporary access to the book (usually between 1 week and 21 days, although sometimes shorter or longer).
• Downloading an entire e-book often involves extra steps and software. Most of our e-book publishers have restrictions on their books, and require special software (Adobe Digital Editions -- see guide page) for downloading. You may also be asked to create a free account on the publisher's platform.
• Download if you'll be without an Internet connection while reading. Using the Read Online assumes you'll have a stable Internet connection. If that's not the case, you'll want to download a chapter or the entire e-book.

Many Library e-books allow you to highlight or annotate sentences in the book text. Instructions for annotating in our more popular platforms:

• EBSCO E-Books - Saving Notes
• Proquest Ebook Central: Highlighting Text
• Adobe Digital Editions (ADE): Notes and Highlights -- for e-books you have downloaded into Adobe Digital Editions.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader: Comments and Markup Tools -- for viewing PDFs from JSTOR or other platforms that provide DRM-free PDFs.

Annotations may be lost when the e-book is "checked in." If you are working with a e-book that has a time limit, often your annotations and highlights will expire when your access ends. (Some platforms allow retaining notes, but others don't). For time-limited e-books, we strongly recommend transferring your notes into a text file before the e-book expires.

• "Sorry, this eBook is in use" -- some of our e-books are single-use; that is, they can only be read by one patron at a time. Check back later or on a different day to see if the book has become free.
• HoyaSearch says we have the book, but the vendor's site says we don't have access -- our e-book holdings change frequently (sometimes daily!) and occasionally HoyaSearch gets out of sync. Contact E-Resources so we can fix the record and help you identify alternate options.

Other problems using and reading Library e-books? Contact Library E-Resources -- we would be happy to help.