Easy Instruction – E-BOOKS

Ann SepriEvans Library Lobby

July 16 @ 1:00 and July 17 @ 6:00

What are e-books?

E-books, or electronic books, are books that have been digitized or born digital and therefore readable online.

The Evans Library provides access to thousands of e-books via the Library website. We purchase or subscribe to e-book packages as well as individual titles. Some e-books are reference resources, searched for specific facts; some are textbooks; all can be valuable resources for assignments, reports, research, and general interest.

Your TRACKS user name and password are required for access to these online resources.

How do I read an e-book?

Most of our e-books are PDFs and readable through your browser. Many allow printing and downloading of pages or chapters for offline reading or transfer to e-book readers and mobile devices. Some allow downloading of entire books.

How can I find e-books and locate the information I need?

A good place to begin is the A to Z e-Books link in the left column on the Library homepage.

From this page you have several options:

• If you know the title or online ISBN of an e-book you would like to access, you can enter your search in the search box;

• you may browse our list alphabetically; • you may browse our list by broad subject;• or, you may click on a database and then

browse the titles or search the full-text for your topic. A full-text search will take you to chapters or pages that correspond with your interest.

Other options for finding e-books in the Evans Library collection are:

performing a SUMMON search

• searching the Catalog (searches metadata only – author, title, subject)

• browsing the Research Guide in your areas of interest. You will find that all electronic resources will be linked.

Demo – SUMMON search

Demo - Catalog search

• Click on SpringerLink

Other sources for e-books

In addition to e-books that are purchased or subscribed to by the Evans Library, we all have free access to e-books that are in the public domain, free of copyright restrictions, or published as open access books.

Examples of book collections available for free access on the Internet are:

• HathiTrust• Google Books• Project Gutenberg• Biodiversity Heritage Library

Your public library is also a great place to borrow e-books.

View our tutorial on finding books and eBooks