Distance Education Library Services  Tags: distanceeducation samantha  

What is an E-book?

E-book (or also Ebook) is short for an electronic book. Usually, it is a book that has previously been published in paper, reproduced in electronic format, and made available on a database such as NetLibrary.

The Mansfield Library and E-books

The Mansfield Library has sought to increase its collection of E-books in recent years with the growth of distance education programs.  Many students and faculty, both on campus and off, find it more convenient to access books electronically at any time and from any location, rather than coming into the library to check out the physical book. 

How do I find E-books?

Our E-book offerings are integrated into our library catalog, so that you can find E-books in the way you would search our regular book collection. 
The E-books in the library catalog turn up in regular searches with the location of “Electronic Resource and the call number, “Electronic Book.” 

How do I read an E-Book once I find one?

Click on the title of the book you’re interested in reading or its result number to see the item record.  From this screen click on the text that says “Connect to this title online.”

You will be taken to whichever online resource provides the book.  If you are off campus you will be asked to provide your remote access information. 

NetLibrary and Ebrary

NetLibrary and Ebrary are our biggest providers of E-books.  

You can move through the text of the book in a few different ways.   The Previous and Next buttons in the upper right (NetLibrary) or left (Ebrary) corner take you forward or back one page.  The box in between these buttons will allow you to go to a particular page.  The menu along the left (NetLibrary) or right (Ebrary) is the table of contents listing and clicking on these links will take you to that specific section of the book.  There is also a search box in the lower left corner of the page that will take you to wherever your search terms turn up in the book.  NetLibrary will only allow you to view or print one page of a book at a time. 

You can also create a personal account in NetLibrary and Ebrary that will allow you to save sections of text, take notes, save searches and books, and so on.  You are able to print out any notes you make on a book, but each note is limited to 500 characters in NetLibrary. 

You can also search NetLibrary or Ebrary directly for E-books and electronic content by going to the Databases A-Z page of the library website (http://weblib.lib.umt.edu), then selecting "Ebrary" or  “NetLibrary” from the listed databases. 

Questions?

If you have questions about finding and using E-books, suggestions for E-book purchases, or other issues or concerns, please contact your liaison librarian (http://www.lib.umt.edu/node/115) or the creator of this handout, Samantha Hines, at Samantha.hines@umontana.edu, (406) 243-4558, or via AIM at MansfieldLib or Yahoo IM at Sam_MLUM. 

For more information on the Mansfield Library and E-books, check out the InfoIssues article from May 2005 at: http://www.lib.umt.edu/services/infoissues/archive/may2005.htm