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RLST 1801: Asian Religions (Davidson): Find and Use eBooks

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What you need to know about using ebooks

DiMenna-Nyselius Library provides access to over 900,000 ebooks and counting. Most of these ebooks are provided by four major vendors, so using them will differ depending on who created the ebook.

If you have already found an ebook and are looking at this guide for information on how to use it, look at the top of the ebook page for a logo, which will tell you which platform you are currently on. If your ebook doesn't look like any of these, use the chat box on the left side of this page to ask a Librarian for help

Searching for eBooks

Follow these instructions to search for eBooks in the library catalog:

 

1. Click on Books & Media above the search box on the homepage, type in your keywords, and press Search.

A screenshot of the Library hompage search box with the Books & Media tab at the top highlighted.

 

2. On the results page, refine the results to only eBooks by selecting Available Online on the left-hand side.

A screenshot of the filter options on the left side of the Library catalog with the "available online" option highlighted.

Reading online/downloading/printing eBooks

You can read an eBook in many different ways, but not all options will be available for all books.

  • You can always read an eBook online, meaning that you'll read it on whatever browser you prefer on whatever platform the eBook is on.
  • Sometimes you can print part or all of an eBook, but the amount that they'll allow varies. If you want to print any part of an eBook, make sure you understand how many pages you can legally print so you can pick carefully.
  • You may also be able to download part or all of an eBook, but just like with printing, the amount of pages you can download varies from book to book. So be careful choosing which parts you download in case you run out of pages.

The front page of a book will look different depending on which platform is hosting the eBook you're reading. Below are some examples (it will cycle through the examples automatically, but you can swipe through using the arrows on either side of the image).

eBook Examples (Reading Online)

A screenshot of the ProQuest version of

ProQuest

This is an example of how an eBook's front page looks on the ProQuest platform.

A screenshot of the

EBSCO

An eBook hosted on EBSCOhost doesn't so much have a front page as just a sidebar like this.

A screenshot of the download chapter option in an EBSCOhost eBook

EBSCO

This shows what it looks like to download part of an EBSCO eBook. Note the example of limitations being put on how many pages you can download.

An example of an eBook hosted on the Springer platform.

Springer

If your eBook is hosted on Springer, you can either download chapters or view them online.

A screenshot of an eBook hosted on JSTOR.

JSTOR

If your eBook host is JSTOR, the front page will look like this, with a Table of Contents below and the option to read chapters online or download them.

Searching within an eBook

One of the great things about using eBooks is that you can easily search within them instead of having to use the index like in a traditional book. The method for searching within an eBook varies depending which platform it's on, but usually the basic method goes like this:

  • On the book's front page there will be a search box (or you may have to click the phrase "search within")
  • When you search for whatever key word or term you need to find, it will bring up a list of all pages that have that term on them

Again, the method of searching within an eBook will vary depending on where the book is hosted. Here are some examples (it will cycle through the examples automatically, but you can swipe through using the arrows on either side of the image):

eBook Examples (Searching Within)

The Table of Contents of a book hosted by ProQuest, with the

ProQuest

The ProQuest platform places a search box at the top of the Table of Contents where you can search for key words or phrases within the book.

A screenshot of the same ProQuest eBook with the search results highlighted

ProQuest

When you've done your search, you can see how many times that term occurred in a chapter and click the arrow next to the chapter's title to see the individual pages it occurs on.

A screenshot of an eBook hosted on EBSCOhost that has the

EBSCO

To search for specific keywords within the full-text of an EBSCOhost eBook, click "Search within" near the top-left of the page.

A screenshot of the same EBSCOhost eBook with search results showing each page where that term occurred.

EBSCO

A list of each page where the search term occurs will appear.

A screenshot of a Springer eBook with the

Springer

An eBook hosted by Springer will have the search box on the bottom right corner of the book's front page.

A screenshot of the same Springer eBook's search results.

Springer

It will then display the results of your search by page.

A screenshot of a chapter page in a JSTOR eBook with an arrow pointing to the

JSTOR

Unfortunately, there isn't really an easy way to search within a JSTOR eBook. You'll need to pick which chapter seems promising, click the "download PDF" button in the top right of the page, and then on your keyboard press "ctrl-F" ("command-F" if you're on a Mac) and search for your key terms or phrases in that search box.

Vendor Support Resources

EBSCO

Gale

JSTOR

Project Muse

ProQuest

SpringerLink