eBook User Information
The Gottesman Research Library offers eBooks, in addition to print books, for use by Museum staff and students. Please see the instructions below for finding eBooks, checking out eBooks and placing holds on eBooks that are checked out to other users.
Finding eBooks | Checking out eBooks | Placing holds on eBooks
eBooks can be found in the catalog by searching for either the title or author of the book. The eBook can be accessed by clicking the view eBook button.
If you are off-site, after clicking the view eBook button, you will be required to authenticate using your Museum username and password. Please note that you should enter your username only and not your entire email address in the username field. If you are on-site, you will not be required to authenticate and you will bypass this screen.
Once authenticated, you will be brought to the eBook detailed record screen. On this screen, you will be presented with 2 format options (EPUB Full text and Full download) in the left column.
The EPUB full text option will open the eBook in a new browser tab. Once the book is open in a new browser tab, it is considered “checked out” to you, however the “checkout” period will expire after 30 minutes of inactivity. As a result, this option is only recommended for those who want to skim through the book or read select pages/chapters in one sitting. After 30 minutes of inactivity, the book will automatically be “returned”. Once it is "returned", it may no longer be immediately available to you if there are “holds” by other patrons for the same book.
The “Full Download” option allows you to "check out" the eBook for 14 days. In order to download the eBook, click on the option for “Full Download”. If this is your first time accessing an eBook through our library, you will need to create a free Ebscohost account and download Adobe Digital Editions to your computer or device. Follow the steps below to set up your Ebscohost account and download the software for Adobe Digital Editions.
First, click on the option for “Full Download”. You will be prompted to sign-in to your EBSCOhost account. Click on “Sign In/Create Account”.
If you do not already have an EBSCOhost account, click on the “sign up” link and follow the instructions to create a new account. Otherwise, enter your username (or email) and password to access your account.
Once logged in, you will be asked to confirm that you have Adobe Digital Editions installed before you can proceed with the download. You will need Adobe Digital Editions in order to read the eBook. If you do not have Adobe Digital Editions installed, click on the hyperlink for Adobe Digital Editions to download and install the software.
When you click on the hyperlink for Adobe Digital Editions, a new window will open where you can select your preferred platform (Macintosh, Windows, App Store, Google Play) for install. Click on the appropriate link for your device to download the installer. Once the installation file downloads, click on it to install the software on your device.
Once you have downloaded and installed the software, return to the download eBook screen and check the box indicating that you have Adobe Digital Editions installed and then click on the “Full Download” button.
The eBook will now be downloaded to your computer. Double click on the downloaded file to open the eBook in Adobe Digital Editions. The first time you open an eBook in Adobe Digital Editions, you will be asked to authorize your computer. If you plan on reading the eBook on only one device, select the option to authorize your computer without an ID, click next and then click “authorize” button on the next screen.
However, if you would like to read the book on multiple devices, you can create a free Adobe account and associate the book with your account. If you later open the book on another computer, you can simply login with your Adobe account to open the book.
To create an Adobe account, select Adobe ID from the drop down list under “eBook Vendor” and then click on the "Create an Adobe ID" link. Follow the instructions to create an Adobe ID. After creating the ID, close that browser window, return to Adobe Digital Editions to enter your newly created Adobe credentials and select “Authorize”.
Once Adobe Digital Editions has been authorized either with your Adobe ID or without an ID, the eBook will open in the viewer and will be checked out to you for 14 days. After 14 days, the book will automatically be returned to the Gottesman Research Library.
If you finish reading the book prior to the 14-day loan period, you can return it early by selecting the link at the top of the page to go to your “Library”. Here you will see all the books that you have checked out. Right click on the book that you would like to return and select “Return Borrowed item”.
Placing a hold on an eBook that is already checked out
If all the copies of an eBook that you would like to access are already checked out, then you will have the option to place a "hold" for the book. You will need to a free Ebscohost account to request the hold. If you do not have an EBSCOhost account, click on the “sign up” link and follow the instructions to create a new account. Otherwise, enter your username (or email) and password to access your account.
Once logged in to your EBSCOhost account, select the “Place Hold” button to place the hold.
Once a copy is available, you will receive an email that the eBook is now available for exclusive use. The email contains a direct link with which you can access the eBook. You will have 48 hours (2 days) to access the title via the email link and download it before the hold expires and the eBook is sent to the next requestor on the hold list. You can add the email address, [email protected], to your Safe Senders List to ensure that the email does not go to your Junk Folder.
Further information about Ebsco eBooks can be found in the Ebscohost eBook User Guide. Further information about Adobe Digital Editions can be found in the Starter Guide.
As always, please contact us if you have any questions or need further help with eBooks!
