Ebook Help

The UMGC Ebook Collection 
Our main collection, available as a search box on the Library home page or at the above link. It searches the following:

• Books24x7
• Ebook Collection (on EBSCO)
• Encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnalls New World
• SAGE Knowledge: SAGE Reference (encyclopedias and handbooks)

Additional UMGC ebook collections
These must be searched individually and include:

• Ebook Central 1: UMGC Collection & More
• Ebook Central 2: Various Collections
• Gale eBooks
• LION: Literature Online
• O'Reilly (Safari)
• Oxford Reference
• Oxford Scholarship Online (History and Psychology collections only)

Ebooks within library databases
A number of library databases include ebooks and book chapters.  Some will allow you to limit your search to "book," "book chapter," "book entry," or "reference book". 

Selected ebook collections on the Web

• Google Books
• Project Gutenberg
• Internet Archive - Texts from the Library of Congress
• ManyBooks.net
• Open Library

See E-Resources:Linking to Ebooks and Journal Articles for instructions on linking to different ebook collections.

You can use the search box provided on the Ebooks tab of the Library's home page, or click Advanced Search for more options, where you can perform title, author, subject, and full text searching.

Click the PDF Full Text link to view the ebook online, using EBSCO's eBook Viewer.  The table of contents will appear on the left.  Click the title of the chapter or section you want and the content will appear on the right.

Click Full Download and follow the prompts. However, there are some things you will need beforehand: an Adobe ID, Adobe Digital Editions Software, and a My EBSCOhost account (all of which are free).

Getting Set Up

1. Install Adobe Digital Editions
   1. Download Adobe Digital Editions (free) and run the installation on your computer.
   2. Authorize your computer.
      1. Open Adobe Digital Edition (e.g. look under Start Menu > All Programs > Adobe > Adobe Digital Editions).
      2. Click Help > Authorize Computer.
         • If you want to be able to transfer your ebooks to other devices, then
           • Select AdobeID from the eBook vendor menu
           • Click the link to Create an Adobe ID.
           • Create your Adobe username and password.
           • Enter the Adobe ID and password into Adobe Digital Editions and click the Authorize button.
         • If you do not want to transfer your ebooks to other devices, then select I want to authorize my computer without an ID click the Authorize button.
           
2. Create a My EBSCOhost account.
   • Go to the UMGC Ebook Collection. (Log in with your UMGC credentials if prompted.)
   • Click Sign in.
     
   • Click Create a new Account and follow the prompts.
     
      

Downloading eBooks to your computer

1. Go to the UMGC Ebook Collection and conduct your search.
   
2. Select a title and click Download (Offline).
   
3. If prompted, sign in to your My EBSCOhost account.
   
4. Select a checkout period and click Checkout & Download.
   NOTE: Most ebooks can be checked out for up to 12 weeks.  Some ebooks cannot be checked out and downloaded but can only be read online. 
   
5. You will then have the choice to Open or Save.
   
6. In Adobe Digital Editions, you can click on the Library icon to view of all the ebooks you have downloaded, then select the one you would like to read.
   
   
   
7. Note: To open Adobe Digital Editions later, go under Start Menu > Programs > Adobe > Adobe Digital Editions.

To Return an ebook

If you finish with an ebook before it expires, you can return it and make it available to others. In Adobe Digital Editions, right click on the cover of the ebook and select the option to Return Borrowed Item and then click the Return button to confirm.

See How do I download and read ebooks on my mobile device?

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