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eBooks

This guide will help you access the University of Calgary Library's eBook collections.

Access Overview by Platform

Platform

Disciplines

Downloading

Printing

Simultaneous Use

 Ebook Central

 (Limited Access)

All

Yes

Chapter or page range in permanent PDF format as allowed by publisher

To download entire book, account and either Adobe Digital Editions (PC) or Bluefire Reader app required (phone or tablet)

7-14 day loan term

Yes

Chapter or page range as allowed by publisher

One simultaneous download (borrowing) of an entire book

Title can be read online even if a copy has been downloaded.

Chapter/page ranges can be downloaded by an unlimited number of users

 Ebook Central

 (Unlimited Access)

All

Yes

Chapter or page range in permanent PDF format as allowed by publisher

To download entire book, account and either Adobe Digital Editions (PC) or Bluefire Reader app required (phone or tablet)

7-14 day loan term

Yes

Chapter or page range as allowed by publisher

Unlimited simultaneous downloads (borrowing) of an entire book

Chapter/page ranges can be downloaded by an unlimited number of users.

No known limits to number of books an individual user can sign out

 EBSCOhost

 eBook Collection

 

All

Yes

Chapter or up to 60 pages in permanent PDF format as allowed by publisher

To download entire book, EBSCO account and either Adobe Digital Editions (PC) or Bluefire Reader app required (phone or tablet)

1-7 day loan term

Yes

60 page limit, may vary by publisher

One simultaneous download of an entire book

For viewing, number of users listed (e.g. # copies available)

 o'Reilly Safari Tech Books  Online

Technology, web, creative, and business materials

No

Yes

Single page at a time

15

 HathiTrust Digital Library

 see HathiTrust guide  for more information

All

Special focus on historic materials

Yes

Full-text available for open access or Creative Commons works

Single page of non-copyrighted material

To download full volume, create login through institutional access

Yes

Single page without login

Full volume with login

Unlimited

 Canadian  Electronic Library

 includes:

 - Irwin Law

 - Public Policy

 - Health Research

All

Special focus on Canadian materials

 

Books: no

Documents: yes

Books available for Offline Reading for 1 week.

Create desLibris account to save books to Bookshelf.

 

Yes

Up to 10% of book

Unlimited

 Credo Reference

All

Reference information (dictionaries and encyclopedias etc)

Yes

Individual articles can be downloaded to PDF

Yes

Individual articles can be printed

Unlimited

 Knovel

Engineering, chemistry, oil & gas, life sciences, and materials databases

Yes

One chapter at a time

PDF format

Download My Knovel ToGo app to read offline

Yes

One chapter at a time

PDF format

Unlimited

 Oxford Reference

All

Reference information in all disciplines

Yes

Individual articles can be downloaded to PDF

Yes

Individual articles can be printed

Unlimited

Make sure cookies are enabled for concurrent access

 SpringerLink

All

Yes

PDF or ePub formats

Yes

Unlimited

 ​Books @ OVID

 LWW Nursing   Book collection

 PsycBooks

Medicine, nursing, pharmacy and psychology

Yes

Chapter limit

PDF, HTML, ASCII

Yes

Chapter limit

Unlimited

What to do if in use?

Each platform has different rules for if an ebook is currently in use.

For example:

  • Ebook Central: ebook can still be read online if checked out by another patron.
  • EBSCOhost: ebook cannot be accessed if in use. Check back at another time.
  • Safari Tech: ebook can be accessed by 15 users at one time. If at capacity, check back at another time.

Most Popular Platforms