How do I use ebooks?

Accessing ebooks

There is an alphabetical list of Electronic book providers on the Ebooks page. Each collection has a short description of their content and scope of coverage to help you decide which one to use. Some of them also have a linked Helpsheet giving guidance for that particular collection and how to use it.

See the Books page for advice on the different options open to you if the book you are looking for is not available electronically through the Open University Library.

Finding an ebook in a collection

Different suppliers use different methods of displaying the books, and different ways to move around, or navigate, the content. However, they do have some features in common.

• Check that you are searching our subscribed content, and not the total content of a site. The default varies.
• Browse by subject area or title.
• Very often, the books are limited to a certain number of users at one time. If you can not access a book, try again later as it may be that the book is already being used by the maximum number of users.

Reading an ebook

• Often there is a Start Reading button, or something similar, in order to open the book and begin reading.
• Often, the table of contents is displayed to the left, and the pages to the right of the screen. Click within the table of contents to move to that page or section.
• Use the books like a standard PDF document. Chapters are usually separate documents, but sometimes each page is a separate PDF.
• Download time can be slow depending on the size of the chapter.
• Look carefully for the navigation arrows to ‘turn the pages’ as they are located in different places by different suppliers.
• Look for help and advice within the site to help you use the book.
• Most of the collections will allow you to bookmark a particular title, or export the citation to it.
• Some ebooks do not read well in Firefox, particulary when using a Mac. The advice is to use an alternative browser such as Safari on a Mac, or Internet Exporer on a PC.

Downloading and printing

• Remember that the ebooks are subject to strict copyright and digital rights management The OU Library's Copying and download policy tells you more.
• Copyright Law allows you to print one chapter or 5%, whichever is greater, of an ebook. Most providers restrict the amount you can print and copy – some do not allow printing or copying the text at all.
• Most will need to be read online, as there is usually no facility to download all or part of the ebook.