Get connected to the library's electronic databases, from anywhere. If you’re on campus or not using campus internet access, sign in with your ISU Net-ID.
Our on-campus workstations provide access to a large collection of databases whether you have an ISU Net-ID or not.
Try searching a topic of interest. On your search results screen, look to the Tweak my results menu to find the Full Text Online filter. Now narrow your Quick Search results first by clicking Full Text Online.
You should now have primarily ebooks in your search results; some dissertations and other digital materials may also be included. To further narrow your search results, just use other facets on Quick Search's Tweak my results menu on your search results screen.
Note that ebooks will be indicated by the words Online access or Full text available in the record; print books will list a call number. Above is an example of a book that the library owns both as an ebook and as a traditional print book, so it has a link for online access as well as a call number listed.
In the library website, you'll find our major ebook packages under the Articles & Databases link. Two of our major ebook packages that have growing collections of education-relevant ebooks are Ebrary Academic Complete and the eBook Collection from EBSCO. You can enter either one of these packages and search them directly. If you know a specific ebook title or author, you can also use Quick Search to find and access the ebook.
When you find an ebook of interest in EBSCO's eBook Collection, you can access more information about the book online by clicking the title or dig right into the book content by clicking the PDF Full Text link below the citation. Some features may require you to log into EBSCO. You'll need to first create a free My EBSCOhost account.
Off-campus access
You will be prompted to log in using your ISU Net-ID and password to access licensed ebook content such as EBSCO's eBook Collection.
Downloading
Downloaded or saved PDF files from the EBSCO eBook Collection can be read by Nook or Kindle. Not all ebooks can be downloaded in their entirety, primarily because of copyright and digital licensing issues. Not every ebook in EBSCO's eBook Collection will have multiple reading format options (PDF, EPUB, Download, etc.).
Copyright
You will find that ebooks in this collection may limit the number of pages you can save as PDF files. You will receive a "secured" PDF file that cannot be edited, just read. PDFs you save or email to yourself or others will also include an EBSCO watermark and copyright statement on every page.
In Ebook Central, you can read ebooks of interest online just by clicking the title link. You can scroll and page through content, or use table of contents and search features to navigate quickly through the various chapters. You can print and save pages with some restrictions. If you set up an optional free account with eBrary, you'll also be able to make your own annotations and notes, along with other reader support features.
Off-campus access
Remember you will be prompted to login with your ISU Net-ID to access and read online the full-text ebooks.
Downloading
Be aware that not all ebooks will be available for downloading. The Ebook Central collection also requires that you set up a free account on their own system if you wish to download a book in its entirety. To read a downloaded book offline, you will also need to download and install the ebook reader called Adobe Digital Editions on your computer. If you want to read on your smartphone or iPad (iPhone, Android), you will need to install the Bluefire Reader. See eBrary's FAQ / Help files for more info.
Copyright
Be aware that full downloads of ebooks are temporary due to copyright and licensing issues. Throughout Ebook Central, you'll find references to how many pages you can copy/print and how long downloaded files last. After the stated number of days, your downloaded file of the entire ebook will become unreadable. In Ebook Central, you are borrowing this copyrighted content.
You can use any one of the facets on Springer Link's left menu to further narrow your Education ebook search results. See graphic below for examples.
However, a major caveat of Springer ebooks is that only content published since 2011 is open to read or download. Content published before 2011 is locked (not available even for online reading). Instead, throughout Springer you will encounter the option to buy a copy of the ebook or a single chapter. You will see a yellow padlock icon indicating titles that are locked.
You may occasionally find 2015-2016 titles locked. These titles may not yet be published - keep checking on them in Springer ebooks for them to be unlocked when they are finally released. For available titles, you have a nice option of ordering a soft-cover print version of the title, for a fraction of the cost the print book would normally cost you.
When you need any pre-2011 titles you encounter in Springer ebooks, we strongly recommend you use Interlibrary Loan to borrow these titles/chapters for free!
The library's collections and services are available to all ISU students, faculty, and staff and Parks Library is open to the public.
