You can access thousands of ebooks through the Library from both on and off campus. Although there are many ebook platforms, ProQuest Ebook Central, EBSCO Ebooks, and JSTOR Ebooks are the largest.
To start, use the Library Search box on the Libary's homepage to search by title, author, subject, or other keywords, as you would begin any search for library materials.
After you enter your first search, you can limit your results to just ebooks by using the Refine your results limits on the left side of the screen to Source type "Books" and Show only "Available online."
For any ebook result, to find out how to access the ebook click on the title or directly on "Available online" see online options.
From the title record, you'll see one or more links to read it online via an ebook provider. Follow the link to the provider's platform page which holds the content of the ebook.
If it is an Ebook Central ebook, it will prompt you to log in with your SMC ID if you are off campus to initiate a download.
- You can read individual chapters online, or download them as PDF's. Most books have PDF downloading limits.
- To download an entire book, you will need to install the Adobe Digital Editions or a similar app. The file will expire after a specified period of time.
If it is an EBSCO ebook, on the left you can click on PDF Full Text to read it immediately on the platform. You can also select Full Download.
- To use the Full Download feature, you will need to create or sign in to a My EBSCOhost account (this is different from your SMC ID). Then you will need to click Download in the upper right, and you will need to view it in the Adobe Digital Editions app on your computer, or the EBSCO Mobile app for tablets and phones.
- Many, but not all titles also allow you to save or print a limited number of pages as PDF's. In PDF Full Text view, click Print Pages at the top of the screen and select which pages you want to print to PDF. Some titles also allow downloading chapters from the table of contents sidebar as PDF's. You can send these pages to your Kindle.
JSTOR eBooks can only be downloaded chapter-by-chapter. It does not allow full ebook downloads.
For assistance with various other publisher and provider platforms, consult their help section, or connect with a librarian via chat.