Subject guide
E-Books
The library provides access to a large collection of e-books. Below you can find answers to the most relevant questions on how to find and successfully access these e-books.
Discovering e-books
Where to find e-books
The library’s large e-book collection can be accessed through the catalogue. In order to find e-books after entering your search query, select the (e-)Books filter under Resource Type and Online Access under Availability.
Using e-books
Can I download and print e-books?
As the library provides access to e-books through many different providers, downloading policies can vary. Most platforms allow PDF downloads of complete works for offline use. Some allow downloads of only portions or chapters of e-books. The two most important providers of e-books that don't allow full-text downloads are EBSCOhost and ProQuest Ebook Central. You can read more about these providers and their download policies below.
Why can't I get access?
Some e-books permit only one user at a time. It can be seen on the title page of the book whether or not this is the case.
If you are unable to access an e-book, try again later or ask a librarian for assistance.
Can I add annotations in e-books?
This depends on which device and which software you use, but it adding annotations in e-books possible in most cases. When you are reading a PDF through Adobe Reader or Adobe Digital Editions (available on the library computers), you can add notes or highlights through their native functionality.
Please note: your annotations will disappear once your loan period has ended. Always make sure to make copies of your notes.
EBSCOHost & ProQuest Ebook Central
If you are using e-books hosted in the EBSCOhost or Ebook Central, you may find you are limited in options when it comes to saving, downloading and printing. This is due to Digital Rights Management (DRM), a form of document protection added by the publisher. This protection serves to prevent books from being illegally copied and shared, similar to protections on many CDs and DVDs. For e-books and documents this generally means they can only be opened in a specific program or app, such as Adobe Digital Editions or Adobe Bluefire (for mobile devices).
The easiest way to use these e-books is to read them online in the browser by selecting ‘PDF full text’ in EBSCOhost or ‘read online’ in Ebook Central. Additional services, such as downloading and reading books offline, require extra steps.
Accounts
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EBSCOhost |
ProQuest Ebook Central |
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Downloading the full-text of a book protected by DRM requires a login. You need to register for a free EBSCO account via the MyEBSCO button in the top-right corner. An account is not necessary for online reading, partial downloads, or the full-text download of a DRM-free book. |
Requires an extra login with your UCLN account for any services beyond reading a book online. This login is in addition to logging into the library catalogue for general access to Ebook Central. |
Downloading and printing
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EBSCOhost |
ProQuest Ebook Central |
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Only partial downloads and/or printing for offline use are possible on DRM protected books due to publishers' decisions. The number of pages differs per source. This information can be found on the EBSCOhost page of the book itsef. The download limit resets every 24 hours, whihc means you can download and/or print further pages the next day. Please note: full-text downloads of DRM protected e-books are temporarily not available. |
Only partial downloads and/or printing for offline use are possible DRM protected books due to publishers' decisions. Up to 40% of the book can be downloaded and/or printed (this differs per book, a specific number can be found on the Ebook Central page of the book). Before downloading are prompted to borrow the book. Follow the directions to finalise downloading a section. |
Reading an e-book offline
You can read an e-book offline by creating a ‘loan’ and downloading a PDF that is only accessible for a set amount of time. This PDF is not available for printing and can only be read using specific software: Adobe Digital Editions (available on the library computers) or BlueFire for mobile devices. After a set amount of days (between 1 and 21 days) the document ‘expires’. You can renew the loan for your book if you need more time with it.
Choose Download (offline) for EBSCOhost or Full Download for EBook Central to use this option. You can read more about the exact process for EBSCOhost here, the process works similarly for EBook Central.
These types of loans will not appear in your list of borrowed books under My Loans in My Account in the catalogue.
Access for guests and alumni
Alumni and members who are not connected to Leiden University, but do have a library account, can access all e-books from within the university network. Find out more about the services available for alumni or visitors and guests.
It is not possible for alumni and guests to download e-books from ProQuest Ebook Central.