McQuade Library subscribes to Ebook Central's Academic Complete collection and actively selects additional ebooks as needed.
Once you have located an EbookCentral/ebrary e-book in our catalog, you will taken to Ebook Central's site. Below are tips for using EbookCentral/ebrary books. More information can be found at ProQuest's EbookCentral guide.
You can also download this information as a handout.
Understanding an ebrary Record
When looking at a record pay special attention to:
Reading Online
Step One: Click on the 'Read Online' button that appears below the book.
Note: If this button is greyed out, the book is likely limited to one user at a time and is presently in use.
Step Two: Use the left side column to search the contents of the book or jump to a particular section.
Step Three: Use the top icons to print, copy, share, highlight etc.
Note: You may be asked to sign in with your library barcode and password to perform some functions.
Step Four: Scroll the content in the right hand column to "turn the page" and navigate from page to page.
Downloading an E-book to a Mac/PC
Step One: Click on the 'Download' button.
Note: If the download button is greyed out, then this item cannot be downloaded. You may still be able to read it online.
Step Two: Click 'Continue' when the signin window appears.
Step Three: Enter your library barcode (the number on the back of your MACK Card) and your library password.
Step Four: Click on the 'Download' button one more time.
Step Five: Select one the bubbles and click 'Continue.'
Step Six: Click the link to download Adobe Digital Editions if you have not done so before.
Note: You will be taken to Adobe's page and asked to download software that will allow you to read the e-book on your computer.
Step Seven: Once you have downloaded and installed Adobe Digital Editions, click on 'Done with this step' to proceed to the screen below where you will click 'Download Your Book.'
Step Eight: Once your item item has downloaded it should open in Adobe Digital Editions on your desktop.
This electronic resource includes over 1700 full-text, cross-searchable books in the humanities selected by scholars for their continuing importance for research and teaching. Areas include: African, American, Asian, Latin American, European (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern), Middle Eastern, World/Comparative, Byzantine/Mediterranean and Australasian/Oceanian history, plus history of the Native Peoples of the Americas and of Science and Technology. Plus archaeology, art history, folklore, religion, musicology, and political science.
The default search screen for eBooks on Ebooks on EBSCOhost is basic search. The eBook Collection landing page displayed below is available by clicking the eBooks link in the top toolbar.
There are several ways to search for eBooks on EBSCOhost:
Perform a keyword search of the eBooks database using the Find field.
Browse by Category by selecting a category from the column on the left.
View the Latest Added eBooks using the left and right arrows or click View All to view a result list of all latest added eBooks.
View Featured eBooks using the left and right arrows or click View All to view a result list of all Featured eBooks.
To search for eBooks:
Enter your search terms in the Find field and click the Search button
A Result List of eBooks related to your search terms is displayed.
Click the eBook Full Text link to read the book in the eBook Viewer tool.
Click the Download (Offline) link to check out the book and read it on your computer using Adobe Digital Editions. (See Downloading an eBook below)
Note: Libraries that have eBook download capabilities enabled, will see a Download (Offline) link.
Click the Table of Contents link to view the chapters of an eBook. You can go directly to a chapter in the eBook Viewer tool by clicking on a hyperlinked chapter.
Note: Sections in the Table of Contents with a plus sign (+) can be expanded further by clicking the plus sign.
A Detailed Record can be viewed by clicking an eBook title in the Result list. From the Detailed Record, you can read or download the eBook using the links in the left column. From the right column, you can print, email, save, or export the record, as well as add the details about the eBook to your folder.
At the bottom of the Detailed Record, you can view Search Terms Within this eBook and the Table of Contents. Both sections can be collapsed or expanded by clicking the plus (+) or minus (-) in the upper left corner of the section.
Search Terms Within this eBook: Displays the most relevant sections of the eBook in which your search terms appear in the text.
Table of Contents: Displays the Table of Contents for the eBook you are viewing. Clicking on a hyperlinked chapter opens the chapter in the eBook Viewer tool.
eBooks can be read online in the eBook Viewer by clicking the eBook Full Text link on the Result List or Detailed Record.
Note: If you are using a Mac, you will need to install a PDF Browser plug-in in order to use the eBook Viewer.
Click to download the Schubert|it plug-in.
Included in the Tools column on the right, are tools that allow you to search within the text of the eBook and save a note on the eBook in your My EBSCOhost folder.
- Click the magnifying glass icon to search for terms within the eBook.
- Click the note icon to create a note about the eBook or a page of the eBook and save it to your personal folder.
- Click the dictionary icon to search for definitions of words in the eBook you are reading.
Fit Page to Viewport: Click the icon to fit the entire page into the viewport.
Fit Page Width: Click the icon to fit the page by width in the viewing area.
Fit Page: Click the icon to view the entire page in the viewing area.
Zoom Out: Click the icon to zoom out on the page.
Zoom In: Click the icon to zoom in on the page.
Location Slider: Drag the location slider right or left to go to a specific page of the eBook. The left and right arrows on either side of the slider bar take you to the beginning or end of the eBook. The page number updates in the Page Navigation box as you drag the location slider.
Page Navigation: Use the page navigation arrows to move up or down one page at a time or enter a page number in the field provided and click Go.
If your library offers eBook download capabilities, you may choose to download an eBook to your computer and read it offline at a later time.
Adobe® Digital Editions 1.7.1 or higher is required for offline viewing. This free software can be downloaded from this link.
NOTE: Users must create a new and unique account for use during the Preview only. Information stored (including username, password and eBook information) will be deleted after the Preview ends.
To download an eBook:
Click the Download (Offline) link for the eBook you would like to download.
Select a Checkout period from the drop-down menu and click the Checkout & Download button.
The eBook is added to the Checkout area of the folder, accessible from the upper-right corner of the EBSCOhost interface. If you are not logged into your My EBSCOhost folder, you are prompted to do so.
Select to Open or Save the file from the resulting dialog box.
If you Open the file, your eBook is opened with Adobe® Digital Editions.
If you Save the file, the eBook is saved to your computer and can be opened with Adobe® Digital Editions at a later time.
When a downloaded eBook is opened, it is displayed in Adobe® Digital Editions.
If the eBook you have chosen to download is in use by another patron, and if your library offers Holds capabilities, you have the opportunity to place a hold on the eBook to download when it becomes available. Enter your e-mail address in the field provided and click the Place Hold button.
The eBook is placed in the Holds area of your My EBSCOhost Folder. When the eBook is available, you are notified via the e-mail address you provided and the eBook appears in the Checkouts area of your folder.
eBooks may appear in the folder in three areas.
eBooks: When a user adds an eBook to their folder, information about the eBook appears in the eBooks area of the folder, without the eBook being checked out. eBooks may be added to the folder by clicking on the folder icon in the Result List or Detailed Record.
Holds: When a hold is placed on an eBook that is in use by another patron, it is added to the Holds area. Holds must be enabled by your library to place a hold on an eBook.
Checkouts: When an eBook is checked out, it is added to the Checkouts area of the folder. If you have not yet downloaded the eBook, it can be accessed and downloaded from here.
The Notetaking feature assists with your research by allowing you to take notes on eBooks and save them to your My EBSCOhost folder for later viewing.
To use the Notetaking feature in EBSCOhost:
From page of the eBook on which you would like to leave a note, click the Notes icon in the toolbar.
Click the + New Note button that appears in the Notes area. If there are existing notes, they appear in a list in the Notes area.
Note: Click the Sign In link to save your note to your personal My EBSCOhost folder account.
Enter your note text in the field provided and click the Save button. You can adjust how the text appears in your note using the Bold, Italics, and Underline buttons above the text field.
Your saved note appears in the Notes list.
Click the Note title to edit the text.
Hover your pointer over the note to either Delete or view the page number of the note.
Click the 
in the upper-left corner to close the Notes area.