How-To Screencasts are on the Home tab
Note: the rest of this page mentions last year's Common Reading book but will be updated shortly.
Also note that there are ProQuest Ebook Central help pages linked to the left.
This guide includes screenshots taken from an older version of Adobe Digital Editions (2.0) than the one currently available (4.01). While the look may be slightly different, things should work more or less similarly (watch for notes).
It includes instructions for reading the ebook of Braiding Sweetgrass on your desktop, laptop, or tablet browser and/or downloading it to Adobe Digital Editions (desktop/laptop/tablet)
Ebook Central ebooks records in Search It will look like the images below (note that this one is available both as a WSU-purchased ebook and through the ProQuest Ebook Central Academic Complete subscription database - You will need to log in with your WSU credentials for access.
2. To read the book immediately on-screen, click the "Available for Online Reading" link. You will be able to highlight text, make sticky note annotations, bookmark a page, save a title onto a bookshelf so you don't forget it (and can export your sticky notes as text), and more. These are linked to you based on your signing in with your WSU account and will stay as long as you have WSU access (or delete them intentionally).
You will not be able to download pages or chapters, and you are limited to 16 pages of text copying (and copying a sticky note counts as a page, so export them instead!)
If you highlight text, you will see options to copy (this will create a text box you can copy from - it will also append the citation but not the page number; you can add that in yourself along with any notes before you copy and paste the text where you want it to go outside of the ebook). You can also highlight (including changing the color of your highlighter) and create an in-book note. Notes will have a visible icon on the page, and can also be located, along with all other annotations, highlights and bookmarks, by clicking the star in the purple left-hand menu. You can also add a note or bookmark directly from the icon menu at the top of the ebook page.
3. To download a complete ebook to read offline on a desktop or laptop, click on the Download icon at the top of the Ebook Central screen, or the Full Download button on the left side of the ebook record screen (if you don't see it, click on the "Book details" book icon on the upper left). Note that for this book reading it online on a laptop/desktop/tablet will provide a better experience!
You will see a wizard that will walk you through the process, including
1. selecting a device (laptop/desktop, iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod), Android (phone or tablet - this includes the Kindle Fire), or Other. It will ask if you are using your own computer or a public computer; select the appropriate response
My Own Computer:
2. prompting you to download Adobe Digital Editions ebook reading software if you have not already installed it (Note: WSU Libraries computers will all have it installed, although perhaps not the most updated version). Note it will also provide a link to create a free Adobe ID that can be used to authorize your Adobe Digital Editions software. You DO NOT NEED THIS unless you plan on transferring your ebook to another device that is not a desktop/laptop/iOS device/Android device (all of which can directly download Ebook Central ebooks). Basically, you only need an Adobe ID if you want to transfer your ebook to a e-Ink Ereader such as a Nook. Otherwise, you can just use ADE without authorization.
3. Downloading the ebook. Note that this book can only be downloaded for 24 hours and is available in EPUB format. If you have problems, there is a Help link.
4. You will see a message indicating that you checked out the ebook, and a box letting you open the ebook in Adobe Digital Editions. Depending what browser you are using, you may see something different - i.e. if you are using the Chrome browser, it may save a "URLLink.ascn" that you will need to click on to open (look on the lower left part of your browser window).
In Firefox:
5. Your book will open in ADE with the cover showing. Depending on the version of ADE you have and how you have it set up, you may read it by scrolling down, or use the arrow buttons to turn pages. Be sure to select Show Page Numbers in the Reading menu!
6. From here you can read your book, bookmark pages, highlight text, take notes, and more. Highlighted text and notes will include the page they were taken from and can be seen through the bookmarks option. NOTE: notes, highlighting, and bookmarks will NOT be available after the book has been returned! If you take notes, be sure to transfer (copy and paste) them into a email or document that you can save on your computer! If you are reading the book online you can save that information if you are logged in, but NOT when you download!! Unfortunately, you can’t directly export your ADE annotations in ADE. To highlight text or make a note, highlight and right-click on the text of interest and select your option.
7. When the check-out period of the book has passed, the downloaded ebook will no longer be accessible to you (nor will any notes, highlights or bookmarks that you made). In Adobe Digital Editions, if you click on the Library link (upper right corner) you will see a list of titles that you have saved in ADE. If you want, you can right-click on the title and remove the empty record from your ADE library.