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1/24/18 Update: PDF Chapter downloads can now be saved directly to Google Drive (More info)
This guide includes screenshots taken from an older version of Adobe Digital Editions (2.0) than the one currently available (4.0X). While the look may be slightly different, things should work more or less similarly.
This box provides instructions for downloading your EBSCO e-book to Adobe Digital Editions (desktop/laptop). If you are downloading an EBSCO e-book to an iOS device (iPad, iPhone, or iPod) or Android tablet or smartphone (including the Kindle Fire and the Nook HD) look in the box below this one in this guide. Note that in general you get more functionality (and more permanence) using the EBSCO e-book reader in your browser than you do reading it on a tablet or smartphone.
The EBSCO support links on either side will give additional information and screencasts.
1. Locate EBSCO e-books in the WSU Libraries catalog, Search It or by directly searching the EBSCO e-book collection database. Note that the same e-book may be available from multiple providers.
Once you click on "EBSCOHost e-books" you will see:
2. To read the book immediately on-screen, click the "Full Text" link on the left side of the e-book record screen (you may have a choice between EPUB and PDF formats). You can email a set amount of pages to yourself as a PDF or in multiple page or page-range PDFs (these are yours to keep), save pages, take notes, and more, but some services may require you to create an EBSCO account (if you have not previously done so) and sign in. If you are signed in, any notes that you take online will be available to you next time you sign in and view the e-book online. Note the options to the right of the record.
3. To download an EBSCO e-book to read offline on your desktop/laptop or via a digital device such as a tablet or a smartphone you will need to create an EBSCO account (if you have not previously done so) and sign in. If you do not have an EBSCO account, you will be given the option to create one.
example: Initiative and Referendum Voting: Governing Through Direct Democracy in the United States
4. To download an EBSCO e-book to read offline, click on the "Download This e-book (Offline)" link on the left side of the e-book record screen. You will then be prompted to sign in with your EBSCO account if you are not already; if you do not have an EBSCO account, you will see a link to create an account.
The book may not be available to download depending on publisher permissions, how many copies are available through the WSU Libraries, and whether all available copies are already in use. If there are no available copies for download, you should still be able to read it online through the EBSCO e-book site (see #2 above).
If it is available for download, you will see the option to select a check-out period between one and seven days (you can return the book early if you finish it before you expected to), the format - if it is a PDF it is recommended that you should NOT try to read it on an e-ink e-reader or a smartphone! -- and information about software to read the e-book off-screen.
In order to download the e-book you will need to have downloaded to your desktop or laptop either the Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) application or the Bluefire for Windows application. You will also need to [check; may be able to with without authorizing like Proquest e-book central] have authorized ADE or Bluefire with an Adobe account (this controls checkout terms and more). If you are accessing Search It or the EBSCO database directly from a tablet and want to download it to that tablet or use the tablet/smartphone app, see the box below this one in this guide.
5. You will see a message indicating that you checked out the e-book, and a box letting you open the e-book in Adobe Digital Editions. Note that the URL will be saved in different places depending on what browser you use.
6. The book should automatically download and open up in Adobe Digital Editions Reader. (In some cases, including if you are using the Chrome browser, it may save a "URLLink.ascn" file to wherever your browser is set to download files to, instead of directly opening the e-book file. Clicking on that file will open the e-book in ADE.)
7. From here you can read it, bookmark pages, highlight text, take notes, and more. Highlighted text and notes will include the page they were taken from. NOTE: notes 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 document that you can save on your computer or device!
To highlight text or make a note, highlight and right-click on the text of interest:
8. When the check-out period of the book has passed, the book will no longer be accessible to you. 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 library.
These instructions use Bluefire Reader for iOS - they should work similarly for Bluefire Reader for Android (including the Kindle Fire). Please remember that any notes, highlighting, or bookmarks you create in the EBSCO e-book on your device will NOT be saved once the e-book has been returned (they are if you use the EBSCO Online Reader while you are logged in with your EBSCO account). See the box above this one for information on downloading an e-book to your desktop/laptop.
For additional information on downloading EBSCO e-books to a tablet or smartphone, see the "EBSCO e-book Guides and How-To's" box at the top of this page, specifically the EBSCO E-Books Getting Started and Troubleshooting for Apple Devices and the EBSCO e-Books Getting Started and Troubleshooting for Android Devices pages.
1. Using your device's browser, locate an EBSCO e-book that you want to download using Search It or the EBSCO e-book database.
To download an EBSCO e-book to read offline on an iOS or Android tablet or smartphone, click on the "Download This e-book (offline)" link in the e-book record in EBSCO (you will also see that link if you look at the e-book Full-Text link, which lets you read the e-book on-screen in your browser). You will then be prompted to sign in with your EBSCO account if you have not already; if you do not have an EBSCO account, you will see a link to create an account.
The book may not be available to download depending on publisher permissions, how many copies are available through the WSU Libraries, and whether all available copies are already in use. If there are no available copies for download, you may still be able to read it online through the EBSCO e-book site (see #2 in the box above). If it is available for download, you will see a notification box that will let you set your check-out period (1-7 days, although it defaults to 7 - you can return it earlier as explained below) and it will indicate the format (PDF or EPUB - if its a PDF, be warned that you will find it difficult to navigate on a small screen and tablets are recommended). You will see text explaining that the Bluefire Reader e-reading app is recommended for Apple/iOS and Android devices (including the Kindle Fire and the B&N Nook HD) and it will provide a link to download the app if you do not already have it. You will also need to create an Adobe Account if you do not already have one, and you must authorize the Bluefire Reader with that account in order to download EBSCO (and other) e-books that use Adobe's digital rights management (DRM) - you'll be prompted to do this when you download Bluefire Reader. (You will also see a note that you can create chapter and page-sequence PDFs in the online browser-based e-book Full-Text view - these are normal PDFs and are yours to keep, but there are page limits).
2. If you selected Bluefire Reader (recommended by EBSCO) your e-book will automatically open in the Bluefire Reader application on your tablet or smartphone; you will be notified that the download was successful and given the option to Read Now or Read Later. If you read now it will open up immediately; if later, you can find it by opening your Bluefire reader app.
3. 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. 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 document that you can save on your computer or device! If you are reading the book online you can save that information if you are logged in, but NOT when you download!!
To highlight you can select your text with your finger or a stylus (this is not always easy...), and you will see a menu of operations that includes Define (does a Google search for the highlighted word), Highlight (selects and highlights text in yellow), Note (write yourself a note- the page and source are saved), Share (email, Tweet, save to an application, etc.) or Copy (puts the selected text on your clipboard so you can paste it into another application). There is also a bookmark icon in the upper right of the screen that will allow you to bookmark a page and create a note. The Share and Copy options can be used to send notes and content you want to keep to your email, etc.
4. When the check-out period of the book has passed, the downloaded e-book will no longer be accessible to you (nor will any notes, highlights or bookmarks that you made). You can delete it from your device at any point, but that will not actually return it earlier than your pre-set check-out period.