Discovering E-books > 1: E-books Overview

1A: What is an e-book?

An e-book, or electronic book, is a book that can be viewed on an electronic display. They come in many different formats. Many e-books are viewable on a computer. There are several different formats for these:

• Web Page Format: These may be read directly from a browser and are in HTML or some other web page format.




• PDF format: These are PDF documents that require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. Some are new or recent books that have been converted directly to PDF from another digital format. Some may be older books that have been scanned and made into a PDF document.




• Other Software/plugins formats: These e-books require a plugin or special software to view the item.




• Some e-books may be available in more than one of these formats




• Some e-books require a special reader to be purchased, such as a Amazon's Kindle (you also have to buy the books). This tutorial only covers books viewable on a computer.

1B: Why Use e-books?

There are several advantages to using e-books:

• You can search the full-text of e-books
• You can use e-books at all hours, even when the library is closed
• Search and use e-books off campus by using the Off-campus Sign-in link found on the gray menu on all OSU Libraries' pages
• You can access thousands of e-books sitting in front of any computer with Internet access
• Many e-books allow multiple users at the same time
• Some e-book resources allow advanced functions, such as printing, copying specific lines of text, translating, and more

1C: Searching for e-books

There are three ways for you to find e-books:

1. Searching an e-book database:
• You may view several databases to find information within e-books. Some of these resources will be discussed in later sections of this tutorial. You may view the List of e-book databases to pick a database. To get to this list, simply click on the "Research Databases" link on the OSU Libraries Homepage (http://library.osu.edu/) and then choose the subject E-Books.




• Many of the e-book databases search the full-text of the books available, something that is not available in the catalog.




• Examples of e-book databases available via the OSU Libraries include:


• OhioLINK Electronic Book Center - thousands of books on many subjects
• ebrary - books on many subjects
• Knovel - engineering reference books
• Safari Tech books Online - computer programming and software manuals and books



• How do you know which to search?


• If you are using the List of e-book databases, read the description of the resources (click on About Resource for more details). If the description covers your area, try and search the database. Many e-book databases will also have other subjects listed for the database - see if your subject is there.




• Most databases will have information about the resource on their main page - read it and see if the database seems like a right fit for your topic.




• You can try doing a few searches - if you do not get good results, the database may not cover your subject well or at all.



2. Searching the OSU Libraries Catalog
• You can search the OSU Libraries Catalog to find e-books. The catalog search does not search the contents of the e-book. It is just like searching for print books - you will be able to search subjects, titles, authors, etc. and find books from multiple resources



3. Search the Web
• Searching the Web (via a search engine such as Google or Yahoo!) allows you to find e-books from many different free and sometimes pay resources. However, recent books and books from major publishers are not often available free via the Web. You may need to use some of the databases mentioned above to access these types of e-books.

Top | Next