UNCG currently has access to over 300,000 electronic books from various sources.
Early American Imprints, Series I
Full text of American books printed between 1639 and 1800. More info
Early American Imprints, Series II
Full text of American books printed between 1801 and 1819. More info
Early English Books Online
Full text of many English books published from 1475-1700. More info
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Full text of 150,000 Eighteenth century books. More info
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Full text of reference books covering many types of information. More info
Oxford Reference Online
Full text of over 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works covering a variety of subjects. More info
NetLibrary
Full text of tens of thousands of scholarly, reference, and professional books in an online library. More info
That depends on what you are trying to do. You do not need an account for any e-book that is not in netLibrary. If you are an off-campus user, you simply need to enter your id number at the prompt and you will be able to access the e-books. If you wish to access an e-book from netLibrary, then an account will allow you to:
Without an account, you may browse and print from the book. Browsing is allowed in 15 minute sessions. As long as you continue to use the book and no one checks it out, you may continue to browse. If someone checks out the book, the book will be unavailable until it is checked back in to the collection. If you do not do anything with the book for 15 minutes, the session will time out and you will have to search again for the book to start browsing in a new session.
A netLibrary account is free and it is easy to sign up for one.
In most cases, you do not need to check a book out. For netLibrary e-books, you can have full access to the book as long as no other user has it checked out. Also, the book will be returned to the collection (you will have to find it again to browse it) if there are 15 minutes of inactivity while the book is open.
Once you are in netLibrary and have found an e-book you would like to check out, click on the link to "View this e-book." On the left side of the screen, above the Table of Contents for the book are a series of red tabs. Click on the tab that reads 'eContent Details.' You should see a list of options appear that includes a link to checking out the book. The time of the checkout will vary depending on the book. If you have clicked on a link from the UNCG catalog to get to the book, then you should see a link to checkout the book.
If you are not in NetLibrary then you do not have to renew an e-book. If you are in NetLibrary, then you cannot renew an e-book. If you wish to continue to use the e-book after the checkout time, you will have to check it in and check it out again.
You can only use the Notes feature of netLibrary if you have signed up for an account.
On the left side of the screen, above the Table of Contents for the book, are a series of red tabs. Click on the tab that reads 'Notes.' You will be asked to enter a name for the note and then have space to write the note. Click Add Note when you are done.
To view Notes at another time, click the Home link on the top left of the screen (just to the right of the netLibrary logo). On the Home screen, on the top right of the screen, you will see a link for 'My List and Notes.' When you click on it, you will receive a screen with all your notes listed there. You are able to edit and remove notes on this screen, as well as click through to the pages in the book you made the note about.
If you are using netLibrary, then only one person can check out a copy of an e-book at a time. If the title is already checked out, you will have an option to read the Table of Contents or input your e-mail address to have netLibrary notify you when the book is again available. Most other ebooks allow simultaneous access by many people.
Yes, you can have up to 5 books open at the same time. To switch between books, look at the navigation bar on the left side of the screen. Just above the red tabs, is a drop-down menu that says 'Select an open item...' Clicking on the gray button with the down arrow with show you a list of books that you currently have open. Click on the book that you wish to browse and click the Go button and you will be taken to that book
You may print out individual pages of the e-book, but it is illegal to print out the entire e-book.
The only e-book source that allows you to download an e-book is NetLibrary, but this service is limited to selected e-books. You will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or 7.0 to take advantage of this service.
To see if the book you are looking at is available for download, select the Show Details link. A link to "Checkout & Download this eBook will be present if it is available for download. To find out which books are available for download, use the Advanced Search on the NetLibrary site and put a check mark next to "Offline eContent" and run your search.
Things to remember about downloadable ebooks:
A message appears that explains that the book is not currently available. You are then given the option of reading the Table of Contents of the book, or asking for an alert to be sent to your e-mail address when the book is available again.
Comments or questions? Call ERIT at 336-334-4238.
