Ebooks are an effective way to diversify and improve access to library materials. Not only do they complement the library's selection of print books, eBooks enhance the discovery, access and function of scholarship in certain disciplines. For more in-depth questions about Ebooks, please reach out to your subject librarian.
Not every book is published in an electronic format. For new books, print and ebook formats are often published at different times, and there can be a gap of months where only one format or the other is available. To request a Ebook for the collection, please select "eBook" as the preferred format when completing the Request a Book form. To discover whether a specific Ebook is already available to the Reed community, please search the catalog and review our best practices under the Search for eBooks at Reed tab.
Ebooks and print books are priced differently. When buying an Ebook, libraries purchase an "institutional" license which allows for access to the entire Reed community in exchange for a more expensive price point. However, the cost of an Ebook can often be justified by its capacity to support multiple readers at once, to download or email book chapters, search text, and easily share content with other Reed users.
While a new print books takes up to 6-8 weeks to arrive, Ebooks can be activated in a matter of days, usually no more than one week after your initial request. You will be notified via email once your requested Ebook is available.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, e-book and ebook are both acceptable, with a capital "E" or "B" in either or both of these elements. Perhaps there will one day be a consensus, but until then feel free to use whichever variation you prefer.
Access models determine how many people can use or check out an ebook at the same time and are determined by the publisher on a title-by-title basis. When purchasing an eBook, Reed prioritizes Open Access (OA) and Unlimited Access / Unlimited Use Access (UU, UA, EA) models. If neither OA nor UU/UA/EA are available, Reed will pursue a 3-User Access (3U) model. 1-User Access (1U) are only pursued as a last resort if all other access models are unavailable.
Common access models are:
Unlimited Access / Unlimited User Access (UU, UA, EA): Any number of people can use this resource at the same time. This is the library's preferred purchase option whenever possible.
1-User Access (1U): Only 1 person can use this resource at a time.
3-User Access (3U): Up to 3 people can use this resource at the same time.
Nonlinear Access (NL) / Concurrent Access (CA): Any number of people can use this resource at the same time for a set number of uses before we need to re-purchase the ebook.
Whereas an access model defines the number of users who may access an eBook, DRM outlines the terms of use once a user has access to an ebook. DRM limitations may specify a certain number of pages that can be downloaded, the amount of time a user may spend reading a book, or require the use of a specific program to access the text, such as Adobe Digital Editions. When acquired an eBook, the library prioritizes DRM-free content that places no additional restrictions on user usage.
It can be either. Subscription packages offer a variety ebooks, but changes in agreements and licensing over time can mean the titles included in a collection come and go. You may have experienced something similar with personal streaming media accounts, like when a show "leaves Netflix" or a movie goes from one streamer to another.
Because of this variability in some subscription packages, the library also purchases individual ebooks on a title-by-title basis to meet particular needs. For course reserves, the library prioritizes perpetual access ebooks over subscription access.
This work by the Reed College Library is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY Attribution 4.0 International License.
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