


e-books Frequently Asked Questions

Problems with downloading? Just need to print a chapter for a class reading? Want to do it all on your phone? You can find the answers here! And remember, you can always e-mail libraryiq@austinseminary.edu with any questions.

Quick links to e-book handouts

Finding e-books

How do I find the e-books we have access to?

e-books through Sophi Search

Go to the Research Tools page under Stitt Library on the Austin Seminary web site. In the Sophi Search box, select E-books only from the Find drop-down menu and then do your search. Alternatively, you can do a search by Everything and identify the e-books in your result list or limit to "eBooks" under Resource Type.

If you are off campus, you can search and browse without logging in, but you will prompted to log in with your seminary credentials if you click to read or download an individual e-book.

e-books through EBSCOhost

Go to the Research Tools page under Stitt Library on the Austin Seminary web site. Scroll down below the Sophi Search box and click on "EBSCO eBooks" under e-Books. If you are on campus, you will be sent directly to the e-books page. Note: These titles are also included in Sophi Search.

If you are off campus, you will prompted to log in with your seminary credentials.

You can also click here for quick access to the EBSCO eBooks.

e-books through ProQuest Ebook Central (e-Libro and ProQuest SciTech Collection Premium)

This collection includes Spanish-language e-books in all subjects and English-language e-books on Science and Technology. Go to the Research Tools page under Stitt Library on the Austin Seminary web site. Scroll down below the Sophi Search box and click on "ProQuest Ebook Central (e-Libro, Science & Technology collection)" under e-Books. If you are on campus, you will be sent directly to the e-books page. Note: These titles are also included in Sophi Search.

If you are off campus, you will prompted to log in with your seminary credentials.

You can also click here for quick access to ProQuest Ebook Central.

Other e-book collections

Other smaller e-book collections are linked under e-Books or Databases on the Research Tools page. These include Credo Reference Online, reference works in Oxford Biblical Studies Online, and  Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Project Muse). These titles are also included in Sophi Search.

e-books through the library catalog

Find our cataloged e-books by doing a keyword search in the library catalog for “Electronic Books.” Note: These titles are also included in Sophi Search.

Note: The library catalog won’t note if an e-book is checked out, but that information will display in EBSCOhost.

e-books from Austin Public Library

Austin Public Library has a large collection of fiction and non-fiction e-books for all ages available to download for free, all you need is a library card!

Austin Public Library (need library card & pin)

How can I search for e-books in EBSCOhost?

There is a video tutorial on searching e-books available here.

Where can I learn more about EBSCO e-books?

The EBSCO e-books support site has tutorials and user guides for EBSCO e-books and audiobooks.

Downloading or viewing e-books (including troubleshooting)

How can I find and view e-books online?

This is the easiest way to use e-books!  Click here to learn how!

Can I download e-books to my phone or tablet?

Yes!

  1. Download the EBSCO eBooks app from Google Play or iTunes (the app is not currently available for Windows devices).
  2. Select Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary from the Library Locator.
  3. Search or browse the e-books from the main menu. Note: if you are off campus you may be prompted to login with your seminary credentials.
  4. Hit the Download button and login with your MyEBSCOhost account (see below) to save a copy of the book to your device for up to seven days.

Watch a video about the EBSCO eBooks app here. Detailed instructions and troubleshooting information available here.

What do I need to set up in order to download EBSCO e-books to my computer to read offline?

You can find detailed instructions in the Downloading and Using e-Books at Austin Seminary: The Basics handout (PDF). Note: you can view and read an e-book online on your computer without downloading it by clicking the PDF or EPUB Full Text link on the left side of the detailed e-book record.

You will need to:

(1) Create a login on the EBSCOhost site

(2) Download Adobe Digital Editions [free software]

(3) Create an Adobe ID (OPTIONAL); and

(4) Use Adobe Digital Editions and your Adobe ID to authorize your computer and your portable devices. If you don’t have an Adobe ID you can also check “I want to authorize my computer without an ID” on the authorization screen. You only need to download the software and authorize your devices the first time you download an e-book from EBSCO.

More information on checking out and downloading an EBSCO e-book can be found here.

Not every e-book is downloadable, some can only be read online through the EBSCOhost interface. To find just books that are downloadable, refine your search by checking the "Download Available" box on the left side of the search results screen.

Remember: if you are off-campus, you will be prompted to log in with your seminary credentials.

I'm having problems reading EBSCO e-books online with my Mac - what should I do?

To use the online viewer with a Mac, you need to install the Adobe Reader plugin for the browser you wish to use.

When I try to view EBSCO e-books online in my web browser, I'm prompted to download PDFs of the pages, one page at a time:

To fix this issue, follow the instructions for the browser you are using at this link. Additional information about this problem can be found on the EBSCO help pages here.

Where can I download Adobe Digital Editions?

Adobe Digital Editions is available for free here.

For help installing and using Adobe Digital Editions, see the E-Books for Texans page here.

Which devices are compatible with EBSCO e-books?

Compatible e-readers include the iPad, Android tablets, all iOS and Android phones, and any e-book reader supporting the Adobe e-book DRM. More detailed information is available here. Note that EBSCO currently does not support any mobilie devices that run on the Windows operating system.

Can I transfer e-books to my Kindle e-reader?

Because Kindle uses a proprietary format, you can’t download e-books directly from EBSCO to your Kindle Reader. You can, however, use Amazon’s Send to Kindle option to send e-book pages saved in the PDF format to your Kindle reader or app. Note that the number of pages you can print to PDF is set by the publisher and will vary from title to title, and the maximum for any title is 60 pages.

How can I delete expired e-books from Adobe Digital Editions?

When your check-out period is over the e-books you have downloaded will automatically become inactive. If you click Remove from library from the dialog box that pops up when you try to open the book it will delete the book from your library, but not from your computer. To completely delete the book from your computer, right click on the cover image, click Show file in Explorer and manually delete the highlighted PDF or EPUB file from the explorer window.

e-book policies

For how long can I check out an e-book?

The number of days an e-book is available for check out is set by the publisher. Some are available for 7 days, some for 3 days, and some can only be read online and can’t be downloaded to your computer or e-reader. When you check out a book, you will see a drop down menu where you can select how long you would like to download the book, up to the maximum number of days. By selecting the minimum amount of time you need access to the book, you will free the resource up for other people in your class in the case of e-books that allow limited numbers of users.

Can more than one person read an e-book at the same time?

This varies: about 2/3 of our e-books allow unlimited users, and the other 1/3 generally only allow one person to view an e-book online or have a title downloaded to their personal device at a time. For those titles, once you close the e-book in the online viewer or the checkout period on your downloaded title has expired, it will become available to other users. You can find the user level for an individual title under "Concurrent User Level" in the detailed record for the e-book. Make sure to choose the shortest needed check-out period in order to make the book available to your classmates as soon as possible if it does not allow unlimited user access. If you have questions about access levels, contact the library staff and we can help you explore your options.

Do I need to do anything to return my e-book when it is due? Can I return it early if I'm done with it?

If you have downloaded an e-book, it will automatically become inactive when you have reached the end of your check-out period. It won't automatically disappear from your device -- you will need to manually delete it from your device and/or your EBSCO eBook app or your installation of Adobe Digital Editions if you don't want it to display.

To return a book early through Adobe Digital Editions:

  • Open Adobe Digital Editions on your computer.
  • On the Bookshelves screen of Adobe Digital Editions, right-click the cover of the e-book you would like to check-in and select Return Borrowed Item.
  • Click the Return button to confirm you would like to return the e-book.
  • The e-book is checked in and removed from your Bookshelves view screen and is available to other patrons.

To return a book early through the EBSCO eBook app:

  • Click the three vertical dots at the top right corner of your bookshelf.
  • In the list view you can click the arrow button to the right of the individual title you'd like to return.
  • Click “Return” to make the title available to another user. (Note: clicking "Delete" will remove the book from your bookshelf, but will not return it.)
  • The e-book is checked in and removed from your bookshelf and is available to other patrons.

Can I renew my e-book if I'm not done reading it when the checkout period ends?

You cannot renew an e-book, but if there aren’t any holds on it from another user, you can check the book out again. Note that checking out a book multiple times will result in multiple copies of the book being downloaded onto your device.

If an e-book I want to read is checked out, can I put a hold on it?

Yes! If a book you want to read is checked out, you will be prompted with the option to place a hold on the book. You need to be signed into your EBSCOhost account in order to place a hold. The system will tell you where you are in the line to access the book and will send you an email with a personalized direct link to download the book as soon as it becomes available. You will have 24 hours to download the book from that link before it moves to the next person in the line. To see your holds, log in to EBSCOhost and view your Holds folder.

Annotating & printing e-books

Can I annotate or highlight e-books that I've checked out through the library?

In the EBSCO eBook app, just touch and hold on the page of a book you have downloaded to highlight a section or add a note. The menu at the bottom of the page will let you navigate through text you've highlighted and view your notes.

You can also annotate an e-book that you view online through the EBSCO site and save your notes:

  1. From the page of the e-book on which you would like to leave a note, click the Notes icon in the toolbar.
  2. Click the + New Note button that appears in the Notes area. If there are existing notes, they appear in a list in the Notes area.
  3. Note: Click the Sign In link to save your note to your personal My EBSCOhost folder account. If you don't sign in your notes will be deleted when you leave EBSCO or close your browser.
  4. Enter your note text in the field provided and click the Save button. You can adjust how the text appears in your note using the Bold, Italics, and Underline buttons above the text field.
  5. Your saved note appears in the Notes list.
  6. Click the Note title to edit the text.
  7. Hover your pointer over the note to either Delete or view the page number of the note.
  8. Click the X in the upper-left corner to close the Notes area.

Can I print or permanently save pages from EBSCO e-books?

Yes, you can print or save and e-mail as a PDF file up to 60 pages of an e-book from within the online viewer (that is, without downloading the book), although some publishers only allow a smaller number of pages to be printed and some publishers don't allow you to print at all. You can access this feature by clicking on the E-mail Pages icon, Print Pages icon, or Save Pages icon at the top of the page while you are in the full text viewer.



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100 E. 27th Street Austin, Texas 78705
P: 512-404-4800
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