The library makes every effort to purchase unlimited user eBooks whenever possible. However, sometimes publishers limit the number of users that can access a particular eBook at the same time -- usually to one, three, or six users. If all these “seats” are in use, you will be able to see the table of contents, but not any pages of the book.
When you click on the link in the catalog, it sends you to the vendor’s website. You may be able to see how many copies the library owns directly under "Availability." Depending on the book, if all "seats" are taken, you may see an option to request additional copies of the book, or a notice that all copies are in use.
If the book is being used in a course, in order for all students to be able to use the library copy, we suggest downloading just the portion you need and then closing out of the book, which will keep it available to all users. You can select a chapter or any subsection to download; these downloads do not expire or require a special PDF reader. The number of pages available for you to download are set by the publisher and will generally show at the top of the page below the number of copies available. They reset every 24 hours.
To download a portion of the book, scroll through the table of context to locate the section(s) you want. You can download a whole chapter, or any subsection.
If you have reached the publisher’s download limit, the “Download PDF” button will be unavailable, as shown below. The download limits reset for each user after 24 hours.
If you are unable to download the portion of the book you need to use, you will still be able to use the Read Online function. Note that this will take up one of the available "seats," and may lock others out of the book, so please remember to close out of the online reader as soon as you are finished.