VLeBooks – New Features May 2023

Last month Brown’s Books, our supplier of VLeBooks ebooks, announced a suite of new features that aim to improve functionality. You may have noticed them already if you have read VLeBooks titles since May 2023. 

Multiple format types 

There are two format types commonly used in accessing ebooks, PDF and ePub. PDF, Portable Document Format, is a fixed format that tends to mirror the print book in appearance and layout. ePub is a reflowable format and can be adapted to suit the needs of the user by resizing font, changing the background colour, or adapting other accessibility features. 

Previously when readers selected the “Read Online” or “Download” button on VLeBooks it would default to one of the two formats depending on what was available. 

Now for titles where both the ePub and PDF format are available there is a drop-down selection arrow for format type. If you click on the arrow, you can select either format, whether reading online or downloading chapters to your device. This gives readers more choice in accessing these ebook titles, as everyone can select their preferred format for reading and note-taking. Annotations and bookmarks are tied to the format file rather than the title, so bear in mind that notes taken while using the ePub reader will not transfer to the PDF and vice versa. For more information on downloading from DRM-restricted ebooks, see our previous blog post.

Chapter Links 

Readers can now save links to specific chapters from the Table of Contents. Right-click on the chapter title on the main page of the ebook and copy the link to the chapter to your clipboard. If a user follows the link, they will be taken to the same page and will need to either select the ePub format or click “Read Online” which will direct to the ePub by default before they are redirected to the specific chapter. The chapter link function only works if the user reads the ePub format, not PDF format. 

Improved Site messages 

The error message generated when a reader tries to access a title which is already in use and the reservations feature is disabled has been changed to provide more information. The message was previously “this title is not available for you to read online/download.” but it now reads “this title is not available for you to read online as all licences are currently in use. Please try again later” 

Feedback 

These changes are welcome as part of a trend of Brown’s taking on board user feedback and feedback from our team as purchasers of ebooks. Last year, Brown’s increased the available formats of turnaway reports making it easier for our team to make informed decisions about when to repurchase ebooks or purchase additional licenses of popular ebooks. We are happy to see these changes being introduced by Brown’s based on our team’s feedback as well as user feedback. If you have any suggestions for improving any ebooks platform, please contact the ebooks@cambridge team. We are always keen to hear from readers!  

Emily Perdue (eBooks Library Assistant) 

Downloading DRM-protected ebooks, Part 2: downloading a full ebook with Adobe Digital Editions

This blog post will talk about downloading DRM-protected ebooks, which you will find on the ebook platforms Ebook Central, EBSCOhost and VLeBooks.

Part 1 (in a previous post) talked briefly about Digital Rights Management (DRM) and focused on how to download a PDF chapter or small section of a DRM-protected ebook.

Part 2 (below) will focus on downloading a full DRM-protected ebook, which requires Adobe Digital Editions.

It is possible to download most DRM-protected ebooks in full for offline reading but there are certain controls that are applied.

1. For EBSCOhost you will need to create your own personal (free) account separate to your Raven account to download an ebook in full.

A pop-up message will prompt you to sign in to your My EBSCOhost account when you try to download an ebook in full. The pop-up contains a link with the options Sign In or Create Account.

You do not need to create a separate personal account for Ebook Central and VLeBooks.

2. You can only download the full ebook for a certain number of days. This will vary according to the ebook supplier. However, you can re-download the ebook once the initial download period has expired, and there is no limit to the number of times you can do this.

Here is an example of loan length / download periods from Ebook Central showing a drop-down menu with the option of downloading the book for 1, 7, 14, or 21 days.

3. Ebooks that are DRM-protected cannot be opened with Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader or any of the usual software. You will need to install third-party software Adobe Digital Editions on your computer or mobile device to access the downloaded ebook.

Here is a list of Adobe Digital Editions supported devices.

Installing Adobe Digital Editions

First of all, you will need to download Adobe Digital Editions and follow the installation instructions.

Note that you will need to authorise Adobe Digital Editions on your device. You should automatically be prompted to authorise when you install the software, but you can also authorise by selecting “Help” from the menu bar at the top of the Adobe Digital Editions application, followed by “Authorize Computer” at the top of the drop-down menu.

You will be asked to select an eBook Vendor when you authorise your device. Select Adobe ID and not the name of the ebook provider.

Enter your Adobe ID and Password and authorise.

Your Adobe ID will be the email address you provided when you created your Adobe account. If you don’t have an Adobe ID, click the Create an Adobe ID link to the right of eBook Vendor. After creating the ID or account on the Adobe website, close the browser window, return to Adobe Digital Editions, and type in the newly-created Adobe ID.

Note: There is a checkbox at the bottom of the pop-up, which you can tick if you would like to authorise Adobe Digital Editions without an Adobe ID. Authorising without an Adobe ID means that you can only access the ebook on one device; authorising with an Adobe ID means that you can access the ebook on up to six devices.

Here is more information from Adobe on authorising Adobe Digital Editions.

Opening a file in Adobe Digital Editions

Once you have installed and authorised Adobe Digital Editions, you should be all set!
You should find that a downloaded ebook will open automatically in Adobe Digital Editions. However, there are steps you can take if this doesn’t happen.

• In Windows: retrieve the acsm ebook file from your Downloads Folder, right-click the file, and open with Adobe Digital Editions.
• If you are using a Mac, go to Open Finder, click Downloads and double click the acsm file.
• On a mobile device, find the ebook file in Files and use the Share feature to Copy the file to Adobe Digital Editions.

This article from OverDrive explains how to set Adobe Digital Editions to open ebooks automatically.

If you are having problems with Adobe Digital Editions

Uninstall and reinstall Adobe Digital Editions. Then try downloading or transferring the ebook again. You may also need to reauthorize your computer if you reinstall Adobe Digital Editions.

Contact us! Please write to ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk if you have any problems or questions.

Downloading DRM-protected ebooks, Part 1: downloading chapters or sections as a PDF

This blog post will talk about downloading DRM-protected ebooks, which you will find on the ebook platforms Ebook Central, EBSCOhost and VLeBooks.

Part 1 (below) will focus on how to download a PDF chapter or small section of a DRM-protected ebook.

Part 2 will focus on downloading a full DRM-protected ebook, which requires Adobe Digital Editions. Click this link to go to Part 2.

First of all: a small note on DRM.

DRM (or Digital Rights Management)

Your ability to download an ebook depends on whether or not an ebook is DRM-protected or DRM-free.

DRM (or Digital Rights Management) is a set of controls which limit how much you can copy and paste, print or download a particular ebook. Where possible, we try to buy ebooks that are DRM-free, meaning that users have unrestricted copy, print and download allowances, provided that they observe copyright legislation.

However, it is not always possible to buy DRM-free ebooks. This is generally because there is no DRM-free ebook license available, or because the available licenses are prohibitively expensive. A large proportion of ebooks are only available to buy from the aggregator ebook suppliers (EBSCOhost, Ebook Central and VLeBooks), whose platforms host content from many different publishers. Most of the ebooks on these platforms are DRM-protected.

Downloading chapters or sections as a PDF

When using DRM-protected ebooks you can download a certain number of pages as a PDF that you can keep indefinitely. The number of pages you can download varies from ebook to ebook depending on the supplier or the publisher.

Ebook Central

Details of your remaining print and download allowance are listed under Availability at the top of the ebook title landing page. This shows the number of pages remaining for copy out of the total allowance, as well as the number of pages remaining for PDF print/chapter download.

To download a chapter, scroll down to the Table of Contents (below the Availability and Description sections) and select the “Download PDF” link to the right of your chosen chapter.

To download a specific page range, click the “Read Online” button below the book cover on the left side of the ebook title landing page.

Once you are in the online reader, select the Print to PDF icon (fourth icon from the left) from the horizontal menu bar at the top of the page. A pop-up will appear giving you the option to save the current page, the current chapter, or a selected range of pages as a PDF.

EBSCOhost

On EBSCOhost, the download or copy allowance can be found at the bottom of the ebook title landing page under “Publisher Permissions”.

To download a chapter as a PDF, open the online reader by clicking “PDF Full Text” or “EPUB Full Text” from the vertical menu on the left of the ebook landing page, or by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking on your chosen chapter from the Table of Contents.

From the online reader, select the download icon to the right of the chapter you would like to download:

You can also select a specific page range to download as a PDF:

• navigate to the first page you would like to download in the online reader
• select “Save Pages”, which is the second option from the left on the menu bar at the top of the page
• select “Current page and the next X pages” and type in the number of pages you would like to save.

VLeBooks

To download or print a chapter or range of pages on VLeBooks you will need to open the online reader by clicking Read Online, which is the first option on the vertical menu on the left of the screen below the book cover.

Once you have opened the online reader, select the print icon (the fifth icon from the left) from the menu bar at the top of the page.

A pop-up message will appear on screen with details of your remaining print and download allowance. You have the option to print or download the current page, or to select a range of pages for download. Click “Print”, and another window will open, giving you the option to either print out your selected page or pages, or just save them as a PDF.

Please see Part 2 for how to download DRM-protected ebooks in full.

Please write to ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions or problems using ebooks.

Upcoming disruption for downloading EBSCO ebooks – 5th – 12th May 2021

During the week Wednesday the 5^th of May until Wednesday the 12^th of May, one of our significant ebook suppliers, EBSCO, are implementing a major upgrade to their EBSCOhost ebooks platform.

What does this mean in terms of access to our EBSCO ebooks collection?

You will still be able to find EBSCO ebooks in iDiscover, read these ebooks online, and download selective ebook chapters to keep indefinitely. Unfortunately you will not be able to download the full ebooks to read offline during the upgrade period.

Any full EBSCO ebooks you have already downloaded will continue to be available for you until their download period expires. If your downloaded EBSCO ebook title expires during the upgrade period, you will not be able to download it again until Thursday the 13th May.

If you use the EBSCO Mobile App, you will not be able to download full ebooks to read offline from the App. You will be able to “like” eBooks to download later, and any ebooks already downloaded will continue be available to you until their download period expires.

The ebooks team have been in touch with EBSCO to express concern at the timing of this upgrade. If you have any questions please do get in touch with the ebooks team at ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk.

Changes to Dawsonera ebook downloading

Those of you who use Dawsonera ebooks may have noticed that the way you can download ebooks from the platform is changing. The following notice has been displayed on the downloading part of the site for the past couple of months.

From Tuesday the 31st October Adobe Reader will no longer support the downloading of Dawsonera ebooks, instead you will need to have the free Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) software loaded onto your PC or laptop. (You also need ADE to download Ebook Central ebooks, so if you can download these then you should be ok.)

Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) will be required for downloading both PDF and ePub Dawsonera ebooks onto a PC or a laptop. You can download ADE for free from here. Some e-readers also support ADE, and you can access a list of these from the ADE website.

For those users who want to download Dawsonera ebooks onto mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, you will need to ensure you have Bluefire Reader installed. This free app can be found at the iOS App Store or the Android alternatives.

To download ebooks:

• Create an Adobe ID if you don’t already have one. Go to the Adobe website, click SIGN IN then “get an Adobe ID”.
• Download ADE or the BlueFire Reader app.
• Authorise ADE or the BlueFire Reader app with your Adobe ID.
• Access the e-book on Dawsonera via iDiscover and choose to download to either Adobe Digital Editions or Bluefire Reader as appropriate.

There is also guidance on downloading ADE on the Dawsonera help pages.

You can authorise up to 6 computers / devices with your Adobe ID. Authorising your computers / devices with the same Adobe ID means that an ebook you download to one will be available to you on the others.

You may find it advisable to select the option if you are not using your own computer or laptop to access Dawsonera ebooks. Although you may well be able to download using ADE on the university’s managed cluster computers, unless that machine is authorised to your own Adobe ID, then that ebook download will be tied to that machine. Authorising computers you may never use again to your Adobe ID may not be the best use of your 6 device limit.

 

 

EBSCO ebook downloading

EBSCO have introduced a new download feature to the University of Cambridge’s owned titles on EBSCOhost.

Now, when you visit the EBSCOhost website from the ebook collection tab on the ebooks@cambridge webpages or click on a link to an EBSCO title listed in LibrarySearch, you will see an icon on the left hand side of the screen that offers a full text download of our ebooks.

The ebooks can be downloaded for a period of 3 to 7 days. You will be able to choose to download the ebook for fewer days than the total allowed – which will free it them up faster for other people on your course.

One copy of each book will always be available to view online only. The online only copies will be available to view by one person at a time and will not display the download icon.

Do you want to try downloading an EBSCO ebook? Maybe one of these titles will interest you, they were the most used EBSCO ebooks of 2014:

Image credit: ‘Upload/Download’ by John Trainor on Flickr – https://flic.kr/p/2SBDZc

Pearson ebooks on Dawsonera can no longer be downloaded

Dawsonera have informed the ebooks team that Pearson have altered their digital rights on all of their ebooks. As a result, from today, January 12th 2015, Pearson content is no longer available to download, and our users can only access their content online. This change includes Pearson titles that the library has already purchased as well as all future purchases of Pearson ebook titles from Dawsonera.

Please note that users can still access Pearson content via the read online functionality and users can still print and copy within the read online mode. There are currently 83 Pearson published Dawsonera ebooks in the universities’ ebooks collection.

Please see below for what users will now see when accessing Pearson ebooks on Dawsonera. The inability to download should be clearly indicated in red and the downloading icon is absent.

The ebooks@cambridge Advisory Group have clearly expressed their concerns about this retrograde step to Dawsonera and this in turn will be fed back to Pearson by the suppliers.

Please send any comments to the ebooks team on ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk.

Elsevier Medical ETextbooks are now downloadable!

Are you a medic?

Did you know that the 12 titles we own on Elsevier ETextbooks are now downloadable?

From the Elsevier ETextbooks Bookshelf you can see that the download option is now available under online reading:

Each title can be downloaded for 48 hours, using the iPublishCentral Reader:

Click here for more detailed instructions about downloading this. If you have any problems don’t hesitate to email us on ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk

Also, don’t forget which titles we have…

• Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine, 21^st Edition
• Essential Surgery, 4^th Edition
• Gray’s Anatomy for Students, 2^nd Edition
• Illustrated Textbook of Paediatrics, 4^th Edition
• Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine, 8^th Edition
• Macleod’s Clinical Examination, 13^th Edition
• Mims’ Medical Microbiology, 5^th Edition
• Rang & Dale’s Pharmacology, 7^th Edition
• Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 8^th Edition
• Textbook of Medical Physiology, 12^th Edition
• Underwood’s Pathology, 6^th Edition
• Wheater’s Basic Pathology, 5^th Edition

               

Ebrary’s “Academic Complete” trial has ended

THE TRIAL HAS NOW ENDED!! Thank you for your feedback.

The ebooks@cambridge Advisory Group and the University Library have arranged a free trial to “Academic Complete”, a large collection of over 87,411 titles from over 600 publishers, hosted on the ebrary ebook platform.

These ebooks allow unlimited user access, cover a wide range of subject areas and are searchable in LibrarySearch, in addition to being available to browse directly on the ebrary platform. Cambridge University users can access the ebooks on and off campus (with a Raven username and password) and can also download up to 10 entire titles at a time onto a chosen device for 14 day loans. You will need the free Adobe Digital Editions software to download whole ebooks, but this process will not work with Kindles. (Downloading to an iPad has been tested by the ebooks team and proved painless – let us know if your experience with other mobile devices differs.)

Please note, if you are on campus and want to download a title, add a book to your bookshelf, or make annotations, then you will need to sign in with your Raven details. The ‘Sign In’ link is located in the top right-hand corner.

An example of the QuickView Reader screen is shown below; there is online help available and also links to a Quick Start guide and a training video. For the purposes of this trial only the QuickView Reader is accessible. You can download an ebrary app for Android, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and download ebooks to multiple devices.

Click on the image to view in more detail

This is the first time we have used the ebrary ebooks platform so please do let us know what you think about its usability and downloading functionality, together with your comments about content coverage and any other relevant feedback. Please email Jayne and Rachel on ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk with your thoughts.

The trial has now ended.

JK

dawsonera downloading arrives

After a bit of a wait, dawsonera ebooks can now be downloaded to Android and Apple (iOS) mobile devices, including tablets, Smart phones, iPads and iPhones. Users will be asked to choose from 1 or 2 day downloads. Downloading to Mac computers has also been enabled.

Each of our dawsonera ebooks are available as either PDFs or as EPUB files, this depends on the publishers. Instructions for downloading these two file types are different and detailed in the online help guides available from this User Guide webpage.

Click on either Downloading ebooks to an Android device or on Downloading ebooks to iOS for step-by-step instructions. You will need to have registered for an Adobe ID if you haven’t got one already, you can do this from here. You will also need to ensure you have the Bluefire Reader App downloaded onto your device (for reading EPUB files) and the Adobe Reader App (for downloading PDF files).

You can still download dawsonera ebooks to a PC, laptop or memory stick and also to a Mac (although if the default PDF reader is Preview the ebooks won’t open, try installing and using Adobe Reader instead).

Please let the ebooks@cambridge team know if you have any problems downloading dawsonera ebooks. We have had a go at downloading to an iPad2 and it worked for us but we understand there could be issues downloading to some Android mobile phones, we are monitoring this.

JK