e-books and e-audiobooks: General Information & Resources

See our Popular Reading, Audiobooks, Magazines and more tab for how to access Libby and the OverDrive Virtual Library. The Libby App is available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

UW Libraries offers e-books on a variety of subjects. You can search for ebooks using the library catalog, or you can go directly to the e-book platform of your choice.

Many publishers and vendors of e-books use Digital Rights Management technology to limit copying, printing, and sharing. 

Adobe Digital Editions is required for some e-book resources, in order to download an entire e-book (chapters or sections are often available in standard PDF format). 

Search eJournals or eBooks by subject or title.

eJournal and eBooks Search

UW patrons can access ebooks licensed by UW Libraries on the following platforms:

• ABC-CLIO eBook Collection (General)
• Ebook Central (General)
• EBSCOhost eBook Collection (General)
• Elsevier ScienceDirect (Science, technology)
• Gale Virtual Reference Library (General)
• Knovel (Engineering, science, technology)
• Oxford Scholarship Online (General)

• University Press Scholarship Online (General)

• Safari Books Online (Business, digital media, technology)
• SpringerLink (Science, social sciences, technology)
• STAT!Ref (Health sciences)
• Taylor & Francis (formerly CRCnetBase) (Medical, science, technology)
• Wiley Online Library (General)

Additionally, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) provides a centralized listing of freely available academic e-books that can be accessed by anyone at no charge.  

UW Libraries purchases e-books as single-user, multiple-user, or unlimited-user titles. Below is a breakdown of potential user limits:

Ebook Central: titles are unlimited use, single-user, three simultaneous users, or 326 uses per year. Please note: ebrary is now a part of Ebook Central.

EBSCOhost: titles are single-user, three simultaneous users, or unlimited use.

OverDrive: all titles are single-user use.

Users are allowed to read chapters and sections of most academic e-books online, and mobile devices with browser capabilities are compatible with most academic ebooks.

That said, before you begin reading ebooks online, check your browser for the following:

• JavaScript enabled
• Cookies enabled
• Pop-ups allowed or 
• Site is added to safe sites or exceptions

Please note: if you use a firewall or security software, you might need to modify your device's configuration.