LibGuides: e-books and e-audiobooks: General Information &amp; Resources

How to Find eBooks at UW Libraries

UW Libraries offers e-books on a variety of subjects. You can search for ebooks using QuickSearch and using the 'books, eBooks and Media drop-down function, or you can go directly to the e-book platform of your choice.

Digital Rights Management

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 QuickSearch Scopes

UW Libraries QuickSearch: includes the collections of the University Libraries, UW Law Library, and the American Heritage Center. Searches almost everything.

Use this QuickSearch link to search Books, E-Books & Media.

Lastly, use this QuickSearch link to search Course Reserves.

Interlibrary Loan: UW students, faculty and staff can request books, journal volumes, journal articles and other materials, regardless of whether it is available in the UW Libraries, online or in libraries around the world. A free service! Interlibrary Loan link.

Academic eJournals

Search eJournals by subject or title.

eJournal Search

Additional Academic e-book Resources

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

Bloomsbury eBook Collection
Ebook collection includes reference sources from ABC-CLIO, Bloomsbury, Greenwood Press, Libraries Unlimited, and Praeger. On the Bloomsbury platform.
Ebook Central
Multidisciplinary collection of ebooks that can be read online or downloaded. Includes the Academic Complete and Public Library Complete collections.
EBSCO eBooks
Major multidisciplinary full-text database that includes thousands of books. On the EBSCOhost platform.
Gale Ebooks
Multidisciplinary collection of reference books licensed by University of Wyoming Libraries. On the Gale platform.
Knovel
Engineering indexing/full-text database that covers the publisher's books and reference sources and allows searching for numeric or tabular data. On the Knovel platform. An app for iOS and Android tablets, “My Knovel ToGo”, is available to permit offline reading.
Libby by OverDrive (Virtual Library of Wyoming)
Libby by OverDrive is a shared statewide popular reading collection that includes e-books, streaming audiobooks, over 3,000 magazines, and graphic novels for all ages. Use OverDrive on your computer, or for a more customizable and mobile experience, download the Libby app for your operating system. The login page is at https://libbyapp.com/library/virtuallibrary
O'Reilly Safari Books Online
Collection of ebooks on technology- and business-related topics. On the O'Reilly platform.
Oxford Scholarship Online
Oxford platform featuring academic ebooks on subjects such as religion, economics, classical studies, political science, physics, literature, and linguistics.
ScienceDirect Journals and Ebooks
Multidisciplinary collection of library-licensed journals and ebooks from Elsevier and related publishers.
SpringerLink
Multidisciplinary colleciton of library-licensed journals and ebooks published by Springer Nature. On the SpringerLink platform.
STAT!Ref
Collection of healthcare ebooks providing library-licensed medical texts and reference sources. Simultaneous user limit of 2 per title. On the TDS Health platform.
Taylor & Francis Ebooks
Collection of ebooks on a wide variety of topics, including titles in the scientific, technical, and medical fields formerly hosted on the CRCNetBASE platform.
University Press Scholarship Online
Multidisciplinary collection of library-licensed ebooks published by a variety of university presses, including: Columbia, Cornell, MIT, NYU, Princeton, University of California, University of Chicago, Stanford, and Yale. On an Oxford University Press platform.
Wiley Online Library
Multidisciplinary collection of library-licensed journals and ebooks published by Wiley and associated publishers.

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.

A Note on User Limitations

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.

Be Sure to Check Your Browser!

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.

Library Search/Retrieval Options

UW Libraries QuickSearch: includes the collections of the University Libraries, UW Law Library, and the American Heritage Center.

Prospector: a unified catalog of twenty-three academic, public and special libraries in Colorado and Wyoming. UW students, faculty and staff can borrow materials from Prospector.

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

Popular Reading: Libby & OverDrive