Tutorial: Using Ebooks

The Basics

• Only available through the library website
• Only available to UMBC faculty, staff and students
• UMBC users cannot borrow or access ebooks owned by other USMAI schools
• You can only download ebooks on personal PC or laptops
• You can only read (not download) ebooks on public computers
• Ebooks cannot be placed on hold, recalled or renewed

Choose an ebook provider to learn more:

EBSCO

To checkout or download an EBSCO title you will need to set up an EBSCO account and create an Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) account.

Loan Period	1-7 days
Downloadable?	Yes
Printing	Yes (print/paste up to 100 pages)
Browser Compatibility	Firefox, Chrome, and IE 10.0>
# of Simultaneous Users	One
Supported Devices	Adobe Digital Editions, Apple, Nook, Sony, Android, not Kindle

Proquest Ebook Central (USMAI)

To download Proquest Ebook Central ebooks to Android and Apple devices you will need to download Bluefire reader.

Note: Proquest Ebook Central ebooks are not available to guest account users.

Loan Period	1-7 days
Downloadable?	Yes
Printing	Yes (print up to 20% of book and copy/paste 5%)
Browser Compatibility	Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari
# of Simultaneous Users	No limit
Supported Devices	Adobe Digital Editions, Apple, Nook, Sony, Android, not Kindle

Proquest Ebook Central (UMBC)

To download Proquest Ebook Central ebooks to Android and Apple devices you will need to download Bluefire reader.

Note: Proquest Ebook Central ebooks are not available to guest account users.

Loan Period	7 days
Downloadable?	Yes
Printing	Yes (print up to 40% of book and copy/paste 20%)
Browser Compatibility	Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari
# of Simultaneous Users	One
Supported Devices	Adobe Digital Editions, Apple, Nook, Sony, Android, not Kindle

SpringerLink

There is no checkout process with Springer ebooks.

Loan Period	No checkout needed
Downloadable?	Yes
Printing	Yes (the entire book)
Browser Compatibility	Firefox: 8>, Chrome:16>, IE: 7>, and Safari: 5>
# of Simultaneous Users	No limit
Supported Devices	Adobe Digital Editions, Apple, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Android

JSTOR

There is no checkout process with JSTOR ebooks.

Loan Period	Download chapters to keep
Downloadable?	Yes
Printing	Yes (unlimited copying/printing)
Browser Compatibility	All
# of Simultaneous Users	No limit
Supported Devices	Adobe Digital Editions, Apple, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Android

Troubleshooting

Why can’t I download an ebook?

Not all eBooks are available for download, some publishers restrict it and only allow their eBooks to be read online.

I've downloaded the ebook file to my desktop, but it won't open correctly.

You probably need to install Adobe Digital Editions software in order to read the book on your computer. You can download the newest version of the software; if that doesn't work for you, many people have success with one of these older versions.

I’ve followed all the steps to download an ebook to my mobile device, but when I open Bluefire reader, I get a "no tokens available" error message.

This means that Bluefire has not yet registered that a book has been downloaded. Closing and then opening the Bluefire Reader app a few times should solve this problem.

Why do I get a "Sorry, this eBook is in use" message after I have closed the eBook?

If you click the eBook Full Text link to read an eBook online, the eBook is checked out for the same duration of time that your institution has set as the session duration before timeout.

If you start a new session, the eBook will not be available until the previous session has ended unless you logged in as a Personalized User in both of those sessions.

Try clearing your Temp Internet files

Clearing your temporary internet files solves log-in problems, file download issues, and other common internet troubles.

With the exception of the mobile device instructions at the very end, all of these instructions take place in the actual internet browser.

Further questions or concerns, please contact the UMBC library Reference Desk at 410-455-2346 or https://library.umbc.edu/researchhelp.php