HOW TO ACCESS E- BOOKS
Reading e-books
e-Books are easy to read online using a computer or a mobile device such as an e-book reader, tablet or smart phone.
Most e-books display as PDF files using Adobe. To read an e-book online, usually all you need is:
- a computer with an Internet connection
- PDF viewing software
- an up-to-date web browser.
Some e-books have their own inbuilt reader which displays content similar to PDFs, however some e-book publishers require you to download additional software such as Adobe Digital Editions to save or download an e-book.
Borrowing e-books
Different e-book databases use the terms ‘Borrowing’, ‘Loan’, ‘ Download’ or ‘Check-Out’. However, this is not the same as borrowing a print book from the shelves.
Choosing one of these options enables you to read an e-book offline for a prescribed period of time. This could be a week, a day, or an e-book viewing session that finishes when you log off. Borrowing e-books does not require your library card, only your username and password.
If another Library owns the e-book you want, it may be possible to request a copy of a chapter or portion of the e-book. Generally e-book licenses do not allow universities to ‘lend’ their e-books to staff or students from another university, but saving or printing some sections may be possible. Talk to the Document Delivery staff for advice about borrowing from other libraries.
Printing, copying and downloading e-books
Copyright applies to e-books too!
Each e-book database has different restrictions on downloading, copying and printing. Some publishers permit downloading portions of an e-book for printing or reading later. Other publishers may only allow reading online.
For advice about using e-books, Ask the Library.
Referencing e-books
e-Books must be referenced too!
If you use an e-book for your research, you must reference it using the correct format. Use the Referencing Style specified for your course or School, and follow the examples available from the Library’s Easy Cite referencing tool.
Some e-book collections, including ProQuest and E-book Central provide a “Cite this book” feature or allow you to export the citation details to your EndNote library.
Some useful sites to access e-books :
Looking for free eBooks?
Here’s our list of the best websites for downloading free eBooks for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Google Play, iBooks, and more.
You can download free eBooks in PDF, .epub, .mobi, and more file types.
Best Websites to Download E-books
1. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg offers more than 57,000 free eBooks from the public domain. It is free to read and redistribute. There are no fees, and no custom apps required. You won’t find the latest bestsellers on Project Gutenberg, but you’ll find plenty of great classic books available 24/7 at no cost.
GET FREE EBOOKS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX!
2. Open Library
Open Library is a non-profit Internet Archive that is open and an editable library catalog.
3. Google eBookstore
Google eBookstore has an option to access free books from the huge collection that features hundreds of classics and contemporary bestsellers.
4. Amazon Free Kindle Books
Amazon Free Kindle Books offers top free books for download.
5. Internet Archive
Internet Archive offers more than 15,000,000 freely downloadable books and texts. They also encourage our global community to contribute physical items, as well as uploading digital materials directly to the Internet Archive.
6. ManyBooks
ManyBooks can read on most of the reading platforms like eReaders, Kindle, iPads, and Nooks.
7. BookBoon
BookBoon is the world’s largest publisher of online educational literature. They offer over 1000 free eBooks for you to download.
8. LibGen/Library Genesis
LibGen is a search engine that helps you download books and articles related to science.
9. FreeBookSpot
FreeBookSpot offers lots of links to free ebooks in more than 90 categories. It is where you can find and download free books.
10. Free eBooks
Free eBooks offers thousands of free eBooks to use anywhere you want. They feature some of the best categories such as Fiction, Nonfiction, Romance, Sci-Fi, Self-help, and Business.
11. Ebook Bike
Ebook Bike features a huge collection of novels and audiobooks for you to read.
12. Issuu
Issuu gives anyone the ability to upload and distribute their publications worldwide. It has over 20,000 newly uploaded publications daily.
13. LibriVox
LibriVox is a platform that offers a free download of audiobooks all over the world.
14. GetFreeEBooks
GetFreeEBooks features different categories such as Fiction, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Short Stories, Horror Fiction, and many more.
15. FreeComputerBooks
FreeComputerBooks features eBook categories such as Computer, Lecture Notes, Mathematics, Tutorials, Programming, and Technical books.
16. Baen
Baen features categories such as science fiction and fantasy. It can download in a zip file. You need a special application to unzip the folder.
17. Books Pics
Books Pics is a site that you can download free eBooks and magazines.
18. FreeTechBooks
FreeTechBooks is a site that you can download free computer science, engineering and programming books, textbooks and lecture notes.
19. KnowFree
KnowFree is the number one resource for professionals to access free research, white papers, reports, case studies, magazines, and eBooks.
20. Open Culture
Open Culture is a site that offers 800 free eBooks to your Kindle, iPad/iPhone, computer, smartphone or e-reader. It features different categories that include great works of non-fiction, fiction, and poetry.
21. OnlineProgrammingBooks
OnlineProgrammingBooks is a free site that can download eBooks and online books including mobile app development, programming, computer science, web design, software engineering, information technology, networking, and databases.
22. LeanPub
LeanPub features eBooks on programming languages such as JavaScript, C#, PHP or Ruby and guidebooks.
23. BookYards
BookYards provides education materials, information, documents, reference materials, and content that is free to anyone who has an internet connection.
24. FeedBooks
FeedBooks distributes over millions of books to an increasingly growing community of readers.
25. The Online Books Page
The Online Books Page is a website that gives access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It has over 2 million free books on the Web.
26. eBookLobby
eBookLobby divided into different categories such as business, art, computing, and education.
27. Myanonamouse
Myanonamouse features over 2million torrents and free for all platform. It gives access to its huge database of free eBooks.
28. AvaxHome
AvaxHome features an eBooks&eLearning section among many other categories.
29. O’Reilly
O’Reilly is a platform to download books, magazines, and tutorials for free.
Free Ebook Downloads
Once you download your free eBooks from any of these websites, you can read them on your computer, phone, tablet, or eReader device.
You can send your free eBooks to your Kindle device using Amazon’s Send to Kindle feature.
30. Overdrive
Overdrive is the cleanest, fastest, and most legal way to access millions of ebooks—not just ones in the public domain, but even recently released mainstream titles.
There is one hitch though: you’ll need a valid and active public library card. Overdrive works with over 30,000 public libraries in over 40 different countries worldwide.
In addition to free ebook checkouts, you’ll also be able to listen to audiobooks for free.
Note that a public library card also grants free access to Lynda online courses, so if you don’t have a library card yet, what are you waiting for? Get one as soon as possible!
31. Centsless Books
Unlike the other sites on this list, Centsless Books is a curator-aggregator of Kindle books available on Amazon. Its mission is to make it easy for you to stay on top of all the free ebooks available from the online retailer.
Note that some of the “free” ebooks listed on Centsless Books are only free if you’re part of Kindle Unlimited, which may not be worth the money.
5 Reasons a Kindle Unlimited Subscription Isn’t Worth Your Money 5 Reasons a Kindle Unlimited Subscription Isn’t Worth Your MoneyA subscription service for Kindle ebooks sounds great, but Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription isn’t worth the money. Here’s why.READ MORE
Consider signing up to the free Centsless Books email newsletter to receive update notices for newly free ebooks and giveaways. The newsletter is only sent out on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so it won’t spam you too much.
Note: Since Centsless Books tracks free ebooks available on Amazon, there may be times when there is nothing listed. If that happens, try again in a few days.
32. ManyBooks
ManyBooks is a nifty little site that’s been around for over a decade. Its purpose is to curate and provide a library of free and discounted fiction ebooks for people to download and enjoy.
Much of its collection was seeded by Project Gutenberg back in the mid-2000s, but has since taken on an identity of its own with the addition of thousands of self-published works that have been made available at no charge.
The browsing interface has a lot of room to improve, but it’s simple enough to use. Downloads are available in dozens of formats, including EPUB, MOBI, and PDF, and each story has a Flesch-Kincaid score to show how easy or difficult it is to read.
33. PDFBooksWorld
Between the three major ebook formats—EPUB, MOBI, and PDF—what if you prefer to read in the latter format? While EPUBs and MOBIs have basically taken over, reading PDF ebooks hasn’t quite gone out of style yet, and for good reason: universal support across platforms and devices.
The Different Ebook Formats Explained: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, IBA, and More
As the year rolls on, you may find yourself wanting to set aside time to catch up on reading. We have good news for you, digital bookworms — you can get in a good read without spending a dime. The internet is filled with free e-book resources so you can download new reads and old classics from the comfort of your iPad.
Here’s a list of 11 places where you can find a wealth of free e-books (yes, free e-books!).
34. Internet Archive
If you’re looking for out-of-print books in different languages and formats, check out this non-profit digital library. The Internet Archive is a great go-to if you want access to historical and academic books.
35. BookBoon
Searching for a particular educational textbook or business book? BookBoon may have what you’re looking for. The site offers more than 1,000 free e-books, it’s easy to navigate and best of all, you don’t have to register to download them.
36. ManyBooks.net
With more than 29,000 free e-books at your fingertips, you’re bound to find one that interests you here. You have the option to browse by most popular titles, recent reviews, authors, titles, genres, languages, and more. These books are compatible for Kindles, iPads and most e-readers.
37. Free eBooks
IMAGE: FREE EBOOKS
From romance to mystery to drama, this website is a good source for all sorts of free e-books. When you’re making a selection, you can go through reviews and ratings for each book. If you’re looking for a wide variety of books in various categories, check out this site.
38. International Digital Children’s Library
If you’re having a hard time finding a good children’s book amidst the many free classics available online, you might want to check out the International Digital Children’s Library, where you can find award-winning books that range in length and reading levels. There’s also a wide selection of languages available, with everything from English to Farsi.
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