Northlake Public Library District
e-books
Below is an
introduction that may be helpful for beginning NetLibrary users.
If you are ready to use the e-books, click
here.
What is netLibrary? What is an e-book?
NetLibrary™ is an Internet web site which provides a
collection of electronic books, or "eBooks." An e-book is a book that is available in
electronic format and downloaded to your PC or laptop and read from the computer
screen. These e-books are free for
Northlake Library cardholders but an account with NetLibrary must be created
(see below). E-books may be checked out
for a 72-hour period. After 72 hours, the text becomes inaccessible until you
check it out again. E-books cannot be renewed. Only 3 e-books can be checked
out at a time. Because of copyright
laws, only short excerpts can be printed.
What
e-books are available?
Northlake
Public Library has subscribed to a collection of over 1600 e-books provided by netLibrary. Titles include Cliffs Notes, study guides,
Idiot’s guides, biographies, reference titles, career guides and more. In
addition, when you search the collection, you’ll note an option for accessing
over 3800 “public ” eBooks – classic works of literature and history in the
public domain. The eBooks in our library’s collection were purchased to meet
the needs of our community
Accessing
the eBook Collection
An e-book
can be “read” in three ways:
- Browse an e-book online for approximately 15 minutes.
- "Check out" an e-book and read it online
from a Web browser (see Technical specifications below).
- "Check out" an e-book and download it for
offline reading. (Windows only)
(NetLibrary's e-book reader software is required and may be downloaded
from the NetLibrary web site.)
The first time you check out an
e-book, you will need to create an account that identifies you as a library
patron.
Creating
an eBook account
2. At the
NetLibrary web page, select Create Account.
3. Notice
that the library’s name appears on the Create Account screen.
4. Enter
your identifying information (user name, password, email address). If you do
not have an e-mail account, type in abcd@abcd.com
5. Select
Submit.
Logging
in
Each time
you wish to check out an eBook or access it remotely, you must first log in.
(If you are creating a new account, you will be logged into your library’s
eBook collection automatically.)
How to log
in once you have created an account:
1a. From
inside the library, go to www.netLibrary.com
and select Log In from the main navigation bar.
1b. From
outside the llibrary, go to www.netlibrary.com
and enter log in information in the Current Members section.
2. Enter
your user name and password in the Current Members section.
3. Select
Enter.
4. You
now have access to all eBooks available in your library’s collection.
Finding
an eBook
There are
two ways to find an eBook, a quick search and Power Search.
How to perform
a quick search:
The
Search box on the main navigation bar at the top of your browser window
performs a quick search, allowing you to locate an eBook by searching keyword,
full text, titles, author, or subject.
1.
Select an option from the dropdown list on the main navigation bar, such as
keyword, full text, title, author, or subject.
2. Enter
the search term. Note: to do a phrase search, submit your search in quotes–for
example, “the written word”.
3. Select
Go.
4. Search
results are displayed.
How to perform
a Power Search:
You can
access Power Search in two ways. One way is to fill in any or all of the fields
that appear in the browser window, including title, author, subject, keywords,
full text, and publisher. The second way is to select Power Search
on the
main navigation bar atop your browser window. This brings up two additional
fields to help you refine your search: publication date and ISBN.
1. Select
the Power Search button.
2.
Enter the search text. The Full Text field searches the full text of all
eBooks. All other fields search the bibliographic records. Note: To do a phrase
search, submit your search in quotes–for example, “the written word”.
3. Select
the collection of the Northlake Public Library District library’s collections
you want to search. Note: If you want to search public eBooks as well, select
the Public eBooks option.
4. Select
Search.
5. Search
results are displayed.
Browsing
an eBook
You may
browse an eBook without logging in. Browsing an eBook is the equivalent of
taking a book off the shelf and looking through it. While you are actively
using it, no other library member will have access to it.
If 15
minutes elapses without active use, the book is “put back on the shelf” and
another patron will have access.
How to browse
an eBook:
1. Locate
the eBook you want to view (see “Finding an eBook”).
2. Select
the eBook title to display the About This eBook page.
3. Select
the Browse This eBook Online link.
4. The
eBook is displayed.
Checking out
an ebook
To check
out an eBook, you must first log in. Checking out an eBook gives you exclusive
use of the eBook for the checkout period. Your library determines the checkout
period. The eBook is automatically returned when the checkout period expires.
How to check
out an eBook:
1. Locate
the eBook you want to check out (see “Finding an eBook”).
2. Select
the eBook title to display the About This eBook page.
3. Select
either the Check Out and Read Online link or the Download and Read Offline
link. Both options automatically check out the title and place it on your
eBookshelf. To access your eBookshelf, log in and select the My eBooks button
on the navigation bar atop your browser window.
4. To
download eBooks to your PC for offline viewing outside the library, you will
first need to download the FREE netLibrary eBook Reader™ from www.netLibrary.com.
For assistance,
please use the Contact Us link at www.netLibrary.com.
(Required
hardware/software to use NetLibrary: Windows 95/98; browsers: Netscape 4.75
or greater or Internet Explorer 4.0x or greater)