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Electronic Book Collection

What are Electronic Books or eBooks? An electronic version of a printed book. The contents (with or without illustrations) are in the form of a digital file that can be read online or downloaded for reading on a computer or a handheld eBook reader.

What is netLibrary? netLibrary is a service that provides access to a wide range of book titles that have been digitized and made available in electronic format. Cornish Library has joined with 39 other northwest academic libraries in selecting and sharing a collection of titles chosen from netLibrary's offerings. This consortial collection is referred to as the Northwest Academic netLibrary Collection and is available for use by Cornish students, faculty and staff.

What's in the Northwest Academic netLibrary Collection?

  1. Reference works covering a variety of subjects, primarily in the Humanities & Sciences and Social Sciences.
  2. Choice Magazine's Outstanding Academic Books list.
  3. Computer science and information technology titles.
  4. Pacific Northwest history titles.

Can we access any other titles through netLibrary? Yes. netLibrary also offers its customers access to a growing collection of about 3500 public domain (or copyright free) titles.

Where else can I find eBooks on the Web? There are many sites that archive public domain titles. For a list of useful sites click here.

How do I access netLibrary? There are two ways to access the netLibrary collection:

  1. All the titles from the Northwest Academic netLibrary Collection have been added to the Cornish Library online catalog. Each title is fully searchable by title, author, subject and keyword and will show up along with regular books when you search the library catalog. Each eBook record contains a link to the netLibrary web site where you can view the title online.
  2. OR you can go directly to the netLibrary web site to search and view titles online. When searching the netLibrary site you also have the option of searching various public domain titles that they make available.

Details of using netLibrary:

  1. The Cornish Library has pre-purchased these titles. You do not have to pay any fees to use the service.
  2. Even though Cornish Library has an account with netLibrary, they require that each user register at the web site and create a login and password.
  3. All books are read online. netLibrary used to offer downloadable eBook Reader software, but it stopped supporting it in January 2002.

Why include eBooks in the Cornish Library collection? Space is severely limited in the library. These eBooks increase the collection by 2180 titles (to date) without taking up any shelf space. Because this is a consortial purchase, the price per title is a fraction of what a printed edition would cost. Plus it allows us to try out a new medium for delivering information to the Cornish Community.

Many books can never be replaced adequately in electronic format, especially art and other illustrated books. For now the quality of graphics and illustrations in eBooks lags far behind what's possible with the printed medium. We will be using eBooks to supplement, not replace, printed books in the collection.

Questions? Please contact Hollis Near for further information or stop by the library for a demonstration.