| eBooks are electronic
versions of printed books that can be viewed online via the Internet.
Students and faculty now have access to a CSU collection of approximately
1500 eBooks obtained from two eBook vendors, netLibrary, Inc. and
ABC-CLIO.
The Pollak Library is
one of six CSU "lead libraries" participating in a one-year
pilot project to bring electronic books to students and faculty. Lead
libraries selected the books to include in the CSU collection and will
monitor their use, as well as prepare a final report on the project. The
selection of more than one vendor will allow the project team to study
different access strategies and price models. The CSU netLibrary
Collection includes approximately 1365 books, while the CSU ABC-CLIO
Collection will offer approximately 135 titles.
The
CSU netLibrary Collection - To test selection and access
strategies, some books were purchased outright while others were leased
from netLibrary. Books in the social sciences, sciences, education and
psychology were purchased, allowing for one user of each electronic book
at any given time. Books in business/economics, computer
science/information technology, and general reference works were leased.
Up to three simultaneous users may gain access to leased books.
Using
eBooks - There
are two ways to use eBooks, starting from the Pollak Library home page at http://www.library.fullerton.edu/.
- Click on "Find
Books and More," then click on "eBooks: netLibrary"
and you will be connected to the CSU netLibrary Collection. (You may
find it useful to start out with the instructive help screens, just
below the "eBooks" box.)
- You will also find
records for the individual eBook titles in the Library’s online catalog (OPAC) and
can connect directly from a title record to the eBook.
netLibrary
Public Domain Titles - In addition to the CSU collection,
netLibrary offers access free of charge to a collection of approximately
3,000 titles that do not have copyright restrictions. This public
domain collection includes many classic works such as All's Well That
Ends Well by William Shakespeare and the Psychology of Revolution
by Gustave Le Bon. Public domain titles are available when you log
on to the CSU Collection or by going directly to netLibrary.
The
CSU ABC-CLIO Collection - At present the CSU ABC-CLIO Collection
is "under construction," with approximately 29 of the 135
projected titles available. The collection is comprised of dictionaries,
encyclopedias, and other reference works, grouped by broad subject area
"bookshelves." Bookshelves exist for the following subjects:
- Ethnic and
Multicultural Studies
- Folklore, Mythology,
and Popular Culture
- Government, Law, and
Society
- Science and the
Environment
- United States
History and Geography
- Various Reference
Sources
- Women's Studies
- World History and
Geography
- Family, Education,
and Society
Additional titles will
be added throughout the year.
Using
ABC-CLIO eBooks
- At present you can use ABC-CLIO eBooks starting from the Pollak Library
home page at http://www.library.fullerton.edu/.
- Click on "Find
Books and More," then click on "eBooks: ABC-CLIO
eBooks" and you will be connected to the ABC-CLIO Collection
of eBooks. Once you connect, you will be able to search the entire
collection, a bookshelf or an individual book. (You may find it useful
to start out by reviewing the instructive help screens, by clicking on
the help option on the left side of the screen.)
- In the next month or
so, we will add records for the ABC-CLIO eBook titles to the Library’s
online catalog (OPAC). Once the records are in our catalog, you
will be able to connect directly from a title record to the eBook.
- ABC-CLIO reference
books will also be available from the Library's Internet Ready
Reference pages at http://www.library.fullerton.edu/ReadyRef/.
Teresa
Malinowski, Head
Collection & Processing Services |
