What is EBL?
EBL is a web-based e-book lending platform. Thousands of online academic books are available for reading on or offline.
If I want to browse or search just EBL, how can I do that?
There’s an entry in JHsearch for EBL. When you click on it, you’ll be prompted to enter your JHED login and password, regardless of whether you are on or off-campus. If you want to browse or search, look for the search box. You can choose “Category” and browse by broad subject, or “Advanced” for many other search options.
What is the loan period?
Books that have not yet been “purchased”: 1 or 7 days
Books that have been purchased (i.e., that have been downloaded 3 times): choice of 4 or 7 days.
Are there fines for overdue EBL books?
No. When your time expires, you simply can’t access the book (even if you’ve downloaded it for reading offline) unless you initiate a new loan.
When the “loan period” has expired, will I be notified?
No. If you want to continue reading the book, you simply initiate a new loan.
Is there a way to keep track of the books I’ve used?
Yes. Click on Bookshelf to see the books that you’ve borrowed or accessed.
Is there a way to organize the titles I’ve used (or might want to use)?
Yes. Click on My Collections to create folders to store titles by subject or any other category, even if you haven’t actually used or borrowed the titles.
Can I print or copy books?
Printing and copying is governed by copyright, and usually limited to 10% of a book. You will see a message letting you know how many pages you can print or copy.
What if I want to read an EBL book offline?
When you click on Download, you’ll see a note saying that Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) is required to read all EBL ebook downloads. A link is provided.
Can I read EBL ebooks on portable devices?
Downloaded EBL ebooks can be transferred to any portable device that supports ADE. A list of compatible devices is available on the ADE website. Portable devices with browser support (such as the iPhone/iPad) can also access EBL and Read Online via the free Bluefire app, which supports ADE. The library has compiled an eBook guide with detailed instructions on how to search and download eBooks.
Is there a list of participating publishers?
Yes. Click on Advanced Search and go to Publisher. The drop-down menu lists all the publishers.
What publication years are covered?
The JHU Libraries’ arrangement with EBL includes books published in 2009 and later.
How often does EBL add new book titles to the catalog?
New titles are added monthly.
This post comes to us from SAIS Librarian Steve Sears. Thanks, Steve! Treat yourself and subscribe to our sister blog the SAIS Library News!