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Database Help:
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NetLibrary is an online library of electronic books (eBooks) covering a wide variety of subject areas. Whenever 'books' are mentioned below, we are referring to 'eBooks'. NetLibrary does not provide printed copies of books.
Both current and older books are included, and you can use NetLibrary's search screen to locate a particular title or books on a desired subject. Once you have found a book you wish to read, you can:
NetLibrary is available in the library's reference area or through the Library Databases web page.
NetLibrary is divided into three separate collections:
Having your own personal account on NetLibrary is necessary if you'd like to check out 'library collection' books, guaranteeing your access to them for a specified period of time (usually 24 hours).
To create your account:
in the NetLibrary menu bar
at the bottom of the page
(you must accept the agreement in order to have an account)You can use your account right away. Within a day or so, you should receive an email welcoming you to NetLibrary. The email will have your username and other information to help you get the most out of NetLibrary.
When you are using NetLibrary through the university or the proxy server, you can search for and preview books without logging in. You will need to log in, however, if you wish to check a book out or download it to your offline reader.
To log in:
in the NetLibrary menu bar
just below the password box
in the top menu bar should now read log out 
)Note: When doing an author search, it is not necessary to enter it last-name-first. For example, typing jane austen and austen Jane will retrieve the same books.
Searching from the NetLibrary menu bar
and then type in your search words
Searching from the NetLibrary home page
at the bottom of the Search for eBooks section Power Search
in the NetLibrary menu bar
at the bottom of the search form* The collections are labeled a little differently on the Power Search screen. The Library Collection is labeled Texas A&M University, Commerce eBook Collection. To search the Private Collection, choose 'Yes' under Include eBooks not owned by Texas A&M University, Commerce.
Viewing your search results
Once you've done your search, you will be presented with a list of the books that matched your requirements (usually fifteen at a time, but you can change this number in your account preferences). Click on the red arrow button
at the bottom of the list to see more books.
When you see a book that looks good, click on its title to see more information about it. You will also be given the option to browse, read, or download the book.
Search tips
To learn more about special searching techniques, try visiting NetLibrary's Search Tips page.
Once you have located a book, you can read it online or download it to your computer for offline viewing. The choices you are offered will differ slightly based on whether the book is part of the Public Collection or the Library Collection (remember: Private Collection books are not available for viewing).
Public Collection books offer two options: Read this eBook Online and Download this eBook to Read Offline (please see the sections below for more information on using these features). Because these books are part of the free public collection, you do not need to log in to read or download them. You can read or keep them as long as you wish without checking them out.
Library Collection books also offer the Read and Download options, but you will be required to log in so that the chosen book can be checked out to you. A third option, Browse this eBook Online, allows you to read the book for 15 minutes without logging in.
When you read or download a Library Collection book, NetLibrary will "check out" the book to you. This reserves the book for your personal use for a set period of time, usually 24 hours. This is necessary because, just like physical books, we only have access to a set number of copies. If we have only one copy of a book, only one person is allowed to access it at a time. (Books in the Public Collection are freely available -- you can read them as long as you wish without checking them out.)
Checking out a book (borrowing it)
Once you have located the desired book, click a link to either read it online (not browse) or download it for offline reading. This will automatically check the book out to your account.
If you have already checked a book out and downloaded it, you can use your offline reader to check it out again (you will not need to download it again, saving you some time). Please see the section below on offline viewing for more information on this feature.
Accessing the list of books checked out to your account
Once you have logged in to your account, click the my eBooks button
in the NetLibrary menu bar. This will take you the My eBooks page and a list of any books that are checked out to your account.
Reading books checked out to your account
From the My eBooks page, view the list of books checked out to your account. Next to each book listed, you will see a selection box that offers the following choices:
- Read Now (this option is not available when the book is downloaded to your offline reader)
- About this eBook
- Download this eBook
- Return eBook to Library (this option is not available when the book is downloaded to your offline reader)
For the desired book, select Read Now to read the book online or Download this eBook to download it for offline reading. Once you have made your selection, press the go! button
next to the selection box.
Checking in a book (returning it)
There are three ways to check in a book:
- From the My eBooks page, select Return eBook to Library for the desired book. Once you have made your selection, press the go! button
- If you have downloaded the book to your offline reader, check it back in from the offline reader.
- Wait for the check-out period to expire. NetLibrary will check the book back in automatically. (This works whether or not you downloaded the book for offline reading.)
When you choose to read or browse a book online, you will be presented with a web page that is subdivided into several smaller windows. The three main windows are the top banner, the tools window on the left, and the viewing window on the right.
The top banner
The top banner is the narrow strip across the top that says netLibrary Online eBook Reader. On the right side of the top banner are some buttons:
- Hide/Show Tools
/
- hides or show the tools window on the left side of the screen
- Home
- closes the eBook and sends you back to the NetLibrary home page
- Back
- closes the eBook and sends you back to where you were before you opened it
The tools window (left side)
The tools window contains several useful features to help you navigate through the online book. You can click on the small tabs across the top (Main, Search, Dictionary, TOC, and Help) to use the different tools. The tools available include:
- Search this eBook - searches the full text of the book you are currently viewing
- Search for a new eBook - allows you to run a new search for other books
- Dictionary - lets you display the definition of a word from the American Heritage Dictionary (PC users can also double-click on a word in the book to bring up its definition)
- TOC / Table of Contents - displays an expanded table of contents with hyperlinks, allowing you to jump directly to a specific section of the book
- Help - gives more detailed help for using the online reader
The viewing window (right side)
The viewing window contains the text and images of the book itself, plus a few buttons to help you move through it. You can choose to go directly to a specific page number, or you can use the small arrow buttons to move forward
or back
one page at a time.
Printing from the online reader
NetLibrary is specifically designed to allow printing only one page at a time (for copyright reasons). Because there are so many sub-windows (or frames), you need to make sure you select the correct one before printing -- do this by clicking once on the text of the book. You can then give the print command to your web browser in the normal way (such as clicking the Print button at the top of the screen).
If your are not sure that you have selected the correct sub-window for printing, select Print Preview from your browser's File menu. This will show you exactly what will be printed.
NetLibrary offers software that allows you to download books from their collection and read them offline (not connected to the Internet). Downloading the software does require a certain amount of computer expertise -- if you are not comfortable downloading software from the Internet and installing it, you may want to ask a knowledgeable friend for help. If you are unable to use the offline reader, remember you can always use NetLibrary's online reading feature.
Note: As of January 2001, the offline reader software is only available for Windows machines.
Downloading the reader
You will only need to download NetLibrary's offline reader software once -- it is not necessary to reload the software every time you download a book.
From the NetLibrary home page, click on the Download link in the netLibrary eBook Reader section (at the bottom of the page). If you have already found a book you wish to download, you can click its download link from the About this eBook page. Both of these methods will take you to the Download Your eBook page. From there, click the Download link in the Download the eBook Reader section. (Before downloading, you may want to read the system requirements listed to be sure your computer can run the software.)
While waiting for the file to download, you may want to take note of the location (on your hard drive) where the installer file is being saved. When the file is finished downloading, your system may start the installation automatically, or you may need to go to the installer file and start it manually (you may need to close down any open programs while the installer runs). Once the install / set-up process is finished, you should have an icon for the eBook Reader program on your desktop and in your Start menu under Programs.
If you'd like, start up the reader software and try it out. When you open the reader for the first time, you'll see a Welcome document describing how to use the various features (this document will be hidden when you open another book -- you can see it again by selecting View Welcome Information under the Help menu, or by selecting Close eBook under the File menu). The reader also comes with a free book, so you can practice using some of the software's features.
Downloading a book
When you look at a Public Collection or Library Collection book, you will be given the option to download the book (as opposed to reading it online). Click the download button for the desired book, and you will be taken to the Download Your eBook page. If you haven't already downloaded the eBook reader software, do that now (see the section above for more information about this).
On the right side of the page is the Download the eBook section. Click on the link in that section that says Download <book title> Now (where <book title> is the title of your book). Wait for the book to download. When downloading is complete your computer should automatically bring up the offline reader software with the book open.
Once you have downloaded a book, it will remain in your offline reader even after your check-out time expires -- it's there, but it's disabled. To look at the book without downloading it again, use the offline reader to check it out. From the My eBooks window, right-click on the book title and select Checkout eBook from the menu that pops up (the reader will need to connect to the Internet briefly while it contacts NetLibrary).
Important reminder: When a Library Collection book is checked out to your offline reader, you will need to check it back in from the offline reader (or wait for the check-out period to expire) before it will be available again from the NetLibrary web site.
Checking a book in from the offline reader
From the My eBooks window of the offline reader, right-click on the book title and select one of the check-in options for the menu that pops up:
- Check-In to My eBooks - disables the book in the offline reader BUT keeps it reserved for your use on the NetLibrary web site (until your check-out time expires)
- Check-In to Library - disables the book in the offline reader AND returns it to NetLibrary so that other users can access it again
Using the offline reader
NetLibrary offers an excellent help document that comes with offline reader software. When you open the reader for the first time, you'll see a Welcome document describing how to use the various features. This document will be hidden when you open another book -- you can see it again by selecting View Welcome Information under the Help menu, or by selecting Close eBook under the File menu.
Once you have logged in,
you can review and edit your account preferences by clicking the edit account
button 
in the NetLibrary menu bar. From the Edit Account screen, you can change:
When you have made your
desired changes, be sure to click the update button 
at the bottom of the screen.
If you still have questions about using NetLibrary, try visiting their Online Help page. To talk to an A&M-Commerce librarian, call our reference desk at 903-886-5720.
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Diane Downing
Head of Reference
Gee Library, Texas A&M University - Commerce
PO Box 3011, Commerce, TX 75429
phone: (903) 886-5719
email: diane_downing@tamu-commerce.edu
Last updated June 2002.