Yes. Book sections can be downloaded as pdfs and kept indefinitely (requires Raven). Some titles offer a full download to EPub of between 3 and 21 days. Please note that for ebooks capped at a maximum number of simultaneous users (e.g. 3-user access), downloading for offline reading can cause bottlenecks at times of high demand. Please avoid downloading the entire book if possible, or select the minimum time period you can manage with to facilitate access for all.

EPub requires Adobe Digital Editions. To download to iOS or Android devices you will also need Bluefire Reader and an Adobe ID.

Raven details are not normally needed to read an Ebook Central ebook on-campus. However, some titles will request Raven authentication the first time they are used. Users without Raven passwords should contact engcc@lib.cam.ac.uk for help in this circumstance.

When using a phone you will need to download the ebooks. 'Read online' is limited to the Detail page, Sign in and Download buttons.

Yes for most titles. Book sections can be saved as PDFs indefinitely. For some titles the whole book can be downloaded and read offline for up to 7 days using Adobe Digital Editions. An EBSCO eBooks app is available on the App Store^® or Google Play™ for reading offline on Apple or Android devices (or use Bluefire Reader).

Watch a short tutorial video on downloading EBSCOhost ebooks.

Please note that for ebooks capped at a maximum number of simultaneous users (e.g. 3-user access), downloading for offline reading can cause bottlenecks at times of high demand. Please avoid downloading the entire book if possible, or select the minimum time period you can manage with to facilitate access for all.

[May 2022] There is an ongoing issue intermittently affecting on-campus access to EBSCO ebooks and ejournals.

You may see one of the following error messages:

"This site can’t be reached. Check if there is a typo in search.ebscohost.com. If spelling is correct, try running windows network Diagnostics. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN."

""Hmm. We're having trouble finding that site. We can't connect to the server at search.ebscohost.com."

There are a number of workarounds that you can try:

1. Editing the link

Some users have been able to gain access by removing the ‘.s’ from the landing page link, after clicking through from iDiscover.

For example:

https://web.s.ebscohost.com/plink?key=100.69.10.238_8000_1150514604&site=ehost&scope=site&db=nlebk%2cnlabk&AN=2214483

becomes

https://web.ebscohost.com/plink?key=100.69.10.238_8000_1150514604&site=ehost&scope=site&db=nlebk%2cnlabk&AN=2214483

We have had inconsistent results with this fix, but it may prove helpful. You may also see a ‘.p’ rather than an ‘.s’, but removing the ‘.p’ in the same way should have the same effect.

2. Alternative Wi-Fi

Only on-campus access is currently affected, so another option is to try connecting to alternative Wi-Fi. Not from a college room or from a college/university library, but perhaps a cafe's Wi-Fi, a personal hotspot, or using mobile data. This should allow you to access EBSCO online resources. Please note that having your Cambridge VPN switched on may also interfere with access.

3. Check iDiscover for alternative access options

It would be worth double checking in iDiscover that the title you need isn’t also available on an alternative ebook platform.

The supplier is working to resolve this issue as a matter of high importance. Please follow @ebookscamb or @ejournalscamb on Twitter for further updates.

Individual chapters can be downloaded to PDF and kept indefinitely. Display the chapter via the Table of Contents and click 'View PDF':

The entire Torrossa catalogue of ebooks is listed in iDiscover, but to activate full text access on the Torrossa platform users must click on the lightbulb icon above the sample page and submit a request. Once a request is approved the ebook is activated and is available for all subsequent users.

Yes. Torrossa is 'DRM-lite'. Entire books can be downloaded as PDF files which will expire after 30 days. There is no limit on the number of times you can download titles. Printing and copy/paste is not available.

Yes. Ebooks download as PDF files which expire after 30 days. Downloading works much better if you download to Adobe Reader rather than your browser (if you open the PDF in your browser you will see a page of downloading instructions rather than the ebook itself). You may need to change your browser settings to do this:

Firefox:

• Open the Firefox menu
• Options >Files & Applications
• Under Applications, select Portable Document Format (PDF) under Content type and switch to Adobe Acrobat Reader (you may need to look under 'User other') under Action

Chrome:

Yes. Entire ebooks can be downloaded to  EPUB, which requires Adobe Digital Editions (or Bluefire Reader or the VLeBooks app if using an iPhone/iPad or Android device).

Please note that for ebooks capped at a maximum number of simultaneous users (e.g. 3-user access), downloading for offline reading can cause bottlenecks at times of high demand. Please use 'read online' if possible, or select the minimum time period you can manage with to facilitate access for all.

Some iPad, iPhone and iMac users have been unable to access ebooks in VLeBooks' “Read Online” mode, as many iOS devices block pop-ups by default. You may need to enable pop-ups to access ebooks in “Read Online” mode.

To enable pop-ups on your Safari browser (on iOS):

1. Click on the Settings app icon.
2. Under Settings, click on the Safari icon.
3. Under General, swipe left on Block Pop-ups to turn pop-up blocking off.

Please also ensure that you are using Safari 5 or a more recent version.

To enable pop-ups on your Google Chrome browser (on iOS):

1. Open the Chrome iOS app.
2. Click the ‘More’ button (3 dots)
3. Click the Settings menu.
4. Scroll down and click on Content settings, and then select Block Pop-ups.
5. Turn Block Pop-ups off

There is an intermittent problem affecting a number of “limited licence” ebooks on the platform. You may find that you receive the following error message when selecting either the “read online” or “download” options:

“Site Message: We cannot offer maximum issue title at the moment, please try again later.”

The supplier is aware and is urgently trying to resolve this fault. (August 2021)