What is EBL?
Why do I see a UTEID screen even though I'm on campus?
How do I access an ebook? Do I need an account to access EBL?
Do I need special software or hardware to read ebooks online?
Can I download ebooks to my hand held device?
Can I print from EBL? Can I copy and paste from EBL?
What if I still need help?
EBL (Ebook Library) is a database of over 50,000 books from across all subject areas featuring content from 179 worldwide publishers. Two thousand titles are added every month.
The collection is particularly strong in recent science, technology, and medical materials, but humanities and social sciences are well represented.
EBL uses a web-based lending platform which means that you are provided with quick delivery based on what you want to use from the large EBL collection.
Why do I see a UTEID screen even though I'm on campus?
Because EBL access is restricted to current students staff and faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, we need to confirm your status regardless of whether you are on or off campus.
How do I access an ebook? Do I need an account to access EBL?
Enter EBL using the link above, or from one of the many EBL links we've loaded into our Library Catalog. You will be asked for your UTEID and password before being taken to the EBL site. Once you enter the service, you will not be required to enter additional account info to use the ebooks.
You can search for books using either the simple search tool or by following the links to the full text search and advanced versions, or you can browse lists of books by category.
If you use an EBL link from a record in the Library Catalog, you will be taken directly to the book described in that record.
Do I need special software or hardware to read ebooks online?
EBL can be accessed using a standard Internet browser. The Safari browser is recommended for Mac users. EBL provides ebooks in Adobe PDF format so in order to view EBL ebooks online, you will need to ensure that you have the correct version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer (version 6.0.2 or higher for Windows or 7.0 for Mac).
If you download Adobe Reader 8, you then also need to download Adobe Digital Edition - Flash Player.
Additional information can be found at the EBL Getting Started support page.
Can I download ebooks to my hand held device?
No. Our subscription is not enabled for downloading ebooks at this time.
Yes, but because of copyright, there are restrictions as to how much of the book you can print or copy. Printing from EBL is restricted to 20% of the total pages of the ebook, per user. However, print permissions in excess of this are sometimes granted by the publisher.
Likewise, copying and pasting content is restricted to 5% of the total pages of the ebook, per user. However, copy and paste permissions in excess of this are sometimes granted by the publisher.
The EBL system keeps track of this usage and provides a message to you if the limit is reached.
For additional help using EBL, please see EBL's Ebook Library User Guide, get help from a librarian at Ask a Librarian, or contact Paul Rascoe in the PCL Reference and Information Services department for additional troubleshooting assistance at prascoe@uts.cc.utexas.edu or 512-495-4262.
