About the eLibraryNJ Digital Audio Book Collection

The eLibraryNJ Audio Book Collection is a collection of downloadable audio books available to library cardholders only from OverDrive, a leading publisher of digital content.

• OverDrive audio books are available in WMA and MP3 formats. They can be downloaded to your computer using the OverDrive Media Console and some can be burned to a CD. Some titles can also be accessed using the Overdrive Media Console app directly on most smartphones and portable devices such as the iPad.
• How to search for and download a eLibraryNJ Audio Book. [Directions]
• Additional compatible devices. [List]

About eBooks on EBSCOhost

eBooks on EBSCOhost is a service that offers libraries an extensive collection of eBooks for reference, research, as well as reading for pleasure. The Library has over 7000 titles available through this collection. A large percentage of these can be downloaded to a portable device.

• You can read ebooks on a computer by logging in with their library barcode number. In order to download ebooks and transfer them to a portable device, you must create a user name and password by clicking the Sign In link in EBSCO.
• How to search for and download a NetLibrary eBooks on EBSCOhost. [Directions]
• To download the NetLibrary EBSCOhost titles in PDF format users will have to download the Adobe Digital Editions software. [Download]

About the Gale Virtual Reference Library

The Gale Virtual Reference Collection contains the full text of hundreds of reference books for your research. These are trusted and authoritative reference works that are fully searchable and are available 24/7 from the library's website using the Online Databases page or library catalog.

• To search:
  • Go to Research Tools - Find Information in Online Databases. Scroll down the page to eBooks -- Gale Virtual Reference Collection. In-library users will be able to directly access the search page. Home users will need to supply their library card and PIN numbers.
  • You can also search for Gale Virtual Reference Library Collection titles from within the library catalog. All of these reference books will contain a searchable phrase Gale eBooks. Any Gale Virtual Reference eBook in your search results will say Internet Resource and Available for East Brunswick Public Library via Gale Virtual Reference Library. Click here to access. Click on that link to view the eBook. You will need to supply your library card number to use these resources.
• Searching within a selected title:
• Click on the selected title in your library catalog search.
• Click on the hyperlink within that record to bring up that electronic book.
• Click in the Search box on the left side of the screen, type in your search terms.
• Choose whether to search just within the publication or within all volumes in the edition.
• Hit <Enter>
• Click on a title or topic from the results screen and the full content of that article will appear.
• Use the tools box on the right side of the screen to view in PDF format, Print Preview, Email, Download, Download as an MP3 or use the citation tools, or even Translate to 11 different languages.

 

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Free eBook Resources

• Google Books
  The Book Search works just like web search. You can search on Google Books or on Google.com. When a book is found with content that contains a match for your search terms, it shows up as a link in your search results. If the book is out of copyright, or the publisher has given permission, you'll be able to see a preview of the book, and in some cases the entire text. If it's in the public domain, you will be able to view a plain text version on your screen or you're free to download either a PDF or an ePub copy. Google has also launched a free eBook Reader for mobile devices. Go to books.google.com/m and browse. Through the Google Books Library Project collections of several major research libraries are also searchable though Google Books.
• Google Scholar
  Google Scholar is a freely-accessible web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. It includes most peer-reviewed online journals of Europe and America's largest scholarly publishers. NOTE: Because most of Google Scholar's search results link directly to commercial journal articles, a majority of the time users will only be able to access a brief summary of the articles topics, and small amounts of important information regarding the article, and possibly will have to pay a fee to access the entire article.
• Project Gutenberg
  Download over 30,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPhone, Kindle, Sony Reader or other portable device. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books including many classic works of literature. Choose between ePub, Mobipocket, HTML and simple text formats.
• University of Michigan General Collection
  Over 28 thousand titles in the public domain. searchable by author, title, subject, full text... The books are fom the University of Michigan's collection.
• Internet Archive Open Access Texts
  Almost two million items from individuals, contributing libraries, and organizations (such as Google, and Project Gutenberg) in a variety of publishing formats freely available for downloading.
• Bartleby.com
  Classic works of literature, nonfiction and reference
• Baen Free Library
  Free works in the sci fi genre.

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eBook Formats

Publishers have a variety of formats to choose from when producing an eBook. Compatability is dependent upon the reader. Formats for the most popular devices are as follows:

ePub - ePub is the open (and free) eBook publishing standard of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), the trade asssociation for the digital book publishing industry. Files end in the extension .epub. ePub is designed for the the ability to manage the display of text dependent upon the particular device being used, i.e. the reflowability of its content. The format is being widely adopted and is used by the Barnes and Noble Nook, the Sony Reader and other devices. The eBooks from elibraryNJ are in the ePub format and can be downloaded to a Sony Reader or a Nook.

PDF - Adobe's portable document format. The PDF format reproduces an image of a page. It is widely used, but since PDFs are designed for printing on standard paper sizes it may not be readily adaptable to small devices such as mobile phones or PDAs. The "reflowing" of the text in the PDF to the smaller screens is an issue that Adobe is working on. Use Adobe Reader with Digital Editions, the free software from Adobe, to view eBooks in PDF format on Windows and Mac computers, the Sony Reader, and the Nook.

AZW - AZW is the format required for the Amazon's eBook reader, the Kindle. AZW is a proprietary format and only works with the Kindle.

Mobipocket - The Mobipocket format can be used on any PC and numberous mobile devices. It includes bookmarks, table of contents, and more. Users need to download a free Mobipocket Reader to their PCs or device. It works on the following platforms: PCs with Windows, Palm, Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, Smartphone, Symbian OS, Blackberry, iLiad, eBookMan, and more.

DJVU - is an open format created for scanned documents. DjVU files are high resolution images with smaller file sizes than PDFs and standard image formats such as JPEGs, GIFs that are commonly used on the web. This compression reduces download speeds and promotes the publication of vast quantities of paper documents with high quality images that were heretofore "trapped in hard copy." Free downloadable readers are also available.

eBooks are also available in many other formats such as plain text, html and more. For more about ebook formats, see the Wikipedia article Comparison of e-book Formats. It talks about various formats and has a chart at the bottom that shows which readers support the various formats.

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E-readers/Mobile Devices as e-readers

If you want to read an eBook from a device other than the computer on which you are currently viewing this page, you will need to purchase a special e-reader, PDA or purchase a cell phone that supports this. There are quite a number of devices available and the links below give comparisons and reviews.

• E-book reader matrix from Wikipedia (comparison of major e-ink e-readers on the market)

• Another article from CNET reviewing the “best” e-readers

• LCD e-book reader matrix

• CNET e-book reader reviews

• Kobo eBook Readers Directions entitled: Adding Public Library Content to your Kobo eBook Reader.

Two major e-book formats that are supported by various mobile devices are mobipocket and e-reader

• mobipocket (tells what phones support mobi files)

• e-reader (tells what phones support pdb files)

• iPhone apps (comparison article on CNET)