SDCC Library: e-Books: Using e-Books: Getting Started: e-Books

Using E-Books

San Diego City College Library offers you access to thousands of electronic books (e-books). Most of the e-book collection is licensed from EBSCO, the same vendor as our article databases, so you may notice these have a similar look and feel in their layout. The second large e-book collection is licensed from Gale, which includes encyclopedia sets and other reference books. E-books from different vendors differ by layout (interface) and download capabilities.

Image "Tablet Pc and Book" by adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Our major collections are listed below. Each collection has a page in this guide with details for finding, viewing and downloading.

Note: Some of our other databases, like JSTOR, also include e-books. If a database contains e-books, it usually has a menu option (like a checkbox) to narrow your results to the e-book format.

EBSCO e-Books This link opens in a new window
(EBSCO) EXPANDED COVERAGE: Over 90,000 full text electronic books from EBSCO. Now includes 60,000 titles from the EBSCO Community College e-Book Collection. See help guide: Using e-Books: EBSCO
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window
(EBSCO) Over 25,000 encyclopedic entries on a variety of subject areas. Full text. See help guide: Using e-Books: Funk & Wagnalls
Gale e-Books This link opens in a new window
(Gale) Formerly called Gale Virtual Reference Library. Reference books, including encyclopedias, almanacs, and biographical books. Full text. See help guide: Using e-Books: Gale
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
(Oxford) Reference materials on general and specific subjects. Includes illustrations, maps, biographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries and more. Dictionary and encyclopedia entries, quotes, etc. Some full text. See help guide: Using e-Books: Oxford

Finding E-Books @ SDCC Library

There are three basic ways to find e-books @ SDCC Library: OneSearch, SDCCD Books+, and the A-Z Databases list. This video will quickly show you each method. If you view it on YouTube, a descriptive transcript below the screen will give more detail.

NOTE: The library web site has been updated, so the layout of the screens may vary a bit, but the content is similar.

Access to e-Books

I'm off campus, how do I get access to an e-book from SDCC Library?

You will be prompted for login information when you click on a link to an e-book database (collection).
Use your CSID number and last name to access our electronic databases from off-campus. Type in your last name exactly the way you registered for classes.
You must be enrolled in at least one City College course during the current semester, and have fully paid your tuition and fees in order to log in.
Some databases require that your browser be set to accept all cookies.
Security software may interfere with a database's user authentication protocol. You may have to temporarily disable it in order to connect to a database.
If you still have problems with your login, please contact citylib@sdccd.edu

More e-Book Collections

Access to e-Books at Mesa College Library and Miramar College Library:

Because all three colleges share the same SDCCD Books+ catalog, you will see e-books owned by all three libraries. Due to licensing agreements, access to e-books may be restricted to users registered at a particular college. However, if you were teaching or taking classes at City AND Mesa, for example, you have access to both colleges' e-books.

Access to e-Books on the Web

Here are some more e-book collections you can access for free:

Hathi Trust
Contains over seven million volumes and over one billion pages of scanned books and other materials, 1200s to present.
JSTOR Open Access eBooks
Freely available for anyone in the world to use. Each ebook carries one of six Creative Commons licenses determined by the publisher. The titles are easy to use, with no DRM restrictions and no limits on chapter PDF downloads or printing. Users will not need to register or log in to JSTOR.
Open Library
This service is an extension of the Internet Archive. It's intended purpose is to catalog every book in the world.
Project Gutenberg
This is a collection of over 60,00 e-books in public domain because their copyrights have expired. These are particularly useful for classic literature and other humanities and social sciences courses.
San Diego Area Libraries & More
Make use of the online resources available at the two local public library systems (SDPL and SDCL), which have resources that complement our SDCC collections. Both of these have large e-library collections with e-books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and other databases and you can get a FREE library card from both libraries.

Guide Author

Sandra V. Pesce, PhD ~ Librarian/Professor Electronic Resources ~ spesce@sdccd.edu