Library Help: eBooks

When you are off campus, you may find you need to use eBooks (full-text electronic books) more often to support your learning and teaching. This page is designed to help you make the most of using eBooks and to answer any questions you might have. 

Students and staff have access to the library's collection of eBooks. Log in to library gateway with your SHU username and password to find and access eBooks through Library Search.

All the eBooks we offer can be read on any computer or device connected to the internet. 

If you can't find the information you are looking for on this page, please contact us. We're always happy to help. 

If you would like the Library to purchase a new eBook, or purchase an eBook copy of a print book we already have in stock, you can put in a request using this online form. Please be aware that not all books may be available in an eBook format which is suitable for library use. 

Some eBook platform may require your device to have the Adobe Digital Editions app installed in order to download a copy of an eBook.

You can find Adobe Digital Editions on AppsAnywhere : most university devices should have this already installed, although you might need to open and validate the app the first time you use it. If you are using your own device, you will need to access AppsAnywhere via the VPN.

If you have any problems using an eBook, please get in touch with the Library via Hallam Help. 

Issues which sometimes occur are: 

• Some eBook platforms may have limits on the number of people who can concurrently read an eBook at any one time. This is often just a question of waiting for another reader to finish with the book, freeing up the access slot. However, it is still often helpful to contact the Library if this issue occurs, as we can get extra copies on an eBook if this is happening too often. 

• Some eBook platforms may work on a credit model, with a set number of times the book can be accessed each year. If an ebook exceeds that set number of accesses, it is no longer possible to access that book until the start of the next year period. In these cases, the Library would normally buy an additional copy if possible. 

• Authors and publishers can sometimes request for an eBook to be withdrawn, in which case the book will no longer be available. This can sometimes mean it is not possible to order a new extra copy of an eBook in cases of problems with user limits or credit limits.  

• Like any web service, eBook platforms do occasionally suffer downtime, planned or otherwise. You can check to see if there are any known issues with eBook platforms from the Library Services Status box at the bottom right of the Library Online homepage. 

• Over time some eBook links may change. If you find a link that doesn’t work, please report it and we will try to fix it or find an alternative.