Selecting and ordering ebooks

Just as the Library has transferred many of its print journal subscriptions to electronic format, we are now increasing its number of ebooks across subject areas.

Benefits of ebooks

• 24 x 7 availability, regardless of location
• high quality content
• a quick turnaround time from purchase to making the ebook available for access
• the ability to search within a text or across a collection of ebooks to find information
• provisions for printing and copying material
• provisions for linking to ebooks within online teaching platforms, e.g. Blackboard
• increased access – no waiting for books to be returned, re-shelved or sent from another campus!

Acquiring ebooks

When considering ebooks, there are a number of factors that the Library has to take into account, including:

• some ebooks are based on a subscription model, others are an outright purchase
• some ebooks can be purchased as individual titles, others can only be purchased as part of a whole collection or package
• ebooks are made available on different platforms which each have to be assessed in terms of their usability and licence terms and conditions of use

Selecting individual ebook titles

The main supplier of individual ebook titles to the Library is NetLibrary. As with print titles, academic and teaching staff are encouraged to select relevant ebooks to build the Library collection.

To assist with identifying available NetLibrary titles and notifying acquisitions staff of selections, Acquisitions staff have prepared a guide to using TitleSelect which is NetLibrary’s online selection and recommendation tool.

• Guide to using NetLibrary TitleSelect (PDF , 83.88kb)
• Access TitleSelect

* Documents stored as PDF files can be viewed by downloading Adobe Reader

• Selecting and ordering Library resources



• Selecting and ordering ebooks



• Subject profiles



• Online order form



• Additional information about placing and tracking orders