E-books
Students and staff at HKR have access to a wide range of e-books through the library. There are also e-books that are freely available online and can be read by anyone.
Find
The easiest way to find e-books is to use Super Search on the library’s website. This allows you to search among the e-books provided by the library, as well as a selection of freely available e-books on the internet.
Restrictions
When an e-book is used as course literature, the library aims, where possible, to purchase licences allowing unlimited simultaneous users.
However, some e-books have restrictions on how many users can access them at the same time. This means that an e-book may not always be available when you need it. If many students are using the same e-book simultaneously—for example, ahead of a timed assessment or an examination—it may be in use and therefore temporarily unavailable.
Read online
Most of our e-books can be read online and will open in your web browser.
Download
Many e-books can be downloaded either by chapter or in full. Most downloadable e-books are protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) and must be read using an e-book reader app.
The instructions below show how to proceed the first time you download an e-book with DRM protection.
Download an e-book - Ebook Central
- Search for the e-book you want to download, for example in Super Search.
- Click the Fulltext online link.
- Click Download Book.
- Sign in or create a personal account. You choose your own username and password; this account is not linked to your HKR account.
- Choose whether to download the book in PDF or EPUB format, if both are available.
- Click Download the App and copy the numerical code displayed on the screen.
- Install the app and enter the code when you open the app for the first time.
- You can install the app on up to six devices.
Download an e-book with Readium LCP DRM
- Download and install a program for reading e-books with Readium LCP DRM, such as Thorium Reader.
- Search for the e-book you wish to download, for example via Super Search.
- Click ‘Download’ and log in using your HKR credentials.
- Copy the passphrase and download the e-book.
- Open the e-book in the reader and enter your passphrase when prompted.
Renewals
E-books cannot be renewed. If you need the book after the loan period has expired, you can download it again.
Copying and printing
It is usually possible to copy text or print parts of an e-book. The amount you are permitted to copy or print varies between e-books. This information is available on the page where the e-book can be read or downloaded.
Notes and bookmarks
In most cases, you can make your own notes, highlights and bookmarks in e-books. To do this when reading online, you will usually need to create an account on the platform hosting the e-book.
E-book reader software often includes similar tools. Please note that notes and highlights are not always saved once the loan period has expired.