posted on Oct. 4: McMaster Library offers 24/7 access to academic electronic books

McMaster and other member libraries of the Ontario Council of University Libraries have purchased a shared collection of about 2,000 scholarly electronic books, known as eBooks, from netLibrary.

eBooks are full-text electronic versions of published books that current McMaster students and employees can search, browse, borrow and return over the internet.

eBooks are accessible from a library, lab, office or home at any time of the day or night and are available for online browsing or checkout.

To check out an eBook, authorized McMaster users must first create an account in netLibrary and obtain a proxy ID.

eBooks are automatically checked back into the library collection when the checkout period (24 hours) expires.

For information or assistance, ask reference staff at any campus library, or visit netLibrary and netLibrary FAQ.

The university libraries' electronic book collection ranges in scope from core academic areas of science, social sciences and the humanities to collections of specialized study in areas such as business, computer science and engineering.

Individual electronic book titles are listed and available to authorized McMaster users through MORRIS, the online library catalogue, or through the netLibrary site.

More than 4,000 public domain electronic books are also available at the netLibrary site, including political texts and literary and historical classics.

As an added feature, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is embedded into netLibrary eBooks and has been enhanced technologically to include graphics and audio pronunciation.