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EBooks at Bowie State

This guide provides instructions and tips on how to find and use e-Books in Bowie's Thurgood Marshall Library collection.

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About E-Books

Are e-books real books?

YES. An e-book, also known as an electronic book or digital book, is a book that exists in electronic form. Usually the book is also in print format but sometimes not. Electronic books go through the editing and publishing process just like print books. They also have the same types of features: a cover; a title page; a table of contents; chapters; page numbers; graphs, images, or pictures; and so forth.

You can read Bowie’s e-books on many devices:

  • computers
  • laptops
  • tablets
  • e-readers
  • smart phones

Why use e-books?

E-books are typically capable of being searched, making them excellent reference sources.  E-books are accessible for browsing or check-out from your electronic device 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Many vendor platforms and e-book reading devices provide amenities such as dictionary, note-taking applications, read-aloud, etc. 

EBooks at Bowie

The Bowie Thurgood Marshall Library has two eBook collections:

 

The  EBSCO eBook Collection  is Bowie’s exclusive e-book collection and a collection both shared by the USMAI libraries

  • Login with your 14 digit Library ID is required for off-campus use. 
  • Titles in the eBook Collection are searchable using the Catalog USMAI or OneSearch (EBSCO Discovery Service)
  • Access the collection through A-Z Databases to browse or search for titles
  • Hosted by EBSCOhost and employs typical EBSCOhost design and search features 
  • Generous amount of time to browse a title, no check-out required
  • Once logged into A-Z Databases, may print, download and/or email a limited number of pages from a book without checking it out
  • May read books online with an Internet browser or download to read offline 
  • Formats of titles will vary - PDF, EPub, or both
The ProQuest eBook Central is a collection both shared by the USMAI libraries and Bowie’s exclusive e-book collection
  • Login is required from any location on- or off-campus 
  • Titles in the ProQuest eBook Central are searchable using the Catalog USMAI or OneSearch (EBSCO Discovery Service)
  • May browse or search for books directly within the ProQuest eBook Central
  • A limited amount of time (about 5 minutes) is allowed to browse a title before being prompted to check the book out
  • Allowed to print a limited number of pages from books that have been checked out
  • May read books online with an Internet browser or download to read offline 
  • Formats of titles will vary - PDF, EPub, or both