Ebooks

The University Library provides thousands of e-books.  Some have been purchased as individual works; some have been scanned from our own collections; some are part of commercial e-book packages; and some are available free on the Web.

You can search and access individual e-books through the online catalog, just like printed books.

When using the various platforms, you may encounter different viewing permissions and restrictions.  If you have questions, please contact us at lislib@library.illinois.edu

You can also search within e-book packages and portals.  Here a few you can explore:

Licensed Collections (Limited to Members of the University Community)

• CRCnetBASE
  [Licensed for UofI] A collection of ebooks mostly focused on science and technology. The above link leads to the list of information technology ebooks licensed for UIUC users, but you may also be interested in those for computer science.
• Proquest Ebook Central (formerly ebrary)
  [Licensed for UofI] A collection of ebooks on a variety of topics. The link above leads to a list of books in IS-related disciplines. You can also look at their complete holdings.
• EBSCO Ebooks and Audiobooks
  [Licensed for UofI] EBSCO Ebooks is a general collection that includes many IS books from publishers like Libraries Unlimited and ALA Editions.  You must view the book in your browser and can only download one page at a time, although for many books you can download more by creating a personal account.
• IEEE/MIT
  [Licensed for UofI] This collection includes ebooks on information and other technology topics.
• InfoSci-Books
  [Licensed for UofI] InfoSci-Books is a collection of encyclopedias and books from the publisher, IGI-Global, which covers information science and many related subjects, such as online education, business applications of information technology, etc. (Once in the database, select the InfoSci-Books link under Research Collections to see available resources.)
• Sage Research Methods Online
  [Licensed for UofI] Sage Research Methods Online collects classic examples of specific methodologies, research methods handbooks, and the well-known “Little Green Books” that walk through specific methods problems. Want to know how to analyze your nominal data, code your interviews, or get the right sample? These books have answers! To get specifically to books, choose the “Content” drop-down menu and select “Books.”
• Safari Tech Books Online
  [Licensed for UofI] Safari is a collection of e-books on computer science and programming, from publishers like Addison-Wesley, Microsoft, O’Reilly, Prentice-Hall, Que, and Sams. Many are popular guides and textbooks.
• Morgan and Claypool: The “Synthesis” lectures from this publisher includes a number of series relevant to information sciences researchers. Each title is a concise monograph. Besides the below areas, you can see the full list of series highlighting recent and forthcoming titles on the Morgan and Claypool website. [Licensed for UofI].
  • Synthesis Lectures on Data Management
  • Synthesis Lectures on Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
  • Synthesis Lectures on Emerging Trends in Librarianship
  • Synthesis Lectures on Human-Centered Informatics
  • Synthesis Lectures on Information Concepts, Retrieval, and Services
  • Synthesis Lectures on Information Security, Privacy, and Trust

Free Collections on the Web

• Google Books
  Google Books, in partnership with several major libraries (including the UofI), makes public domain books available free and provides snippets of many still-in-copyright works.  Includes links to booksellers and libraries that hold the book.  A good source for older, classic books about library science.
• International Children’s Digital Library
  The ICDL is a library of children’s e-books with an interface designed for kids.  Half of the books are from non-U.S. publishers.
• Internet Archive: Text Archive
  The Text Archive is a large open-access collection of books and other electronic texts.  The Internet Archive also collects non-text digital media.
• HathiTrust
  HathiTrust is an open-access digital library of books from academic and research libraries around the world. You can search the entire catalog, view collections compiled by users, or create your own collection on the topic of your choice.
• Project Gutenberg
  The oldest open e-book collection, created by volunteers.