The Calvin T. Ryan Library provides access to thousands of e-book titles, which may be found using the library catalog (search on: netlibrary) or by using the NetLibrary website. PC users may view NetLibrary e-books online using Internet Explorer or Firefox with a PDF reader, like Adobe Acrobat. Mac OS users should consult these instructions about viewing NetLibrary e-books online.
Many of the NetLibrary titles published since 2008
are available for download and offline reading using a PC or Mac OS computer, or certain e-book readers such as
Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Sony’s eBook Reader. Downloaded NetLibrary e-books will be accessible for offline reading
for one week. At the end of one week, the e-book will no longer be
viewable offline and may be deleted from the computer or device. NetLibrary e-books cannot be renewed, but if additional time is needed, users may log into NetLibrary and download the e-book again. NetLibrary e-books do not need to be checked in and have no overdue fines.
1. Create a free NetLibrary account.
This account is different than the login credentials used to login to
library databases from off-campus, UNK e-mail, and other campus systems.
2. Download and install the free Adobe® Digital Editions on your computer. OPTIONAL: During
the installation of Adobe® Digital Editions, users will be prompted to
enter an Adobe ID, or create one if they don’t have one already (similar
to the screen below). This Adobe ID is not required to download an
e-book, but is necessary to transfer titles from a computer to an e-book reader.
Creating an Adobe ID is an optional step, but necessary to transfer e-books across multiple computers or devices.
3. Search for a NetLibrary e-book using the library catalog or the NetLibrary website, which is also linked from the library’s "Articles and E-Resources" listings. Once you’ve found a NetLibrary e-book to download, follow the steps below:
3a. Depending on how you search NetLibrary, click on the Show Details link for a search result, if displayed (see picture below) - OR- skip to Step #3b.
Click "Show Details" to see if a NetLibrary e-book is available for download.
3b. The subsequent “Details” page contains
several links as shown below. If you already have Adobe® Digital
Editions installed on your computer (see Step #2), click on the link to “Check Out
& Download this eBook.”
The "Check Out" link displayed on a Details screen, along with links to Adobe software.
3c. After clicking the “Check Out and Download” link, you will be prompted to enter your NetLibrary username and password. Note these are not the same as your UNK email username and password! If you don’t already have a NetLibrary account (see Step #1), just click on “Create a Free Account” to set one up.
3d. Once logged in to NetLibrary, click on the "Download this eContent" button and open the downloaded file using Adobe Digital Editions (see Step #2).
NetLibrary also provides online instructions on the "Check Out and Download" process and "Software Requirements" for e-book readers.