User Guide

What is ebrary?

Ebrary is an online digital or electronic library containing over 30,000 electronic books or e-books.

E-books provide many advantages to learners. You can access them off campus, they are available 24/7, content is easily searchable, you don’t have to worry about overdues or fines and content is printable.

You can access ebrary through The Information Station by selecting the ebrary button on the left side of the screen. Don’t forget, The Information Station has a range of quality controlled electronic recourse to support your learning.

How to search for e-books

The ebrary homepage provides two options to search for e-books. You can use the search bar at the top of the screen and enter key words or browse by subject collection.

If you require a more specific search, then you can use the advanced search options at the top of the screen. This helps narrow down a search by providing specific subject areas within a collection.

Alternatively, the Chapter Results tab provides a list of the most popular chapters related to your

key word search.

Exploring an e-book

Open a book by simply clicking on the title or on the image. Explore the e-book by navigating to a specific chapter, flip through pages, search for key words or go to specific pages.

If you plan on refereeing back to an e-book again and don’t want to keep searching for it, then you can add it to your Bookshelf.

To access your saved books, simply select the Bookshelf tab at the top of the screen and select All Documents and Annotations.

Copy, Paste and Edit Chapters

There is more to ebrary that reading a book online.

The InfoTools button enables you to link to other online resources by simply selecting a word of interest in a document.

For example, if you wanted to know more about a Asperger’s syndrome , you can use InfoTools to search:

Google Yahoo Wikipedia Youtube BBC News

If you are unsure of the meaning of a term, then InfoTools provides the option to define or explain it. You can even look up details on a person and a location.

Simply highlight the text you want to find out more about.

The InfoTools function enables you to copy and paste pages or sections.

Simply, highlight the relevant text, select InfoTools and the option Copy.

Next, open a Word document, select paste and the content will be displayed.

Ebrary will automatically paste a reference to the e-book at the bottom of the document. However, please note this will not be the Harvard format.

In addition, ebrary allows you to highlight text and take notes, just like you can on an actual book. Simply highlight some text or a paragraph and select the Annotate button. You will then be presented with options to just highlight text, highlight with a text box or link text to a website.

Downloading and Printing

E-books often come with specific copy right rules that are set by the publisher.

Ebrary allows you to temporary download a complete book for 14 days. You can only do this by downloading Adobe Digital Editions. This software basically sets out the terms of access.

Don’t worry, it is totally safe and won’t harm your PC or laptop.

After this period, the book will be removed from your desktop. However you can download it again.

The Learning CentreThe Learning Centre team is committed to supporting learners and curriculum teams with supplying appropriate resources. If you experience any problems or require support in using any recourse on The Information Station, please visit or contact the Learning Centre Team

What is the Learning Centre?The Learning Centre is the City College Southampton library service and drop-in computer area. We also provide a number of other services to help you in your studies.

Who is the Learning Centre for?We are here to support all City College staff and students with their teaching and learning. If there’s something we can help you with, just let us know — we exist to assist! As soon as you have your campus card you will automatically have access to the resources and PCs.

Where is the Learning Centre?The central Learning Centre is situated on the ground floor of the Austen Building. Other smaller areas with open access computers are available across the college and our Marine Skills Centre in Woolston.

If you require this in an alternative format, please contact our information, advice and guidance team on 023804848 48 or email equiries@southampton-city.ac.uk