Managing e-book downloads and checkouts for EBSCOhost e-books

Many e-books on the EBSCOhost platform are unlimited user and DRM-free. (These are the books we prefer to purchase.) [DRM = Digital Rights Management]

However, sometimes we will purchase an EBSCOhost e-book with DRM — Either unlimited user but with DRM or limited user with DRM (1 or 3 concurrent users).

DRM restrictions on EBSCOhost e-books are detailed at the bottom of a book's record.

EBSCOhost books:

1. Can be read online via the EPUB and/or PDF formats (accessible from the top left or the table of contents below the book metadata).

Note: EPUB is better for accessibility.

2. Can be downloaded (if publisher allows).

A. DRM-free books may be downloaded in EPUB and/or PDF formats.

They can be opened with Adobe Acrobat or any software that supports PDF or EPUB files.

There are no restrictions on printing, saving, or copying.

Note: EPUB is recommended for mobile devices, and PDF is recommended for desktop use.

B. Books with DRM may be be downloaded in EPUB and/or PDF formats, however:

Users must be logged in to My EBSCOhost before downloading books with DRM.

Adobe Digital Editions or equivalent reader software is required.

Books with DRM "expire" from the user's device at the end of the checkout period.

(Note that chapter downloads are DRM-free, even if the e-book as a whole has DRM.)

Note: EPUB is recommended for mobile devices, and PDF is recommended for desktop use.

See EBSCO's help page on e-book downloads: http://support.ebsco.com/help/?int=ehost&lang=en&feature_id=eBooks&TOC_ID=Always&SI=0&BU=0&GU=1&PS=0&ver=&dbs=nlebk#downloadebook

Here are three EBSCOhost e-book examples:

EBSCO offers some control over e-book settings.

Session expiration

EPUBs and PDFs can be read online for the length of a user session on the EBSCOhost platform.

This is a setting controlled by EBSCO. Contact them to adjust session length. The maximum is 2 hours.

We have the 2 hour setting.

Note that this applies to all EBSCO resources. It is not about e-books, it is about any EBSCO online resource (a database, a book, an article within a database).

After 2 hours of inactivity, a user's session will expire and they will have to log back into EBSCOhost. (If a user is actively engaging with the e-book or database, their session will not expire.)

Full Download restrictions

These settings modify the settings for offline (download) reading, i.e. "checkout" of e-books with DRM on the EBSCOhost platform.

1. Log in to EBSCO Admin at https://eadmin.ebscohost.com/.

2. Click on Site/Group Maintenance at the top right of the screen, then click "Go" under eBooks.

These are the settings we have now (6/10/2020):

These settings mean:

• • Full Download is allowed for e-books with DRM (when allowed by publisher).

  • Each user can have a maximum of 10 e-books with DRM downloaded/checked out at a time.

  • Users can download EBSCOhost e-books with DRM for a maximum of 13 weeks, then the e-book will expire from their device.

  • Users can download Continuing Access Model e-books for a maximum of 7 hours, then the e-book will expire from their device. (NOTE that CAM e-books are those with a limited number of uses per year. URI does not have any CAM titles, so this setting is not relevant to us. CAM title checkout should always be for one day or less, because each day is a use.)

  • Users can select for how long they want to check out an e-book with DRM within the parameters above.

  • E-books with DRM with ONLY 1 concurrent user cannot be downloaded; they may only be read online in EPUB and/or PDF format.