The Brandeis Library provides access to thousands of books online, covering a wide variety of subjects.
Most of our ebooks can be searched individually through OneSearch or by individual collection (i.e. O'Reilly Safari Books Online).
You can use the Library's OneSearch to look for ebooks on a particular topic. Use the search box below or find OneSearch on the library homepage.
OneSearch searches more than just ebooks, so you'll likely see physical books and journal articles in your search results. To view only ebooks, look at the Tweak My Results bar on the left side of the page. Under Availability, choose Available Online. Under Resource Type, choose Books and EBooks. Click Apply Filters to apply your selections.
Using ebooks can be confusing, since they are available on a variety of different platforms and offer different access options (such as reading online or downloading part/all of the book). If you have questions about how to access an ebook, use the Chat with a Librarian feature on the library website or email researchhelp@brandeis.edu.
The simplest way to use our ebooks is to read them online in your browser. If the book doesn't open automatically, look for a link that says Read Online or PDF Full Text (which is a little misleading -- this will allow you to read online, and will not necessarily provide a PDF).
Some platforms will give you the option to save or email a certain number of pages (determined by the publisher) while you're viewing the book online. To see if this is an option for a particular book, look for a link that says something along the lines of Download, Email or Save Pages. If you download a few pages or a chapter of a book, you'll usually get a PDF that you can read on any device.
Some of our ebook platforms will allow you to download an entire book. This is sometimes called "checking out" a book, because you can access it for a certain amount of time (similar to checking out a physical book).
If you download a full ebook, you may need additional software/apps to read the book on your computer, tablet, or phone. Here are some of the most common apps:
Adobe Digital Editions: access ebooks downloaded to your computer in either ePub or DRM-protected PDF format.
Bluefire Reader (iPad/iPhone, Android): download ebooks in ePub or DRM-protected PDF format directly to your mobile device.