The Library Catalogue, OneSearch, is the primary portal to access e-books.
For example 1984 by George Orwell. If you were to search for 1984, from there on the left-hand "Filter my results" section select the following:
This will retrieve all e-books with 1984 in the title.
If you were to choose the first item on the list and then select the "Available Online" link which will take you to the Full record as seen below:
Then under View Online - Try a Link Below! - Select from one of the options. This will take you to our Proxy (if you are off-campus) where you will need to sign in with your CUNYCredentials-firstname.lastnameNN@login.cuny.edu. For more information, please review the Remote Access FAQ.
Use the Advanced Search Option in OneSearch to retrieve e-books. Limit your search to Title, Author, Material Type, Subject, and Publication Date if known. Example, Emma, Jane Austen, Books.
Once you do so, select SEARCH. The can then be further filtered by using the Filter My Results feature on the left-hand pane and selecting Full-Text Online
Should you have any questions, please complete the Electronic Resources Access Form.
A-Z Database List provides a list of all of our major e-book collections. Once on the A-Z Database List, toggle to Database Types - E-Books. You may select the e-book collection of your choice. You will be taken to our Proxy page (if you are off-campus) where you will need to sign in with your CUNYCredentials-firstname.lastnameNN@login.cuny.edu. For more information, please review the Remote Access FAQ. Should you have any questions, please complete the Electronic Resources Access Form.
Note: You cannot search for individual e-book titles (for example: Pride and Prejudice) on the A-Z Database List. Try OneSearch for individual title retrieval.
Computer users
Mobile usersIn order to transfer most e-books to a mobile device, you will need an app. This app -- Bluefire Reader -- is similar to how the Kindle works, but it's specifically for e-books provided by the library. Bluefire also supports PDFs -- this means you can import any saved PDFs (such as journal articles) into Bluefire Reader.
E-books can be read in a variety of ways -- on a computer, on a mobile device, and some can be printed, too.
Use the directions below to learn how to download an e-book directly to a mobile device, and how to transfer an e-book download from a computer to a mobile device.
After selecting "Download", you will be prompted to open the download in a program, generally iBooks (iOS) or Bluefire Reader. Once selected, the download will be automatically transferred to the app.
Note: You must have Bluefire Reader authenticated with your Adobe ID, but you will only have to complete this step once! Bluefire Reader will also keep track of the time left on your loan, if applicable.
