eBooks at Bridge Libraries

All our Ebook Central titles are cataloged in Catalyst (Carleton | St. Olaf). Clicking on "Books" under "Material Type" and "Online Resources" under "Show Only" will limit to only books available electronically.

Bluefire Reader (iOS)

Bluefire Reader (Android)

Adobe Digital Editions

Use for reading and managing downloaded materials on your computer.  Works on both Mac and Windows operating systems.

PDFs

PDF files don't expire.  You may keep them as long as you wish.  Most books do have a 60-page limit, however.

Full Book Downloads

You may have up to 10 Ebook Central books downloaded at one time.

Loans automatically expire after 14 days and are rendered unusable.

To return a document early:

1. In Adobe Digital Editions, click on the arrow icon on the document you wish to return early.
2. Select Returned Borrowed Item.
3. Click OK.
4. You may also wish to Delete Item from your library by clicking on the same arrow.

We recognize that until you've downloaded and used e-books a few times, the process can be complex and confusing.  Librarians are happy to assist you--please feel free to contact us however it is most convenient for you: (Carleton | St. Olaf).  However, you will probably find it most useful to bring your reading device into the library to have us help you in person.

Besides this guide, Ebook Central has a good help document (Carleton | St. Olaf).

The primary e-book platform for Carleton and St. Olaf is Ebook Central.  We subscribe to a large collection of academic books through this service.  You can view these books with the in-browser viewer, or download to a variety of platforms. For a quick overview and tutorial, you can view videos produced by Ebook Central.

To be able to use all the capabilities of Ebook Central (including highlighting, annotating, downloading, and creating a bookshelf), you will need to create (Carleton | St. Olaf) or sign in to (Carleton | St. Olaf) an Ebook Central account.

Online Use

If you are connected to a wireless network, the easiest way to use Ebook Central books on an iPad is to simply open a browser window and use the e-books with the in-browser viewer as you would on a desktop computer.

Offline Use

Ebook Central books are protected by DRM (Digital Rights Management).  Therefore you can only have the book downloaded to one device at a time.  If you have already downloaded (as opposed to just viewing it in the browser) the book on your computer or another device, you will not be able to load it on your iPad until you return the previously downloaded version.

1. On your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, go to the App Store and download the Bluefire Reader app.  It's free and it will be what you use to view the book.  You will need to know your Apple ID and password to complete the installation.
2. Open the Bluefire Reader app.  The app will ask you to sign in with an Adobe ID and password.
   ** You will need to establish an Adobe ID login (free) to download Ebook Central books.  If you don’t have one or don’t remember it, click “Create a free Adobe ID” to sign up or have credentials emailed to you from within the app.
3. Open your browser app on your device.  Go to Ebook Central (Carleton | St. Olaf) and find the book you wish to download. 
4. Click the download button.  (You will be prompted to log in if you haven't already.)
5. Choose "Download the entire document for 14 days in Adobe Digital Editions format"
6. A download screen will appear.  Choose "Open in..." and you should see "Open in Bluefire Reader".  Click that icon.
7. You'll be taken to the Bluefire Reader app and will see a message when the book has been successfully downloaded.  After 2 weeks, the loan will expire and you will no longer be able to open the title in Bluefire.  If you repeat steps 3-6, you can immediately initiate a new loan.

Online Use

If you are connected to a wireless network, the easiest way to use Ebook Central books on an Android device is to simply open a browser window and use the e-books with the in-browser viewer as you would on a desktop computer.

Offline Use

Ebook Central books are protected by DRM (Digital Rights Management).  Therefore you can only have the book downloaded to one device at a time.  If you have already downloaded (as opposed to just viewing it in the browser) the book on your computer or another device, you will not be able to load it on your Android device until you return the previously downloaded version.

1. On your Android device, go to the Google Play Store and download the Bluefire Reader app.  It's free and it will be what you use to view the book.
2. Open the Bluefire Reader app.  The app will ask you to sign in with an Adobe ID and password.
   ** You will need to establish an Adobe ID login (free) to download Ebook Central books.  If you don’t have one or don’t remember it, click “Create a free Adobe ID” to sign up or have credentials emailed to you from within the app.
3. Open your browser app on your device.  Go to Ebook Central (Carleton | St. Olaf) and find the book you wish to download. 
4. Click the download button.  (You will be prompted to log in if you haven't already.)
5. Choose "Download the entire document for 14 days in Adobe Digital Editions format."
6. Click on the downloaded file to open it, and it should launch Bluefire Reader.  After 2 weeks, the loan will expire and you will no longer be able to open the title in Bluefire.  If you repeat steps 3-5, you can immediately initiate a new loan.

Kindles use Amazon's proprietary DRM, which does not play nicely with others, including Ebook Central's DRM.  Therefore you will not be able to download the entire book to your Kindle.  You will need to create a PDF (of either a chapter or section--up to 60 pages) and transfer to your Kindle.

1. On your computer, go to Ebook Central, find the book you are interested in, and click the Download button. (You will be prompted to sign in if you haven't already.)
2. Choose your desired output under "Standard image-PDF format. One chapter (or page range) at a time."
3. Click OK and save the file.  Make sure the file extension is .pdf

To transfer the document to your Kindle via USB:

1. Connect the Kindle to your computer with your USB cord.
2. In Windows Explorer, transfer the downloaded .pdf file to the "documents" folder on your Kindle:
   
   
    
3. You can also use Amazon's "Personal Document Service" to email files to your Kindle.  More information on this and general Kindle support can be found on Amazon's website.

Nook, Sony Reader, and Kobo all accept the Ebook Central format, so you can download complete titles.  Please make sure you have downloaded and installed Adobe Digital Editions on your computer before beginning.

1. On your computer, go to Ebook Central (Carleton | St. Olaf) and find the book you wish to download. 
2. Click the download button.  (You will be prompted to log in if you haven't already.)
3. Choose "Download the entire document for 14 days in Adobe Digital Editions format."  Open the file in Adobe Digital Editions.
4. Plug your Nook, Sony Reader, or Kobo into your computer using the USB wire.  Adobe Digital Editions will recognize the e-reader and ask you to go through a brief registration/authorization process.
5. Your reader is now considered a "bookshelf" and you can drag and drop your book onto it.