LIBRARY GUIDE TO CHECKING OUT EBOOKS
Table of Contents
Which portable devices are compatible with EBSCO eBooks?
Set Up a “My EBSCOhost” Account
Create an Adobe Digital ID
Install Adobe Digital Editions
Reading eBooks
Read an eBook online
Check out and Download an eBook to your computer
Transfer eBooks to a Portable Device
Download eBooks directly to an eReader
Which portable devices are compatible with EBSCO eBooks?
EBSCO eBooks are compatible with for the following eBook Readers:
 Apple (iOS) Devices such as iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
 Android Devices such as smartphones and tablets
 Sony eReader Touch Edition
 Barnes & Noble Nook
 All eBook Readers supporting the Adobe eBook DRM
EBSCO eBooks are compatible with the following mobile apps:
 Bluefire Reader apps for iOS and Android devices
 Aldiko app for Android devices
 Txtr app for iPhone and Android devices
 All apps supporting the Adobe eBook DRM
EBSCO eBooks are compatible with all devices and apps supporting Adobe eBook DRM, a standard used
by most popular eBook providers, including Google Play. A complete list of Adobe eBook DRM compatible
devices and apps is available online.
Note:

Currently, EBSCO does not support mobile devices that use the Windows operating system.

EBSCO eBooks can be downloaded directly to your computer and read using Adobe Digital
Editions.
Set Up a “My EBSCOhost” Account
You can set up a personal account in EBSCO. Whenever you sign in, you will be able to save search
results, persistent links to searches, search alerts, journal alerts, and web pages to your personal My
EBSCOhost folder. Your account also manages your digital book checkouts.
To set up a personal account:
 Go to The Seattle School Library’s website
 Choose “Research Databases and Online Resources,” then click on “EBSCO”
 Click the Sign In in the top toolbar of the screen.
 From the Sign In Screen, click the Create a new Account link.

The Create a New Account Screen appears with Personal Account entered in the Account Type
field. Fill in the fields on the Create a New Account Screen. When you have completed the fields,
click Save Changes.
 Passwords should be five or more characters, with a mixture of upper and lower case
letters and numbers, for example: PeterP301.

If all the information was accepted, a message appears that provides your user name and
password. Click OK. You will be automatically logged in as a personal user. You should note the
user name and password you created so you can log in at a future session.
Troubleshooting:
To reset your password:
1. From the Sign In Screen, click Forgot your password? A screen appears.
2. Enter your user name and click Continue. You are prompted to answer the question you entered
as a password hint.
3. Enter your new password twice.
4. Click Continue. You are automatically logged in as a personal user based on your new
password. You should note the new password so you can log in at a future session.
To retrieve your user name and password:
1. From the Sign In Screen, click Forgot your user name and password? A screen appears.
2. You are prompted to enter your first name, last name and e-mail address. Click Continue. The
Reset your Password Screen appears with your user name displayed.
3. You are prompted to answer the question you entered as a password hint, enter a new password
twice.
4. Click Continue. You are automatically logged in as a personal user based on your new
password. You should note the new password so you can log in at a future session.
Error: EBSCO cannot recover your user name automatically
Due to EBSCO's privacy policy, they are unable to obtain and give out user ID and password information.
If you have created multiple accounts associated with one e-mail address, you may be seeing an error
when using the user ID and password lookup tool provided to our customers that states "Sorry, several
users have provided the same personal information as yours. EBSCO cannot recover your user name
automatically". In this case, you are advised to create a new account. You should associate these new
logins with a different e-mail address so that you will be able to use the lookup tool.
Notes:
 When you set up a personal account, EBSCO ask for your name, e-mail address, a unique login
name, password, and password validation. This information is only used to identify you at log in
so your searches are not viewed or used by anyone else. We do not share this information.
 Items in your personal folder will automatically be discarded if you have not logged into the
folder for an 18 month period.
 Once a personal My EBSCOhost folder has been created, it cannot be deleted.
Create an Adobe Digital ID
In order to checkout EBSCO eBooks, you will need to create an Adobe Digital ID.
To create an Adobe Digital ID:



Go to Adobe’s website
Click “Sign In”
Click “Get an Adobe ID” and fill out the required information to sign up
Once you set up the account, you will need to authorize it before it can be used. Check your email for
the authorization link.
Install Adobe Digital Editions
In order to download EBSCO eBooks to your computer, you must have Adobe Digital Editions
installed.
You will also need to use Adobe Digital Editions if you wish to transfer an eBook to a supported portable
eReader device.
Adobe Digital Editions is a free download.
To install Adobe Digital Editions:
1. Click the Download Now link found on the page linked above.
2. Select Install.
3. Select Yes.
4. Follow prompts until installation is complete.
Log in to Adobe Digital Editions with your Adobe Digital ID.
Note: If you have trouble, use these solutions from Adobe.
Reading eBooks
There are three main ways to read eBooks:
1. All eBooks can be read online while connected to the internet. You do not need to check out or
download these eBooks.
2. Download eBooks to your computer and read them using Adobe Digital Editions. At any point in
the checkout you may transfer the book from your computer to your eBook Reader.
3. Download the eBooks directly to your eBook Reader.
Read an eBook online
1. Simply click eBook Full Text. The book will be displayed in your browser.
2. If you prefer, you can follow the steps to “Check out and Download” the eBook so that it is
checked out to your My EBSCOhost account.
3. This will allow you to create notes as you read the book.
Check out and Download an eBook to your computer
1. Click the Download (Offline) link for the eBook you would like to download.
If you are not logged into your My EBSCOhost folder, you are prompted to do so.
2. Select a Checkout period from the drop-down menu and click the Checkout &
Download button.
The eBook is added to the Checkout area of the folder, accessible from the upper-right corner of
the EBSCOhost interface.
3. Select to Open or Save the file from the resulting dialog box.
If you Open the file, your eBook is opened with Adobe® Digital Editions.
If you Save the file, the eBook is saved to your computer and can be opened with Adobe®
Digital Editions at a later time.
4. When a downloaded eBook is opened, it is displayed in Adobe® Digital Editions.
Notes:
 If when trying to download an eBook to Digital Editions you receive the following error message:
E_AUTH_BAD_DEVICE_KEY_OR_PKCS12
You may need to completely remove any authorization using ctrl-shift-D to Adobe Digital Editions
(cmd-shift-D if on Mac). Then restart Digital Editions, and reauthorize with your Adobe ID.
 When downloading an eBook using the Chrome browser, the download will not automatically
open but appears in the download bar at the bottom of the browser as URLLink.acsm. Click the
download in the bar and select Open to open the eBook or select Always open files of this
type to automatically open future EBSCO eBooks downloads in ADE.
After you check-out and download your eBook:
 You may choose to transfer your eBook to your Adobe Digital Editions-compatible eBook
Reader device.
 You can re-download the eBook from your My EBSCO host folder at any time during your
checkout period
Transfer eBooks to a Portable Device
If you have downloaded an eBook into your computer for reading in “Offline” mode via Adobe Digital
Editions, you may transfer it to a supported eReader device.
To transfer an eBook from Adobe Digital Editions to your portable device:
1. Open your downloaded eBook in Adobe Digital Editions.
2. Connect your portable device to your computer with a USB cable.
3. Turn on the eReader. If the reader offers an option to Recharge or Connect to the computer,
choose the “Connect” option.
4. Open Adobe Digital Editions – it automatically detects the presence of your device and offers to
authorize it with your Adobe ID.
Just as the Adobe Digital Editions software must be authorized with your Adobe ID, the portable
device must also be authorized to be able to transfer protected content to and from the device.
5. Click Authorize Device in the resulting window.
6. Click Finished after your device is authorized.
7. After authorization, the device appears as a new bookshelf in your library. Transfer items to and
from the device bookshelf by clicking on the book title, then dragging and dropping the title into
the device bookshelf.
Note: Do not disconnect the device while you are in the process of transferring a title to the device.
You may need to completely remove any authorization using ctrl-shift-D to Adobe Digital Editions (cmdshift-D if on Mac). Then restart Digital Editions, and reauthorize with your Adobe ID.
When downloading an eBook using the Chrome browser, the download will not automatically open but
appears in the download bar at the bottom of the browser as URLLink.acsm. Click the download in the
bar and select Open to open the eBook or select Always open files of this type to automatically open
future EBSCO eBooks downloads in ADE.
Download eBooks directly to an eReader
1.
2.
3.
4.
Install Bluefire Reader. This app is available for free in the app store.
Open the Bluefire Reader and enter your Adobe Digital ID.
Using your web browser, go to The Seattle School Library’s webpage.
You can find eBooks by clicking on “Search Our Library Catalog”
Tip: You can limit the “Material Type” to “online” to only search for eBooks
5. Click on the link in the catalog to access the eBook
6. Click “Download” and follow the prompts to log in to your My EBSCOhost account. (Once you
log in, you may need to click the “Download” button again.)
7. Select “Check out and Download”
8. You should then be prompted to “Open in ‘Bluefire Reader’”
9. Click on the button and the Bluefire Reader app will open and download the book.