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WILLIS N. HACKNEY LIBRARY

Finding E-books

Search "eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)" Database for an eBook

Sample Search:

Topic:  Animal abuse as it concerns horse racing

  • Search for horse racing in one box (change the drop-down to search in the subject field only
    • The Subject field contains terms that actually describe the content of that ebook
    • Limiting to the Subjects field tells the database to look ONLY in that field, not anywhere else, for your search phrase, "horse racing."  
    • This limits your search results to make them more relevant and get fewer false hits
  • Search for animal abuse (searching anywhere) in the second box:

This search finds 5 e-books; choose e-book #3 below, Horse Welfare, Use not Abuse:

Click on the title, Horse Welfare, Use Not Abuse, to enter a screen with more info about the e-book, and then click on the PDF Full Text link circled in yellow at the top of the left sidebar to actually enter the e-book:

Once you've entered the e-book, you'll see that there are navigational tools on the top and left sidebar, and the cover and content of the book is on the right side of the screen:

Notice that tools in the top bar (circled in yellow below) allow you to Save, Email, or Print a certain number of pages of the e-book, and you can create a citation in a variety of styles using the Cite option:

To Email pages to yourself (save and print work similarly, but we will use Email as our example here), Click on the Email Pages (or Save Pages or Print Pages) link shown in the image above, and notice the following in the following screenshot:

  • The number of pages you may either print, email, or save is pre-designated (usually it's a percentage of the total number of the book's pages), in this case:  30 (circled in red)
  • The option to email, print, or save only the page you are looking at (Current), or that page plus X number of pages following it that you designate, or the entire section, is highlighted in the aqua square.  However, note that even though the last option says you can print the entire 185 pages in the section, you will only be allowed to print the first 30, the designated maximum.  So plan wisely when you choose to email, print, or save!  Note also that you must be on the starting page beginning the range you wish to start emailing, printing, or saving.
  • The option to have the citation generated in a particular format  is circled in purple,  Note that APA is the option highlighted in blue.  This database uses the 7th edition of APA style, so you may have to make changes if you are using the 6th edition (see example below).
  • Note that the field where you type in your email address is obscured in this screenshot by the Citation Format drop-down menu
  • The Email (or Print, or Save) button is highlighted in green

  • However, notice that the MLA citation created in this database has an error:  The vendor name, EBSCOhost (circled in red below), should be replaced by the name of the database that EBSCOhost provides:  eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) usually found in the top left of the screen in the detailed record of the database.  That would need to be corrected in the citation generated below.  But everything else looks accurate.
  • In addition, note that MLA no longer uses the place of publication, only the publisher's name, followed by the date of publication (in this case, 2015).
  • Also, since this is an e-book, the link for accessing it is included, but MLA style lops off the http:// or https:// that normally precedes a link.