Ebooks Guide

Coates Library subscribes to a number of ebook collections and also purchases individual ebook titles.

Many of the ebooks in our collection have restrictions on use. These restrictions determine who can access an ebook, how it can be used, or if it can be downloaded or printed.

Therefore, there is no standard way to access ebooks. For example:

• Most can be read online via browser
• Some may be downloaded in whole in PDF
• Some may only allow chapter downloads in PDF
• Some may only be downloaded using additional software like Adobe Digital Editions
• Some ebooks may only be read by one user at a time, while some allow multiple users to read at the same time

DRM-Free: These titles have no digital rights management (DRM) software. DRM-free titles have no user access, download size, download length, saving, printing, or copying limitations. 

Limited User: A set number of users can access the title at a time. The most common limited user models are Single User (1U) and Three User (3U). Any users attempting to access the title after the limit has been reached will receive a message indicating that the user limit has been reached.

Non-Linear Usage (NL): The title has 325 lending days per year. This model has no limits on the number of simultaneous users; the limit is on the total amount of time the title can be used by all Trinity patrons. For example, a single user downloading the title for seven days and seven users reading it simultaneously will both count as seven lending days. 

Unlimited User (UU): Unlimited usage e-books have no limits on the number of uses or simultaneous users. While DRM-free titles are inherently unlimited user, not all unlimited user titles are DRM-free and may have copy and download restrictions.