A Guide to Using NetLibrary

A Guide to Using NetLibrary
[NetLibrary Is A Division of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.]
URL: http://www.netlibrary.org
Created 23 March, 2009
Michael Courtney, MLS Candidate
Have you ever tried to find a book in the library, only to discover that it had been
checked out? Did you ever notice that sometimes there might be an alternative version of
the same book – one that was listed as an e-book that was available to view and read
online, anytime? Did you know that there was an electronic library of books that can be
read on a computer, anywhere you can access the Internet, just like a print book?
What Is NetLibrary?
Simply stated, NetLibrary is an eContent provider – eContent refers to
electronic content (digital versions of books and audiobooks). Think of NetLibrary like
an online digital version of a library, where all the books are in electronic form and can
be read just like print books, except they can be viewed and read almost anywhere that a
computer can access the Internet.
Where Can I Find NetLibrary?
As an Indiana resident, you can access NetLibrary through INSPIRE, Indiana’s
Virtual Library. INSPIRE is an electronic collection of databases and resources that can
be accessed wherever there is a computer with Internet access. You can follow the link
above, or visit http://www.inspire.net directly to begin browsing the available e-books in
the collection. Alternatively, your local public library may also have access to its own
collection of e-books or e-audiobooks through NetLibrary. You might need to know your
library card number to access NetLibrary through your public library. The examples used
in this database guide come from both INSPIRE and from the Monroe County Public
Library. More detailed access information is listed below, including links to helpful
resources.
Why Should I Use NetLibrary?
NetLibrary is a comprehensive collection of e-books (electronic books) that
makes it possible for you to access and read books online, almost anytime that you have
access to the Internet. NetLibrary has thousands of book titles that may appeal to you –
popular fiction, literary classics, and non-fiction books on topics such as computer
programming (such as how to write HTML for webpages), learning foreign languages,
and world history. NetLibrary makes it possible to access and read books from home,
school, or away – wherever you can access the Internet – meaning you don’t necessarily
have to go to the library to find a book. It is appropriate for most age/grade reading
levels, and can be a welcome tool for middle to high school age students seeking
alternative sources for school work and for pleasure reading.
Pros And Cons Of Using NetLibrary
Electronic books are available almost anytime, anywhere there is an
Internet connection.
You don’t need to go to the library to find and read books.
E-books in NetLibrary are fully searchable – you can search every word
in the collection, and every word within each book.
You can create an account, which allows you to access the e-book
collection from anywhere, make a favorites list, and even make notes in
individual e-books to save and view later.
Depending on your library, not every e-book is available to read online.
Your library may only subscribe to a limited number of titles in
in NetLibrary.
NetLibrary isn’t always perfect – sometimes the search features don’t
work like they’re supposed to work. There are useful tips to try
alternative ways of searching below.
NetLibrary e-books often have short loan periods, such as 2 hours.
Occasionally, you might find that the book you want to view is already
“checked out” by another patron.
Because of copyright laws, you might not be able to download an e-book.
You will not be able to print or copy the entire book.
Accessing NetLibrary (Or, “How do I get there?”)
There are 3 basic ways to access NetLibrary…
1.) From a computer in your local public library
2.) By following a link from within your library’s catalog or via INSPIRE.
3.) By creating an account through your library and logging into
http://www.netlibrary.org
Let’s look at a few examples…
One option is to follow a link from your local library’s webpage to NetLibrary. Often,
you might have to enter your borrower’s card number to access the database.
You might
need to
know your
library card
number to
access
NetLibrary.
Another option is to visit the INSPIRE webpage (http://www.inspire.net) and click on the
NetLibrary database from the list of options.
There are
other
databases
in
INSPIRE
that you
might find
useful.
Click on
the
NetLibrary
logo to
enter the
database.
You can also search
NetLibrary and any of
the other databases from
the front page.
You can also access NetLibrary e-books by following a link directly from your library’s
catalog. Begin by searching the library catalog for a particular book title or subject. If you
see a link to electronic book content from within the library catalog record, simply click
the link and you will be taken directly to the e-book. You may have to log in with your
library borrower’s card number.
Your
library
catalog will
usually
have a link
to e-books
within the
catalog
record.
You might
be able to
“limit”
your search
by
choosing a
format
such as “ebook” or
“electronic
book.”
Creating A NetLibrary Account (Or, “Do I Need One?”)
If you would like to view e-books in NetLibrary from anywhere at anytime (outside of
your local library), or if you wish to make notes and favorite lists, you will need to create
a NetLibrary account. Begin by accessing NetLibrary as illustrated above. (Hint: As an
Indiana resident, you can always go to the INSPIRE page to access NetLibrary. However,
you might find that your local public library has even more e-books than INSPIRE, so
you might consider creating your account through your local library’s subscription to
NetLibrary). Once you are in NetLibrary, simply click on the “create a free account”
link in the upper right hand corner of the page, as shown below.
Hint:
Sometimes
you can use
keywords
like
“netlibrary”
or “ebook”
when
searching.
Click on
“Create a
Free
Account”
After clicking the free account link, you will be required to enter some additional
information, such as your name and email address.
Enter the
required
information
in the text
boxes and
then click
“Create
Account”
at the
bottom.
The
“account
affiliation”
note lists
the library
that you
used to
create an
account.
After you have clicked “create account,” your account will be created and you will be
automatically logged in. In future, you can access NetLibrary directly via
http://www.netlibrary.org and simply log into your account as in the example below.
Simply
type your
username
and
password
and then
click “Log
In” to
access your
library’s
ebook
content.
Using NetLibrary (Or, “I Have An Account, Now What?”)
Once you have accessed NetLibrary, either through your library’s catalog, your library’s
website, via INSPIRE, or by logging into your account, you will be faced with
NetLibrary’s front page. If you have entered NetLibrary simply to “browse” the
collection (in other words, you were not following a link to an e-book from the library’s
catalog), you will see a basic search screen as shown below.
Using the
“basic
search,”
you can
search by
keyword,
book title,
book
author, or
subject.
You can
browse all
of the
ebooks in
NetLibrary
by clicking
the
“ebooks”
link in the
“In Our
Collection”
box.
There is a “Help” page
that can found by
clicking the “Help”
link at the bottom of
the page.
If you would like to choose a
different language for the
NetLibrary interface, you can do so
here. Note: You will not be able to
change the language of the actual ebooks.
Searching Information
From the NetLibrary front page, you have several searching options. The default option is
the “basic search.” This allows you to search for words anywhere in the text of all the
books in the NetLibrary collection (this is the “full-text” search option), as well as
searching by subject, title, and author.
You also have the option of simply “browsing” all of the available titles in NetLibrary by
using the “In Our Collection” option in the upper right hand corner of the page. Finally,
you can perform a more “advanced” search by clicking the “advanced search” link
located underneath the basic search box.
Let’s start with a basic search…
Let’s begin with a basic full-text search for the words “Abraham Lincoln.” Start by
typing in the words “Abraham Lincoln” in the search box and then clicking “search.”
Type
search
words here.
Click the
search
button
here.
The next screen will show your search results. Pay particular attention to what a “fulltext” search does: it searches every word in every book in the NetLibrary collection. This
is important to remember because you may not have access to every book in NetLibrary.
This will depend on how many books your library has access to (for example, the Monroe
County Public Library has many more books in its NetLibrary collection than INSPIRE
does). You might consider trying a “keyword” search, which will search for keywords in
the subject, title, and author fields, OR you can search for a specific author or book title.
You can
also revise
your search
here,
changing
the search
type, your
keywords,
etc.
If you see
the phrase
“not in
collection,”
it means
that your
library
does not
have access
to that
particular
e-book.
You can browse “related
topics” by clicking on any of
the subject links here.
How about an advanced search…
An advanced search gives you a bit more control over your search. In addition to being
able to perform keyword, full-text, subject, author, and title searches, you can also search
by publisher, ISBN (a numeric value that publishers and librarians use to identify a
particular version of a book), and by the language that the book was written in. You can
further narrow down your search by telling it to look for a particular year that the book
was published as well as the format (e-book, e-audiobook, or e-journal). Depending upon
your library’s access to the NetLibrary collection, you may have some or all of the
formats mentioned.
NetLibrary
will keep
track of
your recent
searches
and you
can click
them to run
the search
again.
You have
several text
fields to
search
from by
typing
information
into these
boxes.
You can “limit” your
search by providing
publication year,
format, and language
information.
Once you have entered in
your search terms, click the
search button here.
Let’s perform an “advanced” search for the book title “Tom Sawyer” and the author
“Mark Twain.” (Hint: it’s often good practice when searching for an author to enter the
author’s last name first, followed by a comma, and then the first name, as in: Twain,
Mark).
Enter title
and author
information
here.
Then, click
the search
button.
After clicking the search button, you will see the search results page below. You can
“sort” the search results by title, author, newest, oldest, and by “rank” (rank refers to a
formula that the database uses to determine what it thinks is the most important search
results based upon the keywords that you used to search).
You can “sort” your results
using the drop-down menu
here, choosing from title,
author, etc.
You can
narrow
down your
results by
selecting
the
appropriate
format
here.
How about another advanced search…
This time, let’s search for an e-book by Mark Twain, written in French, with the keyword
“Mississippi.” From the advanced search screen, fill in the appropriate fields (author:
Twain, Mark; keyword: Mississippi; and change the language from English to French) as
shown below.
Author and
keyword
information
is typed in
these
fields.
You can change the
language using this
drop-down menu.
Click the
search
button
when
finished.
Select the e-book
format from the
options here.
Click the search
button here.
Your search results page will follow next. It may give you an alternative phrase to search
based upon your keywords, in addition to the search results shown below.
The “did
you mean”
feature
allows you
to run
another
search
using
search
terms that
NetLibrary
provides.
Viewing E-Books (Or, “What Else Can I Do”)
OK, so we’ve looked at several different ways to search NetLibrary. You may have
noticed that there are not a lot of “extra” features within NetLibrary. One thing to
remember is that NetLibrary is an electronic “collection” of books – its strongest feature
is that it has thousands of e-books that can be viewed and read almost anywhere with an
Internet connection. Even though you can search for words and phrases within
NetLibrary’s book collection, it doesn’t perform in quite the same manner that other
databases work. This can be occasionally frustrating as you use it.
Remember that first and foremost, NetLibrary is an interface through which you can read
e-books. Features such as searching are in many ways secondary to the primary purpose,
and as such can frequently be problematic to use. This will become more apparent when
we look at how the e-book looks within NetLibrary and what you can and cannot do with
an e-book.
Let’s look at an e-book…
Perform a title search using the words “Abraham Lincoln.” Next, scroll through the
search results to find a book that looks interesting to you, as shown below. When you
find a book that you would like to look at, click the “View this eBook” link. Remember,
that if the book says “not in collection,” you will not be able to view it.
Click the
“view this
eBook”
link to
open the
book.
If after clicking “view this eBook” you receive the message “unable to check out this
econtent,” it likely means that another library patron is viewing it. You might have to
wait a while before you can check out the book.
Below, you will find an image of what you will see when you are viewing an e-book in
NetLibrary. E-books in NetLibrary are in Adobe .pdf format, so your webpage will be
divided into two columns: one the left hand side will be the table of contents, as well as
search functions and a dictionary. If you are logged in, you will also have the ability to
take notes.
Here you will find the table of contents,
the dictionary, notes, as well as the
ability to search within the book.
You can scroll through the pages by
using these buttons, or you can type
in a specific page number.
The right side of the page is the Adobe Reader, which
allows you to view the Adobe .pdf version of the
book.
Let’s look at the parts of the NetLibrary e-book reader…
When viewing a NetLibrary e-book, you are essentially viewing an Adobe .pdf file
through an imbedded reader in your web browser. You may need to have the appropriate
version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you are unsure, ask a librarian or
parent for help.
Depending on how the book was digitized, it may look like the print version of the book
or it may be simple text without illustrations. On the left hand side of the page, you have
several options: you can search for words or phrases within the e-book; you can view the
table of contents, which will have links to specific chapters and parts of the book that
you can click and go to directly; you can view the eContent details, which gives you
basic information about the book (such as publication date, publisher, author, title, etc.);
you can look up unfamiliar words in the built-in dictionary; and, you can also make
notes in the e-book, which can be saved to your account for future use.
The image below is of the left hand side of the e-book reader, labeled with all of the
various options.
Dictionary
tab
Table of
Contents
Notes tab
eContent
Details tab
Search
within ebook box
Contents: The Table of Contents option will allow you to view the e-book’s contents,
such as chapters, introduction, index, etc. You can click on each link to go directly to that
part of the book.
Dictionary: The Dictionary will allow you to look up the meanings of unfamiliar words,
as well as the ability to use a Thesaurus, and English-Spanish/Spanish-English translation
dictionaries.
eContent Details: The eContent Details option provides you with the bibliographic
information about the e-book (in other words, it gives you author, title, and publication
information, as well as other information that might be useful to know about the book.
Notes: When you create an account, you have the ability to make notes within e-books to
save for future use. We’ll explore this function in greater detail below.
Search: The Search option allows you to search for words or phrases within the e-book
that you are viewing. We’ll explore this function in greater detail below.
Let’s search within an e-book using the e-book reader…
You might find it useful to search for words or phrases within an e-book that you are
reading. To do so, you simply need to use the search feature. However, you will need to
be aware of a couple of things before you do so. Sometimes, when books are digitized to
become e-books, not all of the information is translated perfectly from the printed page
into electronic form. This could be due to a wide variety of reasons, but you should be
aware that searching within e-books can occasionally be frustrating and problematic.
Because of this, there are a couple of different methods that you can try when searching
e-books. If the search option on the left hand side of the page does not work, you might
consider trying the search option in the Adobe Reader pane (on the right hand side of the
page). To find it, look for the icon that looks like a pair of binoculars and click it to open
the search box. Remember: if you are using the search feature in the Adobe Reader, you
will only be searching on the current page that you are viewing. Because of this, you may
want to use this search option as your last resort. Below is an example of using the
NetLibrary search option (on the left hand side of the page) to search for the word
“father” in the e-book shown.
First, click the “search” tab, then enter the word “father” in the search box, and finally
click the “search” button. Your search results will be provided in the same window, each
with clickable links that will take you directly to the passage in the e-book that contains
the word or phrase that you were seeking.
The search option in the Adobe
Reader is indicated by the
binoculars shown here.
Click the search tab here.
Enter the search terms in the
search box and then click the
search button here.
After clicking the search button, your search results will appear in the same window, as
shown below.
Search
results are
here. Click
the “view
this page”
link to go
directly to
the page.
Scroll through the e-book using
these buttons, or type a specific
page and click “Go.”
When viewing the e-book, you can scroll through page by page, by using the “Previous”
and “Next” buttons in the upper right hand corner of the page. You can also type in a
page number to go directly to a specific page.
Let’s use the Notes feature in the e-book reader…
With the Notes feature, you can write brief comments that might be meaningful for your
research about specific e-books that you are viewing. You are limited to creating one note
per page, and each note is limited to only 500 characters. Notes are displayed in the lower
portion of the Notes tab in the e-book reader, which also allows you to edit the note(s), go
directly to the page containing the note, or delete the note entirely.
Remember: You must be logged into your account when using the Notes feature.
Click the Notes
tab to start
creating a note.
When you are finished
creating your note, click
the Add Note button.
Type a name for your note, such as the page number,
and then type your note in the box provided.
Your notes for this e-book will appear under the Notes tab.
You can also view all of your saved notes by using the “Favorites and Notes” link on the
NetLibrary home page, as shown below.
You can also use the “add to favorites” feature that appears on the Search Results page or
the Details page of an e-book. Adding an item to your favorites list makes it easier for
you to find an e-book at a future date.
Favorites and Notes link
found here.
Notes will
appear here.
Let’s talk about downloading and printing options…
In most cases, you will likely not be able to download an entire e-book to your personal
computer. This option is dependent upon your library: check with your local library to
see if this is possible. There will likely be a set loan period for viewing the full-text file.
Copying and printing of e-books can be done by using your web brower’s copy function
OR the Select Tool on the Adobe Acrobat reader’s toolbar. Remember: because of
copyright laws, you will not be able to print out or copy an entire e-book. You will be
able to print out one page at a time, but built in software will provide you with a
copyright warning if you attempt to print or copy too much of the e-book.
What to do when you’re finished reading an e-book…
When you are finished reading an e-book in NetLibrary, it is considered good practice to
“close” the book. To close a book, simply click the Close Item link in the upper left hand
corner of the reader, as shown below.
Closing a book is considered good etiquette – it will shorten the delay that another patron
might experience when trying to check out and view that particular book.
Click the “close item”
link here when you are
done reading.
Finding Further Information (Or, “I Need Help!”)
NetLibrary has a lot of good, helpful documentation to answer any additional questions
that you might have. Of course, a parent or librarian might be your best source of
information, but you will find plenty of good frequently answered questions and cheat
sheets within NetLibrary.
General
information
about
NetLibrary
features is
found here.
Demos and
quickstart
guides are
found here.
Frequently
answered
questions
are found
here.
The Help page contains lots of information, including quickstart guides and
demonstrations to get you going. To get to the Help page, simply click the “Help” link at
the bottom of the NetLibrary Home Page.
Also, if you are searching for books within NetLibrary (as opposed to simply being
directed to a NetLibrary e-book from within a library catalog), consider the words or
phrases that you are using. Spelling is certainly important. Try not to place too many
limits or restrictions on your search – start with a broad, simple keyword search and go
from there. It’s often best practice to begin searching broadly and then narrow down your
results. NetLibrary can be a confusing interface to search – try to think “outside of the
box,” and use creative ways to find what you are seeking.
Database Application Activity
By this point, you should be familiar with NetLibrary’s purpose, its interface, basic and
advanced searching techniques, as well as using some of the functionality in the e-book
reader tool. You might be asking yourself, “what else can NetLibrary be used for, besides
just being an e-book reader?” By its very nature as a collection of e-books, NetLibrary
can be a surprisingly powerful tool, allowing you to compare important historic
documents (like the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America) with
books that discuss the history and the time period surrounding significant events (like the
signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America).
Reading, thinking about, and discussing actual historic documents as well as thinking
about how historians have described and defined them will allow you to come to your
own conclusions about how history has changed human life. Do you think the history
books are perfect? Do you think there is more to learn by re-examining our own
history? Do you think there is only one correct interpretation of our past?
These are the kinds of questions that you can begin to answer by examining and thinking
critically about the different kinds of information that are found in NetLibrary. There are
many unlikely tools found within NetLibrary – books that contain historical accounts of
famous figures or famous events; speeches that were written during difficult times; essays
that were written about the human experience, and how humans interact both each other
and with nature; fiction novels that attempted to capture the essence of human history;
and, historical documents that changed the course of history and defined how we live
today.
[Images of Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, and The Gettysburg Address are
courtesy of the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov]
Civil War Project
The scenario:
You recently read a book on the U.S. Civil War and want to know more OR you have
recently been studying the U.S. Civil War in junior high or high school and have many
unanswered questions, such as how daily life was different compared to now or what it
must have been like to have to fight in a war at such a young age.
The objectives:
To begin to think critically about the ideas, motives, and actions of people living during
the time of the U.S. Civil War, and about the people that are considered important figures
during that time – were they always right? Did they have the best interests of the
country in mind? Would their opinions change if they lived today?
and,
To compare actual documents written during the time of the U.S. Civil War with books
that were written about the Civil War or about the lives and times of people living during
the Civil War.
The project:
Step 1: Using the Notes feature in NetLibrary, create a brief, annotated version of The
Gettysburg Address. Then, using only your annotations, write your own Gettysburg
Address in modern language. This will require the following:
a.) Create a NetLibrary account, either through your local library or through
INSPIRE.
b.) Search for and find The Gettysburg Address in NetLibrary. Hint: consider
using the “Title” search option. Additional hint: The Gettysburg Address was
written by Abraham Lincoln.
c.) Using the Notes feature in the NetLibrary e-book reader, annotate The
Gettysburg Address. To annotate means to add explanatory notes or to
provide comments or explanations of words or phrases. You might consider
making annotations (or notes) for words or phrases that are unfamiliar to you
or for words or phrases that may not be a part of our modern vocabulary. For
example, what does “four score and seven years ago” mean? What does
“conceived in liberty” mean? What does “we cannot hallow this ground”
mean? Consider using the built-in dictionary or thesaurus to help you along.
You might also search NetLibrary for books about The Gettysburg Address
that could help you annotate.
d.) The challenge: you are limited to only 500 characters per note. And, The
Gettysburg Address is not very long (one version that is in NetLibrary is only
on two pages – that means that you will only have the ability to write 2 notes
(one for each page), limiting you to 1,000 characters to annotate, or explain in
your own words, what Lincoln was really thinking when he wrote The
Gettysburg Address). You will have to choose your words wisely. When you
are annotating, think about a simple way to describe what Lincoln might have
meant when he wrote a certain sentence. Think about how you can briefly
describe what he meant that could be easily understood by your friends or
classmates.
e.) Save your notes, and then print them out by going to the Favorites and Notes
page (the link is in the upper right hand corner of the NetLibrary home page)
and printing the page from your web browser. You can also cut and paste your
notes into a Word Processor or Notepad and then print from there.
f.) Using only your annotations, write a short, 21st century version of The
Gettysburg Address, using language that you would normally use in your
daily life.
g.) Compare your Gettysburg Address with your classmates – did you have
different ideas? Did some of Lincoln’s language mean something different
to you than it did to your classmates? How have things changed since
Lincoln wrote The Gettysburg Address?
* Here’s a sample of another student’s modern version of The Gettysburg Address:
A long time ago, our ancestors created a country where
everyone was equal and free. Then, a great war happened that tested this
country's vision of equality and liberty. It's not important that this speech
be remembered, nor is it important that we dedicate hills, cemeteries, or
monuments to our fallen soldiers. Instead, what we should do is dedicate
ourselves to keeping up the fight for liberty and equality that the fallen
soldiers fought for.
-- Johnny Smith (2 February, 2008)
Step 2: Read and compare a work of fiction about the Civil War with either a biography
of an important figure in Civil War history or a document written by an historical Civil
War figure, then after thinking about the ways in which fiction and reality can be similar
and different, pretend that you are living during the time of the Civil War and write a
letter expressing your thoughts, concerns, or fears to President Abraham Lincoln.
a.) Using NetLibrary, search for and find the novel, The Red Badge of Courage,
by Stephen Crane.
b.) Using the NetLibrary e-book reader, read The Red Badge of Courage. Tip:
You might consider using the built-in Notes feature to make any annotations
that you think are important or worthwhile. It is important for you to know
that The Red Badge of Courage was written in 1895, many years after the
Civil War ended. It is also equally important to know that the author, Stephen
Crane, was born several years AFTER the Civil War ended, so he had no
personal knowledge of what it must have been like to be on the battlefield.
c.) Next, find and read a historical document that was written either by or about
an important Civil War personality or that was written during the time of the
Civil War. Some suggestions are: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln,
Harriet Tubman, John Brown, etc.. Consider searching NetLibrary by
publication date (1861-1865), by subject (Civil War), or by author. You might
also consider searching the Internet for other possible suggestions. Be creative
– there are lots of interesting documents written during this time period.
d.) Now, pretend you are living during the time of the U.S. Civil War. Depending
on what historical document you chose to read, you can imagine yourself to be
a slave, a slave owner, a Union or Confederate soldier, a Northern
businessman, a young child living in the South, etc.. Again, be creative.
e.) Using your imagined identity, write a letter to President Abraham Lincoln –
you have a great deal of freedom with regard to what you can write about. For
example, you can pretend you are a child living in Atlanta during the time of
Sherman’s March to the Sea. What would you say to President Lincoln after
your home burned down? Now is your time to be most creative. But
remember, this is a serious time in American history, so take this assignment
seriously, but have fun!
f.) Share your letter with your fellow classmates. Did your letter have some of
the same concerns that your classmates had? What might a child living in
the South have in common with a Northern business man? Or, what
might a Confederate soldier have in common with a Union soldier?
* Here is a sample of another student’s letter to President Lincoln:
Dear President Lincoln,
My name is Alexander Jones and I am writing to you because I read
about Frederick Douglass wanting to have the right for African
Americans to fight in the War Between the States.
I agree with Mr. Douglass – if the goal of this horrible war is to free the
slaves, then why shouldn’t African Americans be allowed to fight for
their own freedom? Mr. Douglass has written about this in many
newspapers that my brother has brought home.
I believe that all people should be free in this wonderful country. Even
though many people have slaves where I live, there are many people
like me who think it is the wrong thing to do.
I encourage you, President Lincoln, to listen to what Mr. Douglass has
to say. I think you could get a lot of good ideas from Mr. Douglass.
Sincerely,
Alexander (Alex) Jones
Beaufort, South Carolina
12 December, 1862
Applications and Ideas
By now, you’re probably wondering what else can be done with NetLibrary. It can be
quite difficult to think of NetLibrary in terms that exist beyond that of an “e-book
reader.” In many ways, it’s not incorrect to think of NetLibrary in those terms – it is a
collection of eContent (electronic books, electronic audiobooks, and electronic journals),
essentially being a digital library of sorts.
However, it is much more than just an e-book reader… it is a collection, a database, a
virtual library, and more. Since we’re still in the relatively early days of digitization
(transforming the printed word to an electronic format), it can be hard to think of ways
that NetLibrary could be used beyond those which we’ve already discussed above.
There are many ways that NetLibrary can be used by students. Researching a term
paper? There might be some good history books in NetLibrary that can help you
with the background. Looking for a good book to read? You would be surprised by
how many e-books there are in NetLibrary. Try using the browse feature in
NetLibrary and take some time to look at all the available books to read. You might
just find one that interests you!
One way to think of NetLibrary is that of part of a much larger group of eContent
collections. There are many electronic book collections and databases, and the number is
constantly growing. Some complementary websites that are good to use in addition to
NetLibrary are listed below. They share some of the same functionality, and while
NetLibrary might have more features than some of these, they are all part of a much
larger drive to create as much eContent as possible.
Google Books (http://books.google.com)
Google is setting the standard for mass digitization of printed books. While you won’t be
able to see all of the text for every book in the Google Books collection, there are many
search options and an almost endless supply of information at your fingertips.
Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org)
This is the first, and probably the largest single collection of freely available e-books. Its
founder, Michael Hart, is often credited with creating the eBook back in 1971. Many of
the Project Gutenberg e-books are also located in NetLibrary, but its important to be
aware of this important and free resource.
Indiana Digital Media
(http://idm.lib.overdrive.com)
This is a collection of e-books, audiobooks, and other eContent that is available to
patrons in participating libraries. Your local library may have access to some or all of the
eContent in this collection.
Other ways that NetLibrary might be used with young adults are teaching and learning
about bibliographic information and citing sources in projects and reports. Simply by
using NetLibrary, a young adult is exposed to descriptive information about e-books
(publishing information, author information, etc.), as in the following image:
Title, Author, and
Publication information
ISBN information
and what it means.
Subject headings – how they
might help searching for other
books on the same topic.
By being exposed to bibliographic information about the e-books, young adults will be
able to learn the mechanics behind citing books and other information sources in reports
and term papers.
Some useful lesson topics might be: how can subject headings help me to find relevant
information (articles, books, etc.)? What do the subject headings tell a student about
the book? What is a citation and how does one cite sources?
The very nature of inquiry – the quest of finding information and gaining knowledge –
has a great root in eContent. Books are no longer difficult to obtain. Students no longer
need to go to a physical library to find information sources. E-book collections like
NetLibrary make it possible for students to obtain information, read books, learn new
ideas, simply by being connected to the greater online environment. These types of online
navigation skills can easily be taught using an eContent collection such as NetLibrary. It
offers the student the opportunity not only to view electronic books and documents, but
also to learn how to search for eContent and how to scrutinize eContent.
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Is NetLibrary’s e-book collection easier or more difficult to use than
another collection like Google Books.
What could NetLibrary learn from another collection?
What could another online e-book collection learn from NetLibrary?
How could NetLibrary be made better?
Students using this and complementary resources could certainly learn to think critically
about the very nature of electronic information.
Promotional ideas might include fliers or bookmarks highlighting the many e-book
collections that are available to students, some free, some through the local library. One
example of a flier that might be used is below:
Looking for electronic books online?
Look no further than the Internet
or your local public library!
There are many, many e-book collections to found online.
Ask at your local library for help
in guiding you to the many electronic books to be read!
Or, start with INSPIRE (http://www.inspire.net) and check out NetLibrary!
Consider making a display in your school about what e-books are and how to find them.
Make fliers like the one pictured above or make bookmarks to handout to your
classmates.
In short, NetLibrary is your database. It is what you want to make it: an e-book
collection, a knowledge bank, an information storage warehouse, a virtual library.
By learning about eContent, discovering, reading, and learning from e-books, you are
only cracking the tip of the iceberg.
Electronic books are still in their infancy – there are still many more things to learn about
the transformation of printed books to electronic books, and how we can make e-books
even better: easier to read, better search functions, easy to print and read offline, etc..
You can help shape the future of e-books and eContent! You can help spread the word
about e-books to younger students and your peers. Use the above tips and examples to
both learn how to better use eContent and also how to help make it better!