E-BOOKS at Drake make up a large collection of full-text online-accessible content. They are found by searching our regular online catalog. They are mostly recently published non-fiction research-quality books. Most are navigable through their tables of contents and by page number.  All e-books are accessible off-campus. Ebrary and NetLibrary e-books support highlighting, note-taking, and bookshelf creation through their free accounts.

Ebrary - A large collection (more than 60,000 titles) of e-books.  Click on the “URL” in the book record to view the e-book. A small plug-in for your Internet browser is required; you will be prompted to download the correct plug-in if it is not in place. (Ebrary plug-in: You'll need to install a Windows plugin or the Mac plugin the first time you use it) Once you can display an ebrary e-book, you may read it as long as you like. Ebrary allows printing five pages at a time, with up to 30 pages per log-in.

Netlibrary – Another large collection of e-books. Click on the “URL” in the book record to view the e-book. No changes to your computer are required. After 15 minutes you will be asked to “check out” the e-book. To check it out, you must create a free netLibrary account.  Click on “Create A Free Account” in the upper right corner of the NetLibrary home page or book page to create your account. You must be on the Drake campus to create the account. Once you have an account, you may check out NetLibrary e-books for 3 days at a time, with the option to renew.  NetLibrary does not support printing or downloading of its e-books.
If you are off campus, your Drake ID and PIN will allow you to view NetLibrary and ebrary e-books.

EBL or E-Book Library. To see the book, click the “URL” on the short catalog record. Your Drake ID and PIN will be required whether you are on-campus or off. EBL books may be read online or downloaded for offline reading. Portions of EBL e-books may be printed.

Online Reference Books - Cowles Library has access to three large collections of online encyclopedias and several online Reference Books. The large collections are:
•CREDO Reference (244 titles)
•Gale Virtual Reference Library (100+ titles)
•Oxford Reference Online (100+ titles)

Other Online Reference Books are: Access Science, Access Pharmacy, African-American Studies Center, AMA Manual of Style, Black Studies Center, Britannica Online, Cambridge Histories Online, Consumer Lab, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Encyclopedia of Associations, Facts & Comparisons, In the First Person, Mental Measurements Yearbook, Original Sources, Oxford Art Online, Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford Music Online, and the United States Serials Set.     

Find the online Reference Books under "online databases" on the Cowles web page.