What's available?

UW-Madison Libraries continue to expand access to online content including e-books. Some e-book content is licensed and only available to UW-Madison faculty, students and staff. Other content included is freely available to everyone.

Online viewing

All e-books available in full text may be viewed online. Printing e-book content while viewing online is typically restricted by the e-book provider.

Downloading

Only a small percentage of our e-books are currently available for download. Most of this content is in PDF or EPUB file format and will only work on compatible mobile devices and e-readers.

MadCat

MadCat contains the most complete information about UW-Madison Libraries' e-books and e-book collections.

Search MadCat by author, title or topic to retrieve both print, and when available, electronic versions. The records contain links to the online content.

Ways to limit searches to e-book/online content

Option 1

Retrieves e-book titles from many sources including EBook Library (EBL), netLibrary, ScienceDirect, Wiley Interscience, Knovel Engineering & Scientific, Springer Computer Science e-Book Collection, Credo Reference, etc.

1. Use Guided Search and enter a topic or title as usual
2. Then enter electronic book? and select as a phrase

Option 2 - broader searches

Retrieves most e-books as in Option 1 above, but also includes online resources such as U.S. government publications, e-journals, conference proceedings, etc.

• Use Basic search and select Online Resources under Quick Limits. Or, use Guided Search and Set Limits by Location to Online Resources.
• Or, use Guided Search and enter a topic or title as usual. Also enter electronic resource and select As a phrase.
  

Database Library

Many e-books and e-book collections are included in the Database Library.

Reference Resources

Biographies, book reviews, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. are included in the Database Library.

UW Digital Collections

The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections - a UW System resource - provides access to digital resources, including books, that support the teaching and research needs of the UW community, uniquely document the university and State of Wisconsin, and provide access to rare or fragile items of broad research value.

Resources within the collections are free and publicly accessible online. They are loosely organized into collections that span a range of subjects including art, ecology, literature, history, music, natural resources, science, social sciences, the State of Wisconsin, and the University of Wisconsin.

Google Books

Google Books includes digitized versions of some UW-Madison titles as well as titles in the public domain and previews/snippets of other books.

These books may be discovered by searching Google Book Search and also via links in MadCat.

Some titles include downloadable PDF files of entire books if they are out of copyright (or if the publisher has opted to allow it). Others include previews of select pages.

The UW-Madison Google Digitization Initiative is a partnership between UW-Madison and Google that has thus far digitized 200,000+ books, allowing for greater ease of discovery.

Google Books Mobile - http://books.google.com/m
For iPhone and Android.  While these books are also available on Google Book Search, these new mobile editions are optimized to be read on a small screen.

Hathi Trust

The Hathi Trust is a partnership of major research institutions and libraries with a goal of preserving and keeping accessible our rich cultural record. The UW-Madison Libraries contribute to the shared digital repository and so it includes digitized versions of some UW-Madison titles as well as titles in the public domain.

These books may be discovered by searching Hathi Trust and also via links in MadCat.

College Library E-Reader Pilot

Madison Public Library

Madison Public Library provides access to lots of additional e-books. A Madison Public Library card or South Central Library System card is required.

• NetLibrary -- more info 
• Overdrive eBooks (downloadable) -- more info | compatible devices
• Safari Books Online** -- more info

**Contact Madison Public Library for additional requirements.

UW-Madison E-Book Projects

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries participate in two important e-book digitization initiatives:

• The UW-Madison Google Digitization Initiative is a partnership between UW-Madison and Google that has thus far digitized 200,000+ books, allowing for greater ease of discovery. These books can be discovered by searching Google Book Search and also via links in MadCat.
• The Hathi Trust is a shared digital repository of the nation's great research libraries. UW-Madison Libraries books that are accessible via the Hathi Trust repository are linked from their MadCat records.