This guide is intended for students and staff using or likely to use ebooks in the course of their studies and research.
Use this guide to find out about ebooks and related information at the University of Oxford.
Oxford has a wide range of ebooks which can be found and accessed via SOLO. For more detailed info about our book collections visit the Finding ebooks page of this guide.
Using ebooks can be a little daunting, with different websites and functionality. For detailed instructions on how to use different kinds of ebooks, and FAQs for different platforms, take a look at the Using ebooks page of this guide.
Ebooks don't always have page numbers (or these may not correspond to the same pages as a print copy), and many ebook websites provide sample citations. For help with this, try the Citing ebooks page of this guide.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oxford has increased its ebook provision, both buy purchasing new ebooks and taking advantage of temporary free access from publishers. Details of the most exciting new subscriptions, trials, and free access are on the COVID-19 updates page of this guide.
Oxford currently has access to the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS), providing an extra 1.6m in-copyright ebooks until at least 5th July, 2021. For more information about this access, and a guide to using HathiTrust ebooks, see the HathiTrust page.
Although the Bodleian Libraries try to buy the ebooks that you request as often as we can, sometimes this isn't possible for a variety of reasons. The Why isn't there an ebook? page of this guide sets out the main reasons why this might happen and tries to answer common questions regarding purchasing ebooks for libraries.
There are a number of benefits to using ebooks:
