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Ebrary Help
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Ebrary Help Page

  • What Is ebrary
    ebrary is an interactive e-book database. It contains approximately 30,000 full-text electronic books. With ebrary, you can look up a library book and read it online. You can also create a bookshelf of your favorite books.

    If you save a book on your personal ebrary bookshelf, you will also be able to highlight words and bookmark pages in it for future reference.
  • BCTC Students: How Do I Get Started?


    All of the links to BCTC ebrary books in the library catalog are also proxied. If it is a BCTC ebrary book, the location in the catalog will be listed as "Bluegrass CTC Electronic Books (ebrary)" and there will be a direct proxied link to the ebrary e-book in the catalog record. BCTC now subscribes to ebrary so all BCTC students can access it, on-campus or off-campus.

    You can access ebrary from any computer. Just click on the link to ebrary from the BCTC Learning Resources Center (library) webpage, using Internet Explorer. If prompted (off-campus users), log in as a BCTC student, using your BCTC KCTCS Peoplesoft e-mail login/password.

    At home, you will have to download the free ebrary Reader so that you can view ebrary books. It takes only a minute or two to download the reader and it is available at the ebrary site. On-campus, BCTC Information Technology Services has already installed the ebrary Reader on campus computers for Internet Explorer, so you won't have to download anythingAfter getting into ebrary, you may then create your own personal bookshelf (click on the Bookshelf tab, then click the link "Do you need to create a new bookshelf?"; this feature requires that you enter an e-mail address and create a unique ebrary bookshelf password). Or, if you don't want to create your bookshelf right away, you may simply search for a book and read it.

    On future visits, just click on the ebrary link from the BCTC LRC (library) webpages. Off-campus users will be prompted for their BCTC username/password. Once you at the ebrary site, you can log into your personal bookshelf again, using the bookshelf e-mail/password you used before. Or, just search for and read books, if you do not have a bookshelf.

    If you didn't set up a personal bookshelf on your first visit, you can always do so later on, if you want. Creating a personal bookshelf in ebrary is optional. However, it can be a useful way to get right back to a book you read before. Also, you can highlight text and create bookmarks in books that you keep on your bookshelf, to save for later.

    Ebrary book title information is also downloaded into KCTCS library catalog, so you will also be able to search and find links to ebrary books there, as well. Ebrary e-book location will be listed as "Bluegrass CTC Electronic Books (ebrary)" and there will be direct links to the ebrary e-books from the catalog record.
  • I can search for a book, but when I click to view it, all I see is a red 'x" in a small box (image of book page is blank; plugin needed)
    • At Home: You have not installed the ebrary Reader yet on your home computer. The ebrary reader is a free viewer you download from ebrary so that you can view ebrary e-books. You cannot view ebrary books unless you have installed the ebrary Reader. It takes only a short time to download it. See the ebrary Quick User Guide and the ebrary Reader support page for instructions.
    • At BCTC: If you are on-campus and see the "red x" please contact BCTC Information Technology Services at 246-4600, so that they can install the ebrary Reader on the college computer you are using. ITS has installed the ebrary Reader on all of our college computers already, (to work with Internet Explorer browser) but please let them know if a computer has been missed.
  • I tried to install the ebrary Reader at home and I need extra help (installing on a Mac, using another browser other than Internet Explorer, etc.)
    In many cases, your browser auto-detects the version of the ebrary Reader you need and installs it. However, sometimes a few additional steps are needed, depending on your computer and the browser you are using at home. See ebrary's Installing the ebrary Reader support page for specific instructions. If you continue to have difficulty installing the reader, please contact ebrary Support (under company or organization, list Bluegrass Community and Technical College - KCTCS).
  • I downloaded the ebrary Reader successfully. Why can't I view a book?
    After you download the ebrary Viewer, click the "refresh" button on your browser, to refresh your browser settings.. Then try opening a book again. In addition, make sure you have turned off your pop-up blocker (or set it to allow pop-ups from ebrary.com) and confirm that your browser is set to allow all cookies (for more information about cookie settings, see the BCTC Proxy Help Page ).

    When accessing ebrary, be sure you go through the proxied link from the BCTC LRC webpage or from the proxied link your instructor gives you. You will not be able to access ebrary off-campus unless you use a proxied link.
  • I see the message: "Unauthorized Access: This resource is only available to patrons or staff affiliated with this library ..." when I try to access ebrary.
    This message indicates that you are trying to accesss ebrary off-campus through a non-proxied link. Close your browser, and then try accessing ebrary through a proxied link, instead. The ebrary links on the BCTC LRC webpages are all proxied (go to the ebrary link on the books page at: