There are entire books available in the library's e-book collection online for study and research. These books are easy to access and easy to read 24/7/365 through the college library Web site.
"If a student is doing a last-minute paper at 3 in the morning, they can use e-books as a source," Librarian Eileen Oliver chuckled.
The main point is that e-books are available at any time without the "checking out" hassle.
Librarian Karen Balcom said, "If you're looking for a resource to include in your term paper, oral report, etc. They're very handy."
The library's e-book collection not only includes their own holdings, but the library provides access to NetLibrary; the Gale Virtual Reference Collection; the Oxford Reference online: Premium Collection; the Safari Tech Book Collection; and Credo Reference.
Oliver said, "NetLibrary is our largest collection." It has 28,623 e-books.
Like for print books, the library pays for e-book access to these collection Web sites so students can access a wide range of subjects.
Safari Tech Book Collection specializes in information technology and some business and management, Balcom said. Safari offers 2,805 e-books.
The library has access to the last three years in the Safari collection, Oliver said.
The Gale Virtual Reference Collection is a collection of reference e-books that students can access online.
"When I do a library session with student development classes, students use e-books for their career projects," Oliver said.
When you find a suitable collection, simply search for your subject and begin reading books online.
Books can be read only; users cannot download them, but can print a select number of pages, Oliver said.
The e-books show the book cover and links to the chapters in the table of contents column on the left so students can quickly scan relevant information.
To search, type a topic word in the search box at the bottom of the left column and the topic word will be highlighted wherever it appears in the book.
For example, Oliver searched "Texas History" on the NetLibrary collection Web site, chose a book and entered "slavery."
The chapters that matched the search appeared in the contents column and were highlighted in the text on the right.
If students search a subject in the "QuickSearch" box on the library's homepage, they will get a variety of results from the catalog including books, journals, periodicals and e-books. The e-books are marked as "electronic resource" beside the title.
For access to the e-books, visit www.alamo.edu/sac/library and click e-books or search for a subject in the "QuickSearch" box.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!