Ebooks: Troubleshooting Ebooks

Using the ebooks will be an easy, seamless experience, most of the time. However....

If you have problems accessing an ebook, here are a few things you can try first. And if these don't work, contact us so that we can report it to the appropriate vendor.

1. Make sure you are connected through VPN if you're off campus. If you can access this Wiley article, it's working properly.
   • Enabling off-campus access. For the AnyConnect VPN client, make sure to select 2-Step Secured - althruucsd from the Group dropdown menu.
   • On campus and using a laptop? Make sure you're on the UCSD Protected Wifi and not the Guest Wifi.
2. Is the book already in use by the allowable number of simultaneous users? Many of our EBSCO and ProQuest ebooks can only be accessed by one user at a time, while other Ebsco and ProQuest Ebook Central and Oxford University Press ebooks may have limits of 3 users.
3. Try additional web browser. For example, if you're using Firefox, try Chrome.
   • If you're using Safari on a Mac, definitely try another web browser.
   • Clear out cookies if you tried to access the e-book before switching on VPN.
4. Make sure you are using the latest version of the web browser.
5. Mouse over the ebook link in the UC Library Search record to see if the URL starts with http://dx.doi.org. There have been some reports of problems with the DOIs resolving. You can often bypass this by going directly to the publisher listed in that link--like Wiley or Springer--and search the platform for the title of your book. 

For EBSCO Ebooks:

• Some features like placing email notifications for alerts when EBSCO ebook titles are not available if we haven't yet purchased the book.  
• Your Adobe Reader should be set so PDFs are read within the browser. Otherwise you may only get one page at a time to load when you turn them. Firefox users will have to adjust a browser setting.

For Proquest Ebook Central:

• If you see  or "You may read this book for 5 minutes, and request this book from your library at no cost to you." this means we have not added this ebook to UCSD's collection. You can request that we add the book to the collection. You will be prompted to login or create an Ebook Central account before submitting a request.
  • If you see , someone is currently using the book. You cannot place a hold on a book in use. If you are waiting for a copy, you'll need to periodically refresh your browser to see if the book's status has changed.
• Firefox and Chrome users: If your ebook continuously refreshes on the book's detail page, so the page looks like it's "jumping" or "twitching," this may be due to a browser extension that needs to be disabled. ProQuest has a list of extensions that users have reported as causing this error, including the Mendeley web importer in both Firefox and Chrome. Other options:
  • If you were able to open the ebooks previously with no problems, start disabling browser extensions you have added since the last time you were in Ebook Central. If the troublesome extension isn't already on the ProQuest list, send feedback to that page so they can add your extension (and browser) to the list.
  • Search using Chrome's Incognito Mode or Firefox's Private Browser.
• If you select "Current Chapter" under Print to PDF and get this message: Sorry, your entry exceeds your print allowance for this title. You have ## pages remaining to print, and you have not exceeded the print allowance, enter the chapter start and end pages instead.