Skip the reservation line with CBS Library's e-books
by Claus Rosenkrantz Hansen, translated by Mai-Britt Ohlsen
You've probably been there. You have a big assignment due in two days, and now you need a specific book to complete your assignment, but all copies are taken out from the library. What do you do? You could of course buy the book, but it's expensive and two days is not a lot of time if your local book store doesn't have a copy sitting on a shelf.
But there is another option. You could see if CBS Library has the book as an e-book. As the library acquires more and more e-books, there's an increasing chance that the book you're looking for will be in the library's stock.
Spot CBS Library's e-books
In fact, the library's selection of e-books is now so large that it constitutes half of the library's total collection. In hard figures, that's more than 170,000 e-books. The question is, how many users are even aware of the wide selection of e-books available?
Naturally, e-books are not as visible as the physical books, so to help make more users aware of the library's considerable stock of e-books, CBS Library is rolling out an e-book campaign in weeks 44 and 45.
"We want to make our users aware that e-books are a great supplement to printed books. We are not saying that e-books will replace physical books, but the two formats complement each other and our collection of e-books is now of such a size that we want to draw our users' attention to its existence. That is the message of our campaign," explains Nikolaj Kjær Jensen, Information Specialist and one of the organisers behind the campaign.
Travel light with e-books
It's not only the large selection that makes it attractive for users to take out an e-book. The e-book has some advantages over a printed book.
E-books are easy to take with you, and if you are travelling with a tablet in your bag, you have not only one, but potentially many books at hand. Another advantage is that you rarely end up in the reservation line when taking out an e-book. And it is also convenient, because you can - if you're a student or employee at CBS - sit at your desk at home and take out books regardless of the time or the weather.
And you're allowed to do what you're never allowed to do when taking out material from the library: You're allowed to write in an e-book- Electronic notes are welcome - but remember, notes may disappear along with the e-book when the book is due.
Altogether, there are many advantages to e-books, even if taking out a book is still slightly complicated due to the e-books' licensing conditions.
"There are still challenges concerning the licensing conditions - especially because the users experience different conditions when taking out an e-book. But that doesn't change the fact, that the e-book is an important supplement to the physical book," says Nikolaj Kjær Jensen.
That's the reason for the e-book campaign, so more CBS Library users will have the opportunity to discover the advantages of e-books.
More information about e-books and the campaign
The e-book campaign will take place in week 44 and 45. The campaign will be found across CBS campus.
You can search for e-books in the library's search system Libsearch (limit your search in the left hand menu).
You can find more information about e-books in the library's LibGuide on e-books
Here are links to some of the e-book systems that the library makes available to its users.
Please note that there may be books in the systems that are not accessible.
Contact the library if you have any questions regarding taking out e-books