How do I find the eBook version of the book I need?
Answer
There are several ways to find eBooks both in Salve's catalog and databases, as well as other free online sources.
- First, try searching our catalog on the eBooks tab. This will show you search results for eBooks that Salve owns. We are not able to access eBooks owned by other libraries, including those in the HELIN consortium.
- If you can't find a specific title in our catalog, try searching the Internet Archive's collection of eBooks. You'll need to sign up for a personal account, but it's free (and they are responsible about data privacy).
- Digital libraries provide access to books, some of which are in the public domain: in the United States, books published in 1929 and films released in 1929 enter the public domain in 2025. Examples include:
- Google Books - have scanned many books in the public domain. If the eBook you are seeking is not in the public domain, Google Books will provide access to a few consecutive pages for some context, but then remove large sections to ensure they remain copyright compliant.
- Hathi Trust, a Digital Library with the largest set of digitized books, collaboratively managed by academic and research libraries for long-term management, preservation, and access of their collections.
- If you can't find any eBook or digitized version of the book you're looking for, you also have the option of requesting a few of the chapters be scanned and sent to you via our inter-library loan (ILL) system. Please note, only a portion of the book can be scanned due to copyright laws. To get a scan of the table of contents or index to figure out which portion of the book you most need, fill out this form.
For further assistance, please contact a librarian.