Ellender Memorial Library has new books and old ones, but the only way to get these will be over the internet. These books are called eBooks, and they can be accessed through the library’s home page, http://www.nich.edu/acad/ellender/ellender.html, by going under the subtitle electronic resources and clicking on electronic books.

“Everything was done through LOUIS, and we had to decide to contract to get eBooks. Funding is made available through the Board of Regents, the State’s Library, Department of Education and membership fees, and we are a member.

“Our library elected to take part in it, and we pay for it through LOUIS,” Linda Bourgeois, head of automation services, said.

Bourgeois said eBooks can be accessed in one of three ways.

One way is to go to the library and look at the screen used to call up items available. When users do a search to call up items, the eBooks will show up as well. Then, the user should copy down the URL, and he can go to the library’s web-site and get the book there.

Another way in which the books can be accessed is for the user to go to web-pack, which is the library catalogues available over the internet. When the user looks up a book, it will appear and give the URL. The user can simply click on the URL and go directly to that book’s sight.

The last way would be for a user to go to the library’s home page, click on electronic books, and end up directly on the eBook sight to make a search.

Users can browse eBooks on-line without having to log on and check the book out.

“You must establish an account on campus with a password. When you go to your house, you just need your password and account name to access it,” Bourgeois said.

After a user has established an account, they can check out books on-line.

There is a dictionary on the web-page showing the book’s link, as well as a search and a tools menu to help users with using eBooks.

Printing can also be done on-line, but only one page is allowed to be printed at a time.

These eBooks can be checked out for two hours at a time. After that time limit, the eBook is taken away. If it has not been requested by another user, it can be checked out again.

Besides eBooks, the library’s home page has links to 17 other databases which range in information , from full text articles to dictionaries, and even has a tax research network.