eBooks/Online Book Collections

Millions of ebooks are available to WashU faculty, students, and staff. There are different ways for you to find and discover them.

Still not finding what you need?

• What are ebooks? ebooks are electronic versions of print books. 

• Does the Library have ebooks? WashU Libraries has thousands of ebooks covering a variety of fields and topics. 

• How do I find the Library's ebooks? ebook titles can be searched in both the Classic Catalog and Quick Search and will link to either the individual ebook title or the online database which contains the ebook.  We subscribe to many databases which contain ebook collections and own several online ebook collections. ebooks can be searched in these individual online databases as well.

• Do I need to set-up an account? Some of our ebook collections may require a user to establish an account, but there are no charges for these materials. 

• Why can't I read/download/copy/print? Different ebook providers have different limitations on what they allow users to do with their ebooks. This is call DRM or digital rights management. Some ebooks will only allow one user at a time, others will allow multiple users at once. Some allow for unlimited copying or printing, others will restrict to a certain number of pages or a certain percentage of the book. Check the vendor supported help links on our ebook help guide to for specific troubleshooting.

• Can I check out an ereader? At this time, we do not have ereaders available for check out.