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netLibrary Guide

What is NetLibrary?

netLibrary is a provider of full-text electronic books. You have access to a collection of netLibrary titles purchased by the Penn State Libraries through the Access Pennsylvania Database Project. Additional titles are available in the netLibrary public collection which contains out of copyright material.

Access the E-Books in netLibrary

There are two ways of accessing netLibrary E-books

  1. Use the link to netLibrary from the Library's A-Z list of E-Resources,
    From this link you can search and view titles. For other services you need to Create an Account (see below). 
  2. Many netLibrary titles are listed in Penn State’s online catalog, The CAT. You can see a complete list by searching the keyword "netLibrary" in the CAT. To access a title online click on the link in the record. NOTE: Because The CAT links do not go through the proxy server, remote users must first create an account in netLibrary so they are recognized as authorized Penn State users. To do this, follow the instructions below for creating an account.
Create a netLibrary Account
Why Create an Account? An account allows you to access netLibrary works from outside the library, create a list of Favorites, or take personal notes. You CAN search and view titles without an account if you are in the library. An account is only required for off-campus use or to create personalized features.
  1. Select netLibrary from the Library's A-Z List of E-Resources. Note: You must use this path if you are at a workstation that is not connected to the Penn State network. 
  2. Within netLibrary look for the 'Create a Free Account' link which appears on the netLibrary Navigation Bar
  3. Supply your identifying information and complete the rest of the account information. The security question will be used in case you forget your password.
  4. Click on Submit to create the account. 
View netLibrary Books
Selecting “View this E-Book” allows you to view the full text of a book. As long as you are actively using the book (turning pages, doing searches, etc.), you continue to have access to the title. When you become inactive for 15 minutes, the title is returned for someone else to use. Because only one person can access a title at a time please close the book promptly when you are finished so that it is available for others to use (see All Copies in Use) below.

E-books are opened in a Web browser-based Reader that includes built-in navigation tools developed for reading full-text eContent. You can have up to four eContent titles open in the online reader at any given time. You may also need to install Adobe software on your computer to view PDF-formatted content.

Configure the Adobe Reader so that it opens within the browser window and not in a separate window. You can set the correct settings by opening Adobe Reader (8.0) and following the steps below:

  • Click Edit > Preferences;
  • Select the "Internet" Category;
  • Check "Display PDF in browser;" and
  • Click "OK"

All Copies in Use

You will see this message when another user is currently viewing the copy owned by your library. You can view the Table of Contents for the item and you can ask to be notified, by email, when a copy of the item becomes available

Copying and Printing netLibrary E-Books

When reading a netLibrary book online you may print or copy one page at a time.  Note: Printing an entire netLibrary Book is prohibited under copyright laws.

Using netLibrary Off Campus

Off Campus Use

netLibrary provides access to many electronic books (books that cannot be downloaded but can be read on a computer screen), on a variety of topics. These titles are in the CAT, which provides links to the online content. Often, these links give patrons a tough time. These links work perfectly when the person is on-campus, but do not work at all if the person is off-campus because of the way they have to be linked. There are a couple of ways around this. (The person can do either one or the other of these, but does NOT have to do both.)

  1. Have the person link directly to netLibrary either through the Databases by Title (A-Z List) or the e-books resource list, and then search for the title directly within NetLibrary.
  2. Have the person create an account in netLibrary (this must be done while the person is on campus. if they are not, use option 1) which will enable them to be recognized as a Penn State user

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