Different e-book platforms have different restrictions and features. The goal of this page is to clarify what is allowable on our main e-book platforms. The Library will always seek to purchase from the most permissive platform we can, but we are not able to influence what platforms and publishers allow. For the most up to date information about e-books on each platform, please visit the platform's website. This page is updated regularly, but information may become out of date due to external changes.
What are e-books?
E-books are digital versions of books. They may be digital editions of print books or born-digital titles created exclusively in electronic format.
Are all books available as e-books?
Not always. Publishers decide whether a title is available as an e-book and which platforms, purchasing options, or licence models can be used.
Some e-books, such as those sold exclusively through Amazon Kindle or Kobo, are not available for libraries to purchase. In addition, some e-books include Digital Rights Management (DRM), which may affect how long you can access a title, whether you can download it, or which devices and applications you can use to read it.
E-books access models
Different e-books come with different licence types. These determine how many people can use a title at the same time. E-book licences generally fall under one of the following:
Single-user e-books can only be accessed by one person at a time. This is like only having a single print copy in the Library for a person to borrow. When the borrower returns the book, it will then be available for another user.
Like single-user e-books, multi-user e-books have a limited amount of people who can access the title at one time. These often come in licences of 3, 5, or 10 concurrent users.
E-books that are unlimited can be used any number of students at once.
What happens when all copies of a limited user e-book are in use?
If all available licences for an e-book are being used, you may see a message indicating that access is temporarily unavailable. If a title is temporarily unavailable, please try again later, as access is automatically restored when another user finishes
When a title is in high demand, the Library will explore whether additional licences can be purchased. However, this is not always possible, as availability depends on the options offered by the publisher.
To facilitate access for all, please ensure that you close out of e-books when you are finished with them. Alternatively, you may choose to download a chapter as PDF where possible. Find more information about reading e-books on different platforms below.
If you are experiencing difficulties accessing an e-book please contact us at library@warwick.ac.uk
What can I do with an e-book?
Many e-books allow you to download, print, copy, highlight, annotate, or bookmark content, although the options available vary by platform and publisher.
When using e-books, please ensure that you follow:
The terms and conditions of the platform you are using
UK copyright legislation
If you would like to learn more about copyright and permitted use of library resources, please visit the Library's Copyright LibGuide at
See below for guidance on our most common e-book platforms.
Ebook Central has over 700,000 unlimited access e-books on it from a range of publishers and subjects.
You can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Search within a book
Highlight text and add notes
Bookmark pages
Save books to your personal Bookshelf
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Many titles can also be borrowed for offline reading through Adobe Digital Editions.
Find out more about Ebook Central:
Ebook Central Accessibility
Ebook Central offers a variety of accessibility features, including the ability to:
Navigate using a keyboard
Navigate using speech recognition software
Navigate using a screen reader
Listen to an e-book using screen reader with Text Only Mode enabled
Zoom in up to 200%
Enable Open Dyslexic typeface
Change font size
To learn more about Ebook Central accessibility features, please visit,
The Library provides both individually purchased titles and several e-book packages on EBSCOhost.
Features on EBSCOhost include the ability to bookmark and export citations. You can view content on EBSCOhost online or download according to the permissions provided.
You can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Search within the book
Bookmark pages
Export citations
Download content, depending on the permissions available
To learn more about how to use EBSCOhost, please watch the following tutorial:
EBSCOhost Accessibility
EBSCOhost offers a variety of accessibility features, including the ability to:
Listen to an e-book with Text to Speech mode enabled
Change font size
Change character spacing
Change word spacing
Change line spacing
Request accessible PDFs
For more information about the Accessibility features on EBSCOhost, please visit
You can access over 3000 e-books on VLeBooks. On VLeBooks you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Highlight text and add notes
Many titles can be borrowed for offline reading through Adobe Digital Editions
Export citations
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Change the language of books offered in EPUB format
VLeBooks Accessibility
VLeBooks offers a variety of accessibility features, including the ability to:
Navigate using a screen reader on EPUB files
Navigate using keyboard shortcuts
Listen to an e-book using the ReadAloud feature
Zoom in up to 200%
Read using large font
For EPUBS:
Read using high contract
Highlight links in yellow
Underline links
Change font, page, and hyperlink colour
Enable dyslexic friendly font
Prevent pop-ups
Change line, character, and word spacing
Enable high contract mode
Enable Reading Ruler
Kortext is an e-textbook platform that hosts a variety of main texts for courses. Kortext e-textbooks can be read online or one mobile devices and tablets using the Kortext App. With Kortext, you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Highlight text and add notes
Create flashcards
Export citations
Save books to your personal Bookshelf
Read offline in the Kortext app.
To learn more about the app, please visit .
Kortext Accessibility
To read more about accessibility at Kortext, please visit their Accessibility page on their website (https://kortext.com/accessibility/ ) or watch the video below:
VitalSource is an e-book platform the Library uses to host hundreds of titles including the Sage Catalyst collection. On VitalSource you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Highlight text and add notes
Create flashcards
Learn more about VitalSource:
VitalSource Accessibility
VitalSource accessibility features include the ability to:
Read PDF and EPUB files with a screen reader
Listen to book using built in text-to-speech function
Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate
Change text size
Change font (including to OpenDyslexic)
Change display colours
Change line spacing
Change highlighter colours
To read more about accessibility at Vital Source, please visit their website:
Oxford Academic hosts several packages the Library has access to, including but not limited to very short introductions, Oxford Scholarship Online, and Oxford Handbooks Online. On OUP Academic, you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Export citations
Optional: Create an account to save bookmarks and highlight content
Oxford Academic Accessibility
Oxford Academic has several accessibility features. On Oxford Academic you can:
Navigate using a screen reader
Navigate using keyboard shortcuts
Skip navigation links
Magnify pages up to 400%
Read alternative text on images
To learn more, please visit
Access over 15,000 e-books through the Taylor and Francis e-book collection. On Taylor and Francis you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Export citations
Many titles can be read as an EPUB or PDF.
Highlight text and add notes
Bookmark pages
Search text for phrases or terms
To learn more about using Taylor and Francis e-books, please watch the video below:
Taylor and Francis Accessibility
On Taylor and Francis, you can:
Listen to an e-book using the built-in narrator (with options to change speed and pitch)
For EPUBS: changes font size, alignment, columns, and reading flow.
Request accessible format of PDFs
Learn more at:
Wiley Online Library is an e-book and e-journal collections with scientific, technical, medical, and professional content.
On Wiley Online, you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Export citations
For many times, read as either EPUB or PDF
Learn more at the following links:
Wiley Online Library Accessibility
On Wiley Online Library, the following accessibility features are available on EPUBs:
Change font (including to OpenDyslexic)
Change font size
Change alignment, columns, and reading flow.
To learn more, please visit:
The Library subscribes to Cambridge Core, a collection of e-books from Cambridge University Press, which includes Cambridge Books Online, Cambridge Companions Online, Cambridge Histories Online, Shakespeare Survey Online etc.
E-books on Cambridge Core can be read by downloading a PDF of the content.
Learn more at:
Cambridge Core Accessibility
Cambridges Core has several accessibility features. You can:
Enlarge or reduce text size on table of contents
Magnify up to 400%
Navigate most of the website using just keyboard
Use a screen reader on most of the website
Use text-to-speech tools to read out PDF and HTML content.
PDFs published with WCAG 2.0 A standard
Request accessible format of PDFs
To learn more, visit:
Access over 35,000 e-book titles from Elsevier on their ScienceDirect platform.
On ScienceDirect, you can:
Download content as PDFs or EPUBS for offline reading
Learn more at:
Elsevier ScienceDirect
Elsevier鈥檚 website offers a variety of accessibility features. You can:
Magnify pages up to 400%
Resize text up to 200%
Use high contract text
Navigate with keyboard
Learn more at:
On SpringerLink you can:
Download content as PDFs or EPUBS for offline reading
SpringerLink Accessibility
SpringerLink has a variety of accessibility features:
Website is compatible with screen readers
Website is compatible with speech recognition software
Website is compatible with operating system screen magnifiers
Website is compatible with operating system speech packages
Find more information at:
Sage Knowledge provides access to e-books, videos, encyclopaedias, dictions, and other reference content across a range of social science topics. On Sage, you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Export citations
Watch the video below to learn more:
Sage Knowledge Accessibility
Sage produces all books in Epub2 and Epub3, with only a few exceptions.
You can also navigate their website with a keyboard.
Learn more about Sage鈥檚 accessibility work here:
Read books published by IEEE, Wiley, Packt, MIT Press, Princeton University Press, and more on IEEE. On IEEE, you can:
Download content as PDFs or EPUBS for offline reading
Export citations
Learn more at:
IEEE Accessibility
To learn about accessibility features on the IEEExplore website, please visit:
JSTOR provides access to over 800 e-books from a variety of disciplines. On JSTOR, you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content as PDFs or EPUBS for offline reading
To learn more about JSTOR, you can watch the video below or visit their LibGuide:
JSTOR Accessibility
On JSTOR you can:
Navigate with keyboard
Navigate with screen readers
Magnify content to 200%
Use text-to-speech tools
Request accessible format of PDFs
Learn more at
The Library currently subscribes to three Troves from Oxford University Press: Politics
On the Trove platofrms, you can:
Read books online using the built-in reader
Download content, depending on the permissions available
Export citations
Optional: Create an account to save bookmarks and highlight content
Learn more about each Trove platform in the videos below:
Troves Accessibility
Oxford Troves offer a variety of accessibility features. You can:
Navigate using a screen reader
Navigate using keyboard shortcuts
Skip navigation links
Magnify pages up to 400%
Learn more about Troves accessibility through the links and video below:
