Ebook Central by The Council library manages licences in order to provide direct access to as many ebooks as possible.
You can easily find the links to our ebooks by consulting Eureka.
You will recognise them when you see this:
This way the library makes it easy for you to discover the titles of this collection. In addition, on the Ebook Central platform, you can request access to selected ebooks via a built-in form. We now use a single sign-on authentication service called OpenAthens® that enables access to subscription-based electronic resources both inside and outside the GSC network.
For more information, please consult the Library Guide : "Ebooks: How to & tips" or Contact the Council Library.
Ebooks are made available on different platforms (websites). You will mainly use Ebook Central but you could also encounter other publishers' platforms, for example Taylor&Francis. You can easily find the links to our ebooks by consulting Eureka. The Council library manages licences in order to provide direct access to as many ebooks as possible. In addition, on the Ebook Central platform, you can request access to selected ebooks via a built-in form. For other ebooks, just as for printed books, you can make your request via Eureka.
Note that access to Council Library licenced ebooks, such as the Ebook Central ebooks, may be restricted to Council staff or users at subscribing institutions. Please see our Terms and conditions.
Sign in to Ebook Central automatically from a GSC network or use either your Consilium account (ADFS) or EU Login account from a public network. When using EU Login, make sure to select the EU Login account that is linked to your Council email address. Please note that you can sign in to Ebook Central only if you are an employee or independent contractor of the Council.
When signing in for the first time, a new Ebook Central account is created for you automatically.
Note that, due to a change in authentication method, all Ebook Central accounts created before 30/06/2022 are no longer available. They are automatically replaced by a new personal account when you sign in for the first time. If you wish to transfer the bookshelf of your old account to your new account, please contact us at library@consilium.europa.eu.
Read an ebook while I am connected to the Council network
Click on the 'Online access' or 'Full text available' link of a book in our library catalogue Eureka. A new window opens and you can start reading.
You may be asked to sign in after a period of 5 minutes. This is often the case on Ebook Central, our main ebook platform. Signing in will allow you to continue reading. See Sign in to Ebook Central.
When you are signed in on Ebook Central, after a period of 5 minutes, you may be asked to check out the book (just as a printed book that you borrow from the library), or you may be asked to send a purchase request. In the first case, confirm the number of loan days (when expired and still needed, you'll need to check out again). In the second case, complete the purchase request form.
Many platforms offer the possibility to download the full book. On some platforms (such as Strada lex, Cairn.info, Oxford Scholarship Online), you can only download sections of a book.
All our ebooks are available in the pdf format. A selection of ebooks is also available in the epub format, which allows the software to resize the text according to the size of the screen.
For books on Ebook Central, downloading a book is the same as checking out the book (just as a printed book that you borrow from the library). Confirm the number of download days (when expired and still needed, you'll need to check out again). To do this you need to sign in to your Ebook Central account. Your Bookshelf keeps track of your downloads and loans.
Books downloaded from Ebook Central are protected by the Digital rights management (DRM) technology from Adobe. To unlock these books, the Adobe Digital Editions program (ADE), or any other program that supports Adobe DRM, must be installed on your device. All Council computers and laptops have ADE pre-installed so on these devices you can just skip the 'Get Adobe Digital Editions' step. If you need to install the program, the Ebook Central platform will guide you through the installation process.
If you plan to read an ebook protected by DRM on more than one device (e.g. laptop and tablet) then you should create an Adobe account. In ADE, click 'Help' in the menu and select 'Authorize Computer'. Click on 'Create an Adobe ID' to create a free Adobe account. Alternatively you can create your Adobe account directly on the Adobe webpage: go to the Adobe account page, and then click 'Create an account'. If you want to read the ebook on only one device (e.g. laptop), just tick the box 'I want to authorize my computer without an ID', click 'Authorize' and confirm.
Most platforms offer the possibility to download a section or a chapter of a book. For books on Ebook Central, you need to sign in to your Ebook Central account. See Sign in to Ebook Central.
On Ebook Central, a section or chapter download will be taken into account by the allowances of the book, which is limited to certain number of pages per 24 hours. Each book's download allowance is displayed on the Book Details page, and can vary depending on the publisher. Once you have downloaded a page, the allowance automatically counts down. If the section exceeds your page allowance, you can download a page range. Your download allowance is re-set every 24 hours.
Note that you can download a section of a book for your personal use only.
Once you click on one of the e-resources of the Pocket eLibrary you will be presented with an OpenAthens login screen that looks like this:
Only GSC staff, PEC cabinet staff and trainees can access Ebook Central.
Some devices will remember your preference for access using EU Login, so you will not see this screen but directly the EU Login screen.
Authentication lasts some time, so you can skip this step if you have already accessed EU Login with another application. Your session will remain open between different resources if you don't close the browser.
Every time you log in from outside the GSC network you will be redirected directly to the OpenAthens page.
When you are connected to the GSC network and browse from an EbookCentral title in Eureka, you will be taken directly to their website.
Some options are accessible in this way depending on whether or not the book has been acquired by the Library.
If you wish to download part or all of the book, add it to your bookshelf... or request its acquisition you will be redirected to the OpenAthens page.
