An ebook is a book made available in electronic form.
Ebooks are made available on different platforms (websites). 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.
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 period, usually one day (renewable). In the second case, complete the purchase request form. See Create a purchase request.
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.
For books on Ebook Central, you can sign in using your EU Login account. See Sign in to Ebook Central. When signed in, you have the same features as when you are connected to the Council network.
Various other ebook platforms (like EBSCOhost, Oxford Scholarship Online, etc) offer the possibility to sign in in a similar way, using either your Consilium account (ADFS) or EU Login account.
Download the book or part of the book in advance, when you are connected to the GSC network or the internet.
For books on Ebook Central, there are limitations regarding downloads. See Download a full book, Download a section of a book.
You will need to download the book or the section first. See Download a full book, Download a section of a book.
The ebook reader must support the pdf format, and preferably the epub format too.
To download a full book from the Ebook Central platform, your ebook reader must also support the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology from Adobe. For suitable ebook reader apps, search in the app store of your choice for e.g. 'adobe drm reader'. Ebook reader devices like Kindle or Kobo do not support full book downloads from Ebook Central. However you can read individual sections or chapters (pdf) on most ebook reader devices.
On most platform, you have the right to download the ebook on different devices without restriction.
For ebooks from the Ebook Central platform, you will need to authorize each device by using your Adobe account. See Download a full book.
Most platforms offer the possibility to print without limitation. For books on Ebook Central, you need to sign in first. See Sign in to Ebook Central.
On Ebook Central, any page printed will be taken into account by the allowances of the book, which is limited to a certain number of pages per 24 hours. Each book's print allowance is displayed on the Book Details page, and can vary depending on the publisher. Once you have printed a page, the allowance automatically counts down. Your print allowance is re-set every 24 hours.
Most platforms offer the possibility to copy/paste without limitation. For books on Ebook Central, you need to sign in first. See Sign in to Ebook Central.
On Ebook Central, any page copied will be taken into account by the allowances of the book, which is limited to a certain number of pages per 24 hours. Each book's copy allowance is displayed on the Book Details page, and can vary depending on the publisher. Once you have copied a page, the allowance automatically counts down. Your copy allowance is re-set every 24 hours.
Most platforms offer the possibility to save a personal copy of a book or section of a book. For books on Ebook Central, this is possible only for individual sections of a book. See Download a full book, Download a section of a book.
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.
After reading during 5 minutes, a form is presented in a popup window so you can create your request. You can also create a request directly after searching for a title on Ebook Central. On the page of the book, click the 'Request' button on the left.
Depending on the options available, you can request a purchase (default) or a one, seven or fourteen day loan. In many cases, we will purchase the book rather than setting up a loan. To submit the request, enter your name, email and any message, then click 'Submit'. Note that for books on Ebook Central, there is always a cost involved. So the request must always be work-related. You will be informed by email of the outcome of the request.
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). You can check out a book for up to 14 days (renewable). 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.
Note that you can download a book for your personal use only.
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.
When using the online reader on Ebook Central, you can highlight selected text, add notes or bookmark pages. You may view and manage your annotations via the Star icon in the navigation panel. Books that are annotated are automatically saved into your Bookshelf. You need to be signed in to your account for these functionalities.
Similar functionalities exist on other platforms as well, such as Strada lex, Ebscohost or Taylor & Francis. You will need to sign in to your personal account (which you can create yourself).
For the online reader on Ebook Central, edit your profile to enable accessibility mode or use OpenDyslexic typeface. To do this you need to sign in to your Ebook Central account. See Sign in to Ebook Central.
Ebook Central is navigable with just a keyboard – the tab, enter, and arrow keys. The platform is compatible with screen readers. On your windows PC, use the Narrator app with Chrome, or the Read aloud function in Edge. Use VoiceOver on Apple, or Talkback on Android.
Furthermore Chrome has extensions to change colour and contrast, and for webpage magnification.
