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OER Student Guide: Reading & Learning from Digital Texts: 3. Accessing, Downloading & Printing OERs

Use this guide to help you learn to navigate your electronic textbooks and open educational resource materials.

3. Accessing, Downloading, & Printing OERs

Once you click on the link for your course's OER, take a look around the page. You will often have the option to read the book online or to download it to your device (as a PDF or ebook).

Below are a couple of examples of OER options you could encounter.

 

Example 1: An eBook From Open Textbook Library

3 format options for book: PDF, Ebook, Online

Example 2: Book from OpenStax

Example 3: Book From LibreTexts

Shows options to download, PDF, zip, print files, import, buy paper copies

To download a book from ProQuest Ebook Central, you will need to download Adobe Digital Editions. The instructions for acquiring Adobe Digital Editions and downloading books from ProQuest are linked below.

If you don't want to download anything, that's fine too. You can read ProQuest ebooks online! 

Can I print out the ebook or OER text my instructor assigned? 

It depends. You will need to look at the website for the ebook you have been assigned. Some OERs can be printed after they have been downloaded to your device. Other OER publishers let you order a printed copy for a small fee. If you really want a bound book, copy shops or sites like https://www.printme1.com/ allow you to buy a printed and bound copy of a PDF for a low cost.  

ProQuest Ebook Central only allows users to print small amounts of the book. If you’re using a ProQuest book, you may want to think carefully about whether you or not you actually need to print it. 

 

Can I print at Bay State?

Bay State is trying to be a paperless campus, so printing is limited. You might to want only print shorter materials, such as study aids or assignments.