E-books at UC Libraries

While our collection of e-books is continually growing, we occasionally have to remove e-books from our catalog.There are a lot of reasons why this can happen, and it often involves changes made by either the publisher, the vendor (Elsevier, EBSCO, etc.), or the vendor’s platform (ClinicalKey, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, etc.).

In some cases, changes in the publisher’s rights can cause the vendor to drop an e-book from its platform, meaning that it is no longer available anywhere on that platform. With some platforms, such as ClinicalKey or STAT!Ref, this often happens when an e-book is replaced by a newer edition. In other cases, the vendor might keep the e-book, but with different licensing agreements that might mean we no longer have access to it.  When this happens, you might still be able to find the landing page for the e-book on the vendor site but not be able to access the full text, and so we remove it from the catalog.

That scenario can also happen if there is a change in our subscription with a vendor. Many of our e-books are purchased as a subscription rather than as a one-time, permanent purchase. Therefore, we only retain access as long as we have an active subscription.

Unlike with a print book, it can be difficult for us to purchase an individual eBook. Most of our eBooks are purchased as part of a large collection, and sometimes that specific eBook might not be available as an individual purchase. However, purchase suggestions are welcomed. If you are having trouble finding a particular eBook, please get in touch with one of our subject librarians.

The stability of individual eBooks in a collection can vary greatly between vendors. Here are some rough guidelines for which vendors and collections fluctuate more than others. If you would like to know more about a particular eBook title's permanence, please ask a librarian.

Collections from vendors that may fluctuate

• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• ClinicalKey
• Credo Reference
• eBooks on EBSCOhost (some)
• McGraw-Hill (all Access products, F.A. Davis Collection)
• O'Reilly Ebooks (formerly Safari Ebooks Online)
• ProQuest eBook Central (formerly ebrary)
• PsychiatryOnline
• ScienceDirect (some)
• SpringerProtocols
• Stahl's
• STAT!Ref

Collections that are open access (free, no subscription) and may fluctuate:

• CABI open access titles (separate from our Public Health Collection subscription)
• IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer; published by the World Health Organization)
• NCBI Bookshelf
• Open Textbook Network
• World Health Organization

Modified from Why do eBooks get removed? (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Libraries)