e-books – Offer and conditions of use

The Württemberg State Library offers its registered users the use of almost 16,000 licensed e-books.

These are electronic books or texts published in addition to the printed edition and available to access and read via the Internet. All you need to access the e-books is an Internet-capable computer. A special reading device or e-book reader is not required.

e-books offer numerous advantages over printed books:
e-books can be used around the clock by multiple users simultaneously, thereby eliminating waiting times and reservations. Furthermore, e-books often have additional functions, such as full text search of the entire e-book or a selection and copying function for quotations.

The Württemberg State Library licenses e-books in conjunction with extensive e-book packages and databases. The licence specified by the provider stipulates whether the e-book is only accessible on the premises of the library or also externally (e.g. from at home).
In many cases, the provider further protects the e-book with Digital Rights Management (DRM), in which limitations of the rights of use may be defined with regard to downloading, copying and printing. This protection mechanism must not be circumvented.

An overview of the e-book packages on offer, with an indication of the access rights, can be found in the Datenbank-Infosystem - DBIS (Database information system).
Furthermore, the title data of the individual e-books in packages from selected publishers and databases are listed in the online catalogue.

If you have any questions about e-books, or any suggestions, please contact the Media Processing department at the following e-mail address: ebooks@wlb-stuttgart.de