Discover our extensive range of e-books

• All e-books can be read online. Download and printing options vary depending on the provider and license conditions. In most cases, parts of the e-book can be saved or printed, and in some cases even complete works.
• To access them, you must be connected to the university network (via VPN or Eduroam) and be working with an up-to-date browser. If you have problems, switching browsers (e.g. to Firefox) can help.
  Some providers limit the number of copies that can be used at the same time, require registration or temporarily block the e-book after it has been accessed. Details can be found in the list Special features of e-book providers.

Note: E-books from other libraries or library networks are not available - you can only access the titles for which USB Cologne has a license.

If you know the publisher of an interesting e-book, you can research the work directly via the publisher's website. However, you can also use the publisher pages to find titles for which no license has been purchased and which you cannot read.

Subject Area

Freely accessible e-books

Did you know that the German Research Foundation (DFG) acquires licenses for e-resources nationwide and makes them available free of charge to anyone interested in research through so-called national licenses?
Under “National Licenses / Collections – Monographs,” you will find numerous academic collections that are accessible online.

In addition, many publishers make their publications available via Open Access. These resources offer you easy access to high-quality academic texts— without the need to register or obtain a license.

 Here is a selection of freely available resources:

• OpenLibrary
• Directory of Open Access Books
• OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks)
• Open Textbook Library