{"id":5289,"date":"2026-05-27T11:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/?p=5289"},"modified":"2026-05-27T12:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:58:26","slug":"new-ebsco-ebook-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/new-ebsco-ebook-app\/","title":{"rendered":"New EBSCO Ebook App"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new app is ready to handle your \u201cbookshelf\u201d any time you check out a full ebook from EBSCO: Thorium Reader. If you have ever used Adobe Digital Editions to read EBSCO ebooks in the past, this app is a replacement for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ebooks from platforms like Cambridge Core, De Gruyter Brill, Elsevier ScienceDirect, Oxford Academic, and SpringerNature Link are unaffected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also still be able to read EBSCO ebooks in your browser or download chapters as PDFs without using this app. This app is for reading EBSCO ebooks that you need to check out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not an ebook needs to be checked out depends on the Digital Rights Management (DRM) settings the publisher requires for that particular title. You will recognize this app is necessary when the phrase \u201cAvailable – requires Thorium Reader to read eBook\u201d appears in the Full eBook Download section of the ebook details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot
The details for a book on the EBSCOhost platform highlighting the need to use Thorium Reader. (You don\u2019t need the app to read the book in your browser or download a chapter.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

App Installation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you encounter a EBSCO ebook that you want to check out, the steps are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Download and install Thorium Reader<\/a> on your device<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Make sure you are logged into MyEBSCO, which is a free, personal account where you can save items from your research (if you need to create an account at this point, make sure to continue with your Reed email address; do not<\/em> choose the Continue with Google option)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Select the Download button<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. From the pop-up window, select the \u201cFull eBook\u201d tab, then confirm the length of the checkout and the desired format (the YouTube tutorial linked below shows the difference between PDF and EPUB formats when both are available, but some ebooks will only be available as one or the other)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. In the shaded Thorium Reader passphrase box, select the Copy button to copy the automated passphrase to your device\u2019s clipboard<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Select the Download button at the bottom of the pop-up window<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Open the Thorium app and select the +Import Publication button in the upper right \u2014 once the file is imported, it will be immediately visible in Thorium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. The first time you open an ebook in Thorium, you must enter the passphrase you copied to your device in step 6, which authenticates your app (but you won\u2019t need to enter a passphrase again unless you install Thorium on another device)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"Screenshot
    The Copy button will temporarily turn green and change to say Copied to indicate that you have successfully added the passphrase to your device’s clipboard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Screenshot
    You will be prompted for the passphrase. If necessary, you can go back and generate a new one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    You are all set up and ready to read!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most people will probably set up this app on a laptop first, but an iOS app is currently available via the App Store for iPhone, and an Android app is expected in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Note that, at this time, Thorium does not sync your bookshelf between devices. On the plus side, however, Thorium reader can also be used for ebooks you download from Project MUSE and for other ebooks you download even if DRM doesn\u2019t require you to check them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you have any trouble setting up this app, please get in touch<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Useful Links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Ebooks at Reed LibGuide: Ebook Providers<\/a> and Ebook Accessibility<\/a>
    Downloading EBSCO eBooks – Tutorial<\/a> (YouTube)
    Thorium Reader for Desktop – User’s Guide in English<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A new app is ready to handle your \u201cbookshelf\u201d any time you check out a full ebook from EBSCO: Thorium Reader. If you have ever used Adobe Digital Editions to read EBSCO ebooks in the past, this app is a replacement for it. Ebooks from platforms like Cambridge Core, De Gruyter Brill, Elsevier ScienceDirect, Oxford […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2575,"featured_media":5291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5289"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5298,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5289\/revisions\/5298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}