Ebook FAQ for VCU Libraries

Licensing Information

• User Licenses: 5 users per platform. The 5-user limit also applies to users who are accessing resources other than ebooks on each platform. (Note: AccessPharmacy and AccessPhysiology have unlimited licensing.)
• Subscription or Permanent Access? All ebooks on these platforms are subscription-based, so titles may come and go, although the removal of titles does not happen often. See the "Title List" section below for more details. 
• DRM-free? No. This platform has viewing, printing, or downloading restrictions, and/or it requires a vendor login.

List of all Ebook Titles in This Collection

Below are title lists for each resource:

• AccessAnesthesiology ebook list
• AccessEmergencyMedicine ebook list
• AccessMedicine ebook list
• AccessSurgery ebook list

How often are titles added and removed? There is no set schedule for titles being added or removed. Our McGraw-Hill sales rep stated that "Books are rarely removed completely. The only case might be if a book becomes outdated and there are no plans to publish a new edition" [Nov. 22, 2019 email to Karen Gau]. Previous editions remain on the Books tab for up to six months after a new edition is published, but will eventually go into McGraw-Hill's Archives page. Edition updates are generally made in January and July.

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)

A VPAT for McGraw-Hill Medicine is available on their website, and applies to all of the clinical Access products.

NO. Due to their 5-user limit, these Access products are not recommended for required classroom use. They may, however, be used as recommended texts (and not required texts) at an instructor's discretion. Please see the AccessPharmacy and AccessPhysiology page for information on those resources, which have unlimited licensing.

Note that the "Case Files - Preview" section of each database only includes a select number of Case Files. Although it shouldn't happen often, the case files currently included in our Access products could be removed at any time. VCU Libraries does not currently subscribe to the full Case Files resource.

More information on using library ebooks in your classroom is available in our Library Ebooks as Course Materials research guide.

Entire Ebook Download: Not available.

Chapter Downloads: Book chapters can be downloaded by printing them to PDF.

1. Navigate to the book chapter.
2. Click on the print button, which is located under the name of the chapter.
3. Save as PDF.
   • Chrome: Select "Save as PDF" under the Destination option.
   • Safari: Click "PDF" at the bottom of the dialog, and select "Save as PDF".
   • Firefox: Currently not recommended (7/30/20). "Microsoft Print to PDF" under Select Printer may not print the chapter as expected.

The best ebook link to provide library users is the Primo (library website) permalink. Finding a permalink that includes "alma" (rather than "cdi") in the last part of the URL is your best bet, since those records are more likely to be stable.

If you require a direct link to the ebook, however, you can follow either of the instructions below to provide library users with links that should work on and off campus. Please be aware that if the publisher changes their ebook URLs that the links you generate below may stop working.

On campus
If you are creating this link on campus, use the following instructions to generate a URL that will allow your on- and off-campus users to access this ebook.

1. Copy the book or book chapter's URL directly from the browser's address bar
2. Add VCU Libraries's proxy address to the front ( http://proxy.library.vcu.edu/login?url= ).
   • Sample URL: http://proxy.library.vcu.edu/login?url=http://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookID=2129

Off campus
If you are creating this link off campus, use the following instructions to generate a URL that will allow your on- and off-campus users to access this ebook.

• Copy the URL directly from your browser's address bar for your book or book chapter. It should include "VCU" in the URL somewhere.
  • Sample URL: https://accessmedicine-mhmedical-com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/book.aspx?bookID=2129

Books can be individually searched from their Table of Contents page.