Professor Elam

Wed Jan 26, 2011

E-book Students:

 

First off, we’d like to thank you for being a part of our e-book program here at Texas A&M University – San Antonio. We hope your Spring semester is off to a good start. We wanted to send a few friendly reminders to help ensure you are getting the most out of your e-books.

 

1. Please make sure you are able to access all your e-books through Blackboard first before attempting to download them to the VitalSource desktop software or to a supported mobile device, such as an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.
2. When you first attempt to access an e-book for the first time in Blackboard, you will be asked to either “Create New Account“ or “Reference Existing Account.”
3. If this is your first semester using e-books here at TAMU-SA, you will click “Create New Account.” This sets you up with a new VitalSource account that can be used throughout your time here at TAMU-SA. Take note of what e-mail address you used for the username as well as the password, as you will be asked to use this account again in future semesters, and when you download e-books to a personal computer or mobile devices.
4. If you have used e-books here in the past, you will click “Reference Existing Account.” Enter the VitalSource username and password that you used to redeem e-books in the previous semester. If you don’t remember your password, click the “Forgot my password” link and follow the steps from there to reset your password.
5. Once you have successfully created a new account or referenced an existing one, you will no longer be asked to enter a VitalSource username and password from within Blackboard.
6. IMPORTANT: If you are in multiple e-book courses, you will need to go into each course in Blackboard and click on the e-book link at least one time before you are able to download it to VitalSource. You will need to know the VitalSource login information you either just set up or the existing account you referenced when you go to download the e-books in the VitalSource desktop software or to a supported mobile device.
7. After you have accessed each of your e-books at least once in Blackboard, you are ready to download the books. If you have not done so yet, download the software at http://www.vitalsource.com . Whenever you open or log in to the VitalSource desktop software, click the “Account” menu and then “Update Book List” to start the download(s).
8. If not all of your e-books are appearing or downloading, first make sure you are using the correct VitalSource login and password. If they are still not appearing for you, you will need to call the VitalSource support line to see if you need to merge accounts or other assistance. The number is below.
9. Remember, you are only able to download the VitalSource desktop software and e-books to your own personal computers and supported devices – NOT to university lab or library computers.
10. If you are a DSS student and need a special version of your e-book(s) to use in screen readers, please contact the DSS office and they will be happy to provide you alternate forms of your e-books.

 

If you are experiencing issues with e-books, you may e-mail ebook@tamusa.tamus.edu . Additionally, VitalSource has a toll-free help line at 1-800-610-5382, and a support website at http://support.vitalsource.com .

 

We hope this information helps, and we wish you a wonderful Spring semester!

 

Thank you,

TAMU-SA E-book Administration

 

<end of announcement>

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Sean Schupbach, MS

Instructional Designer

Texas A&M University-San Antonio
1450 Gillette Blvd
San Antonio, TX 78224
210.932.7894 voice
210.922.0193 fax
sschupba@tamusa.tamus.edu