Our vendor EBSCO has recently made changes to how they handle digital rights management (DRM) for their eBooks. As a result, eBooks downloaded for offline reading can now only be read using Thorium Reader.
Thorium Reader is free to download and offers more accessibility options than Adobe Digital Editions. If you’d like to learn more about Thorium Reader, please see EBSCO’s FAQ.
Overall user experience should be fairly similar to Adobe Digital Editions with one exception. Thorium Reader requires a passphrase before a download can be viewed. You will be given that information when you initiate a download (see image below) and prompted to enter it when you open your eBook in Thorium Reader. Once a passphrase is entered for a download, it does not need to be reentered for the duration of the eBook loan.
Unfortunately, at this time, Thorium Reader does not have a mobile option, but an app for iOS is currently in beta, and an app for Android is currently being developed. We will update you of any future releases.
Finally, just a reminder, this is only applicable to full eBook download for titles that utilize DRM. Chapter downloads and DRM free titles can still be downloaded without the need for any eReader, and online reading is unaffected. Currently, EBSCO is the only vendor migrating to Thorium Reader so Adobe Digital Editions may still be required for eBooks from other vendors like ProQuest.
If you have any additional questions or difficulties accessing an eBook with Thorium Reader, please feel free to reach out to me directly (sylvia.orner@scranton.edu) or through Ask a Librarian for more immediate assistance.