Userguide on Accessing the VitalSource Bookshelf directly from the VitalSource website

(bookshelf.vitalsource.com)

Enter the University-registered email address and NILE password.

Once successfully logged in, the provided texts will be displayed. Click the cover of the text to access that ebook (note: if access to multiple texts is granted, each text will appear on the same Bookshelf home page).

Logging in to the VitalSource Bookshelf

The eBook will load, displaying the Navigation Panel on the left, and the Reading Panel on the right. Select a link from the Navigation Panel to view the required content

eTextbook Navigation and Reading Panel

Use the Next Page or Previous Page orange triangular arrows at the top of the Reading Panel, either side of the title area to scroll through adjacent pages (a slider is available below the title in this area to allow you to navigate by clicking or dragging the slider)

Navigating to a specific pageFrom the Contents tab in the left hand Navigation Panel, click the triangular arrows to expand the sub-section, and click on the required page. Select the Contents section within the Content tab, and click the required page from the index presented in the main Reading Panel.

In the bottom centre of the Reading Panel, type the specific page number in the Page text entry area ( ) and press the Go.

Navigating through the pages

Move the cursor to the start of the text you wish to highlight, click and hold the mouse button to select, drag the cursor to the end text, and release the mouse button. The text will be highlighted and the Highlight dialogue box will appear.

Enter notes in the text entry area, being specific and relevant to the highlighted text as the notes will become searchable once saved. By default there are three pre-defined options to categorise notes:

Exam

Important

Need Clarification

Select the category the note relates to and click Save. Select Copy to make a copy of the highlighted text and paste it into a document.

REMEMBER TO CORRECTLY REFERENCE ANY COPIED MATERIAL TO AVOID PLAGIARISM!

Highlighting and Annotations

In the Navigation Panel, click the Highlights tab to display all Highlighted text and accompanying notes. Click on a note in the Navigation Panel to access the page the highlighted text appears, and then click the highlighted text in the Reading Panel to view the relevant notes.

To View and Edit a Note

To view a note, click the highlighted text in the Reading Panel. The note dialogue will appear and can be edited – click Save to apply changes.

In the Navigation Panel, click the yellow highlight pen icon to open the note and edit as described above.

To Delete a Note

Click the bin icon below the highlighted text in the Navigation Panel, or the Delete button in the note dialogue and click OK to delete the note.

Note: Clicking on the yellow highlight pen icon presents the category coloured circles. To change a notes category, click the related coloured circle. This is also available in the notes dialogue box.

Viewing Highlighted text, and Viewing, Editing and Deleting associated Notes

By default, there are three highlighter categories available: Exam, Important, and Clarification.Additional highlighter categories can be configured by selecting the Highlights tab from the left hand Navigation Panel, and clicking the context menu. Select Manage Highlighters

The Manage Highlighters dialogue box opens and allows several configuration options: + Add HighlighterEdit HighligherSet Sharing Options for HighlightersDelete Highlighters (click X)+ Add Friends (used to share Highlights)

Managing Highlighters

Click the +Add Highlighter ( ) bar to create a custom Highlighter, provide a name and select the Highlighter Color.

Edit Highlighter categoryClick an existing Highlighter to edit the Highlighter Name, change the Highlighter Color and set Sharing Options.

Add a new Highlighter category

When adding or editing a a Set Sharing Options toPrivate (only viewable to you), Friends (viewable only to Friends you have added to the Friends section), or Public (viewable to any user with access to VitalSource).

To define a list of Friends, click the button. Enter the details for your Friend, and click Save ( ) button.

To delete a FriendClick the X by the Friends name and a confirmation box will appear. Select Yes, I am sure and press the Delete button

Set Sharing options for Highlighters

Click the X by the Highlighter category to be deleted. There are two options:

Delete

Delete And Merge

Delete And Merge - delete the Highlighter category, but retain all notes by Merging them into an alternative Highlighter category Delete - delete the Highlighter category and all notes within that category.

Click the X beside the category and the Delete Highlighter dialogue box appears. Select the Delete And Merge option. Select the Highlighter category you wish the notes to be merged into. Select Yes, I am sure and click the Delete And Merge button.

Click the X beside the category and the Delete Highlighter dialogue box appears. Select the Delete option. Select Yes, I am sure and click the Delete button.

Delete a Highlighter category

In the top of the left hand Navigation Panel, enter a term to search for in the text entry area. Select Book to search within the contents of the book, or select Highlight to search within highlighted text and notes which have annotated and saved. Click the button to display the results.

Searching for a term within Book contents – click the result to open the resource.

Note the category of searches based on sections of the Book

Searching for a term within Highlights (includes Highlighted text and saved notes).

Using the Search function

Using the Magnify function The Reading Panel has two levels of magnification. Click the Magnify button ( ) in the bottom right corner of the Reading Panel to zoom in, then click the magnify button again ( ) to zoom out. To view full screen in zoomed mode, it is advisable to Hide the Navigation Panel by clicking the tab on the right hand of the Navigation Panel.

Navigation Panel shown Navigation Panel hidden

The Hide/Show Navigation Panel will appear in the middle of the screen.

Single click the grey button to Hide and Show the Navigation Panel

Using the bottom right hand corner functions: Magnify, Print and Cite/Link

Click the Print ( ) button to bring up the Page range dialogue box and enter the page range you wish to print.

A browser Print dialogue is presented to allow printer property configuration and printer selection. Please note the copyright statement that is automatically added to every print job.

Using the Print function

To create a reference to a specific page, click the Cite/Link ( ). A dialogue box appears presenting two options: Cite this Page – create a reference for the page based on MLA (Modern Language Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) –

The University of Northampton has adopted the Harvard Referencing style which is matched to the APA – SELECT APA WHEN USING REFERENCE FOR ASSESSMENTS

Switch the Citation format to APA by clicking the APA option to generate a Harvard equivalent reference.

Click Copy to copy the reference, ready to be pasted into a document.

Link to this pageClick Copy to copy a web link/hyperlink to the specific page. When clicked, the VitalSource Bookshelf login box will appear, and once successfully logged in, the page will be displayed.

Userguide created by Jim Harris, Northampton Business School, The University of NorthamptonThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

VitalSource Bookshelf is also available as a desktop application for Windows or iOS operating systems, as well as a mobile app for Apple, Android and Windows devices.

Please visit https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us for download information.

Using the Cite/Link function