Online Book Resources

Books are available on VitalSource Bookshelf for purchase, rent or part of the Instant Access program. VitalSource offers books from a wide variety of publishers and offers books at competitive prices.

• Books can be Read Aloud, look for the speaker button once you have opened your book
• Font adjustments are available in the button with a capital and lowercase letter “A”
• You can also highlight and take notes on books that were purchased from VitalSource or from an Instant Access VitalSource book
• A table of contents and search option help you get to what you need quickly
• VitalSource can be used online or through the Bookshelf for iOS, Bookshelf for MacOS, Bookshelf for Windows, and Bookshelf on Google Play
• More help articles on using Bookshelf are available Bookshelf's support site
• If you like VitalSource, and would like to see if DRC is able to provide your book in a format that can be uploaded to your VitalSource account, please reach out to us at drcaltmedia@cpp.edu. Not all features of VitalSource will work when the book is not purchased from VitalSource directly or through Instant Access.

The publisher Cengage hosts online books and assignments on their website. Some classes may have a book with “MindTap” in the title.

• To have the text read aloud, click the button labeled “listen to this page using Read Speaker” that looks like sound coming out of a mouth located above the book contents or in the right menu. The part of the text that is being read will be highlighted so you can follow along. If only a small portion of text needs to be read, you can highlight it and right click and choose “Read Text” from the menu.
• You can select text to make highlights and notes; but to see your notes in a “Notebook” you will need an Evernote account
• A table of contents and search option help you get to what you need quickly
• The size of the text can be slightly adjusted in the button with the lowercase and capital letter “A”. There are very few font sizes to choose from
• There is an iOS Cengage Mobile app and Google Play Cengage Mobile. The app has more settings for font types, sizes, and a dark mode. Text can be read aloud by tapping the screen so the menu at the top appears. The menu will also show the table of contents button, search, font adjustments, and bookmark options.

The publisher McGraw Hill hosts their books online. Older books and newer books are displayed with different menus. Once you have opened your book, look at the menu displayed and find the matching one below for tips on how to use the book. Some books my have the word “Connect” in the title.

• Older books will have a menu above the book contents that looks like the screenshot above
  • Font adjustments (3 size options) are available in the gear button
  • There is no Read Aloud or Text-to-Speech, but Kurzweil Read the Web and Natural Reader Chrome Extensions will read the book
  • To add highlights, select text on book then click the highlighter button at the top, then select a color and click “add highlight”
  • To add a note, select text on book then click the sticky note button at the top, then select the color and click “add note”
  • The notes and highlights can be found in the “my notebook” button located under the chapter title
  • The table of contents is in the dropdown menu labeled "book contents"

• New books will have a menu above the book contents that looks like the screen shot above
  • To have the book read aloud, click the speaker button below the three-dot icon or select text in the book and select the speaker button in the small menu that appears next to the text. There are 5 speed options. Text is not highlighted while read, but the paragraph being read is indicated by a vertical line left of the text
  • Font size can be adjusted using the button with smaller capital A and larger capital A with an arrow between them
  • Highlights and notes can be added by selecting the text in the book to annotated and in the menu that appears next to what you selected. Your highlights and notes are available in the three-line menu in the top left of the window
  • A table of contents and search option help you get to what you need quickly
• McGraw Hill offers the ReadAnywhere iOS app and ReadAnywhere Google Play app which can be used with the newer McGraw Hill books. There are options to change font and have book read aloud in the three-dot menu in top right. The app also allows for highlighting and annotation

The publisher W. W .Norton hosts their books and assignments online on their website only. Some classes may have a book with the word “Inquizitive” in the title.

• You can add highlights and notes by selecting text and choosing the highlight color or pencil button in the menu that appears next to the selected text. Notes and highlights are available in the menu in the left corner (three lines).
• No font adjustments on the web version, but zooming with web browser controls provides a good substitute
• Text can be read aloud by selecting the menu button (three dots) next to the chapter name at bottom of page. This will expand a menu with the option of “Read aloud (Text-to-Speech)”. When this button is clicked a new menu will be added to the top of the book with 3 speed options, stop, play, skip, and voice choices. The section of the text that is being read is highlighted, not specific words or sentences.
• Text can also be read by selecting a section of text, and a menu will appear next to the selection. In the menu the Text-to-Speech button is an image of an ear
• The book can also be read with Kurzweil Read the Web and Natural Reader Chrome Extensions
• A table of contents and search option help you get to what you need quickly
• There are no apps available from Norton, only online access
• More help information is available on the Norton Help page

The publisher Pearson hosts online books and assignments on their website. Some classes may have a book with “MyLab”, “Mastering”, or “Revel” in the title.

• Font adjustments are available in the button that looks like a capital and lowercase letter “A”. There is a slider to choose the font size
• Click the headphone button to listen to the text on the page. This will start reading the content at the top of the page you are on. Text is not highlighted as it is read to you. There are 6 options for speed only
• Web version works with Natural Reader Chrome Extension; does not work with Kurzweil Read the Web Extension
• Can highlight and take notes by highlighting text, of the book and selecting a color of highlight. From the highlight menu, clicking the pencil will allow you to add a note to the highlight.
• Various apps for the different Pearson readers are available on the App Store and Google Play; cofirm which Pearson app to use by checking the ebook platform's name

The publisher Wiley has two online platforms for their textbooks, WileyPlus and Wiley eText.

• Both platforms, WileyPlus and Wiley eText, use an integration of VitalSource on their website; for instructions on VitalSource, see the VitalSource tab above.
• Wiley provides helpful instructions on how to sync you Wiley books with a VitalSource account on the Wiley support page

If you purchased an Amazon Kindle book, the book can be read online at Kindle Cloud Reader on your computer or through an app on your mobile device.

• Can adjust font size, spacing, and background color
• Can highlight text for future reference
• Can look up definitions without leaving your book
• A table of contents and search option help you get to what you need quickly
• No Text-to-Speech built into app or website; but can be read with a screen reader