Ebooks and Audiobooks from Publishers
In the spring/summer of 2020 many publishers offered free access to their ebook and audiobook collections for a limited time. Although many have discontinued these free offerings in the fall of 2020, there are still a few sources available. Click here for an updated list as of January 2021.
Ebooks and Audiobooks from our District Collection
Our district Teacher-Librarian team has also curated a large collection of its own ebooks and audiobooks. There are basically two types:
- Overdrive ebooks and audiobooks, accessed through a separate collection in SORA, and
- Follett ebooks and audiobooks, accessed through logging into your school library and doing a Catalog – Destiny Discover Search.
The appeal of the Overdrive SORA collection is that it is beautifully organized and has extra bells and whistles for students. The advantage of doing a Library – Catalog – Destiny Discover Search is that you will pull up both Follett and Overdrive digital titles, as well as all the print titles in your library.
For a quick tip sheet on the different ways to access the Overdrive SORA ebooks and audiobooks, including downloading the SORA app for portable devices, click here. For a more detailed tip sheet, click here.
To go directly to the Overdrive SORA collection, click here or type https://soraapp.com/library/comoxvalleyca into your browser, whether on a computer or portable device. Bookmark it for quick access later. If asked to log into your Follett Account, for students it is set up as Username: student number; Password: initials plus last four digits of home phone number.
For a quick tip sheet on how to access our Follett ebooks and audiobooks in a Destiny Discover search, click here. For a more detailed tip sheet, click here.
To go directly to Destiny Discover, click here. A login window will appear. In the Location field, scroll down to British Columbia, in the School Field, start typing in your school name then click on it when it pops up. Click Go! Then log in with your Follett Account, as above.
ARC-BC Digital Ebooks
ARC-BC, The Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia, provides digital or alternate format alternatives to print for BC classrooms. The goal of ARC-BC is to provide BC students with perceptual disabilities and the educators supporting them with high quality digital alternate format materials based on the BC K-12 curriculum. E–books can be downloaded and used on computers, iPads, tablets, phones and as a whole class tool with projectors and Smartboards to support inclusion. Many textbooks, novels, workbooks, adapted written output materials and the New BC Science Kit books are available on ARC-BC. If the books you need aren’t available, then ARC-BC can create the alternate format version for you. If you already have an ARC-BC account, login at https://www.arc-bc.org/Login.aspx If you do not, as a BC educator you are eligible to register for a free account at http://www.arc-bc.org For more information, check out http://www.arc-bc.org or please contact the SD71 Student Services Tech Department Jane.Rondow@sd71.bc.ca for assistance. Student Services can even download e–books for you.
VIRL Ebooks and Audiobooks
The Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) has a collection of e-books and audio books that you can access by logging in with the username and password connected to your VIRL card. Two of their most popular elementary collections are Tumblebooks and Pebble Go. Consider taking your class to the library to get library cards so that they can access VIRL’s ebooks and audio books at home. Note that their e–books are for individual users who log in using their VIRL account at home only, not for whole class projection on Smartboards or individual computer usage at school etc., due to copyright. Direct link: http://virl.bc.ca/elibrary/ebooks
Research Databases (Our online encyclopedias, magazines and films)
Our district subscribes to several online encyclopedias, magazines and films, that are available every year to students. They are an excellent source for information for research projects, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Below are some links to help you get started.
Tip sheets on how to access the Research Databases: Quick version Detailed version