What is Digital Rights Management?
DRM is how publishers keep track of how long a book is checked out electronically. The same way you have a loan for a regular book, when you download an ebook you have it for a certain amount of time DRM is how this is tracked.
eBooks with Digital Rights Management require specialised readers. The two readers recommended below are supported by the major eBook providers used at JCU.
Desktops and laptops
For both Windows and MAC it is recommended that you use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). The program is free to download and requires you to create a free Adobe account.
Mobile Devices
The free program Bluefire Reader is recommended for mobile devices, both Apple and Android, this reader requires the creation of a free Adobe account. Other DRM compatible readers are available.
eReaders
Most eReaders will read a PDF version of a book.
Kindle is not currently compatable with the way JCU offers most eBooks to our borrowers (free eBooks available via Gutenburg Project can be downloaded in Kindle format).
Kobo eReaders will read Adobe Digital Editions formatted books. You will need to download the eBook to a desktop version of ADE, then copy it over to your Kobo (you will need to authorise your Kobo first) Find the full instructions for opening ADE files here (note, you need to instal ADE to your computer to use this feature): Add eBooks with Adobe Digital Editions
Other eReaders that will accept ADE formats may also be compatible. You will need to authorise the devise and use your desktop version of ADE to upload the books to your device.
Adobe also maintains a list of supported devices and apps that will read Adobe DRM books. If the link given below does not work, search the Adobe site for "Kobo" or "Bluefire" and it should find the list.