eBooks

An ebook can be anything from a PDF that you download and print, to the popular EPUB format, or an Apple Multi-touch book with videos and interactions. Most Tocal ebooks are in the EPUB format. Like a website, you can enlarge or decrease the font, click on links, search for words, and zoom images. They can be read on Apple and Android platforms.

A free title you might like to download is Guide to Tocal available from Apple Books and Google Play.

Our bee books, grass books and soil book are available in the Apple multi-touch format, IBA. Unlike normal eBooks, you can’t increase the font sizes, but the books contain video and other features, and are more highly designed.

To experience a Multi-touch book, download the free book Healthy bees: testing for hygienic behaviour from Apple Books.

You can buy our eBooks from Apple (if you have an AppleID or iTunes account), or Google Play (if you have a Google account).

  • Apple Books allows you to download the book into your Books app on your iPhone, iPad or Apple computer.
  • The Google Play library is in your web browser, but you can also download the books to the mobile app on Android or iPhones, or Adobe Digital Editions on a PC computer.

The files are protected so that you cannot copy and share them. However, you can purchase an ebook as a gift and send it to another person.

We don’t sell ebooks from our online store with our hard copy books, but we do have links for each book to the places to buy the book. The complete list of our ebooks and links to both stores is on our digital publications page.

Apple iBooks is available in 51 territories—Australia and New Zealand, Japan, North America, most of South America, and Western Europe.

GooglePlay books are available in 75 countries— Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, North America, most of South America, Western Europe and Eastern Europe, India and South Africa.

If you are planning to travel and read ebooks from GooglePlay, download them to your device before you leave Australia.

No, you cannot print ebooks, they are protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) software. Tocal books are protected by the Copyright Act 1968 and may not be reproduced without the permission of the publisher except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth).

Apple has a Volume Purchase Program. More information at https://volume.itunes.apple.com/au/store

Google Play does not currently have a system for purchasing class sets. If a teacher wishes to provide ebooks to students across android platforms, they can “Buy as a gift” individual copies of the book and send them to each individual student through the Google Play site.

Most RTOs prefer to provide physical copies of our books, which can be purchased at a discount by RTOs.

An alternative way to provide digital access to our books is through EBSCO eLibrary.



EBSCO eLibrary

EBSCO is an electronic library. It offers a catalogue of ebooks to schools, TAFEs, Universities, Government organisations, and businesses. Books purchased through EBSCO are able to be “borrowed” by different people within the organisation. They can also be linked to eLearning content so that students can access required reading within the Learner Management System.

More information is available from EBSCO (download EBSCO brochure for Libraries).

Pricing is higher, because library books can have many readers. An ebook purchased from Apple or GooglePlay can not be shared, lent, or given away, but an ebook in the EBSCO catalogue can be accessed by anyone in an organisation that has bought it.  An EBSCO account is best managed by a librarian.

Permanently.

This depends on the license under which the library purchases. They may be one user at a time, or they may be multiple users at a time but for a limited number of users each year.

Yes. Find out how here.

You can print up to 10 pages.