R2 Digital Library Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

Yes! Simply click here to request a free trial

To start your R2 Digital Library trial, you will need an active Rittenhouse account number and an interest in integrating health science eBooks into your institution.

You can build and save a shopping cart during your trial in preparation for your initial purchase. Please note that if you make a purchase during your free trial, then your trial will end, and your account will convert to an active R2 Digital Library account.

There are three purchase models available for R2 Digital Library eBooks

  • Firm order one or three concurrent users, eBooks priced individually
  • Patron Driven Acquisition can be all or part of your collection (see below)
  • Free open educational eBooks are available

Yes. Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) from the R2 Digital Library is a purchase model that enables eBooks to be added to a collection at no cost. The eBooks can be accessed 3 times, unique sessions, at no cost. Usage data available for eBooks in your PDA collection can help inform purchasing decisions. There are no automatic or required purchases. This service is available to any active R2 Digital Library account and can also be used to establish an initial collection.

Access and Configuration

The goal of setting these preferences is to ensure your patrons have seamless access to your R2 Digital Library collection.

  • Single Sign On – User Name and Password
  • Proxy IP/EZ Proxy
  • IP Range
  • Shared IP Ranges
  • Referrer URL
  • Third party access via OpenAthens

If you have configured your access and are not authenticating, there are a few things to check:

  • Make sure all the IP ranges within your institution are included
  • You can browse to the diagnostic screen. This will let you know if you are authenticated and what the inbound IP range and/or referral information is
  • Contact R2 Digital Library Support: customerservice@r2library.com or 800.345.6425

Increasing discoverability of your R2 Digital Library collection will increase your usage and ensure you are getting the highest return on the investment of your purchases. Below are some of the tools we provide to increase discoverability.

Institution Branding: Be sure your patrons know who is providing access to the R2 Digital Library. Use the tools in your account profile Administrative Hub to upload your logo and customize the messaging your patrons will view once authenticated. Click here to access.

  1. *Optional: Add your library’s logo and welcome message to brand the R2 Digital Library for your patrons. Click here to access
  2. For extra personalization, set the Patron Facing Display Name and Featured Message that you would like to appear when your patrons access your R2 Digital Library collection.

Persistent URLs: Use the export tool from your collection or order history to generate the persistent URLs.

Deep Links: Use the tools to export a link to any eBook or any section. These links can be saved, shared, embedded to provide direct access to your eBook collections. Compatible with Learning Management and EMR systems.

MARC Records: Free basic MARC can be downloaded from My R2 Collection or any product detail screen; it can also be downloaded from order history. It is available for all types of eBooks: purchased, patron driven acquisition, and free eBooks.

You can provide your MARC URL prefix by going to Integration Tools and entering your persistent URL there.

Commercial Discovery Partners: Rittenhouse partners with commercial discovery tool providers. We provide R2 eBook meta-data consistently to our partners to ensure the records you need are available. We currently partner with EBSCO, ProQuest, TD Net and many others. Simply request R2 records from your commercial provider and they’ll instruct how to proceed.

OCLC Partnership: for WorldCat Records: We’ll transmit your order history to OCLC for record creation. Enter your OCLC Symbol here

Reserve Shelf: R2 enables the creation of customized reading lists for your patrons. From the Administrative Hub, simply go to the Reserve Shelf area of Collection where you can select eBooks or sections of eBooks from R2 to create and name your list. Capture the URL and embed the link in a libguide and learning management system (LMS).

Outreach materials: Be sure your patrons are informed. Use the marketing materials available to you, including Quick-Start Guides that can be posted and distributed. Click here to access outreach materials.

How-To Videos: Link to quick two-minute guides for using the features of the R2 Digital Library. Available for patrons and administrators. Click here to access the R2 Digital Library How-To Videos.

Acquiring eBooks on the R2 Digital Library

Search and Browse for eBooks you would like to add to your collection in the top search bar or in the “Purchase eBooks” or “Trending eBooks” area in the Collection area of R2library.com Use the available Sort and Filter tools to narrow down your results.

There are multiple ways to add eBooks into your collection

  1. For quick purchasing: use the icons to the right of the eBook in the search section
  2. Click on the cover image to learn more about that specific title. Click on a “Purchase” or “Add to PDA” icon to place the eBook in a shopping cart for purchase or directly to a PDA collection.
  3. Select the number of concurrent users you’d like to purchase and add the eBook to a new or existing Shopping Cart. All eBooks from the R2 Digital Library are purchased for the life of the edition with a one-time payment
  4. For multiple eBooks: select the eBooks you want to assign an action to, then click the execute selection button, and choose the action you desire.

The R2 Digital Library offers access exclusively to health sciences eBooks—not journals. The R2 Digital Library does offer pass-trough access to PubMed, MeSH and Cinhal. Using IP authentication, your patrons can link out seamlessly to your primary source material.

When a new edition of an eBook is released to the R2 Digital Library, you still have access to the older edition of an eBook via your R2 Digital Library Archives. You can choose whether to include Archived eBooks into your displayed collection for patrons or make them accessible through the filter option. You are welcome to purchase the new edition, and you can sign up for email notifications to alert you to new editions of eBooks without your R2 Digital Library collection.

The R2 Digital Library enables you to print sections of a resources on the platform. To comply with publishers' copyright policies, during a session level, if a resource receives more than 60 print requests or 20% of the total number of HTML pages that compromises the resource on the R2 Digital Library over a 24-hour period, then print functionality will be temporarily suspended for that resource. Patrons will receive a notification upon crossing the 75% threshold of allowable print requests. If printing is suspended for a resource, all Institutional Administrators associated with an account will be notified immediately.