eBook FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions for the AMS Weather, Ocean, and Climate Studies digital books

If you have any trouble, please contact us at [email protected] with a description of your problem. Let us know what step you're on or what program you're using. If possible, include the full error message and your order number.

Quick Menu

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AMSEDU Bookstore

Placing an order with Credit Cart

We accept MasterCard, VISA, or American Express. We cannot accept Discover or prepaid cards. 

Access Card or Coupon Code

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Returning to the AMSEDU Bookstore

To log in, you need to use your username, not your email address. When you first place an order, your username and password will be included in the emailed receipt. An account is created automatically for your email when you first place an order.

If you forget your username, request a new password and your username will be included in the email.

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Book Formats

The books are available as Online ePub or ePub Download rentals for six months, as well as non-rental, non-expiring ePub Downloads and (non-rental) physical Softcovers. 

  • Online ePub
    • Most intuitive
    • Access on any computer/device with internet access
    • Text-to-Speech reader, Flashcards, Notes to Study Guide
  • Softcover
    • Additional cost (books are published digitally, there is no stockpile of physical books)
    • 2-6 business days to process/print before ships
    • Forever Yours
  • if the digital book is not working for you and you want to pay extra for the softcover; email [email protected] and provide the full name and email address provided when placing the order, and the order number, and request help to get the softcover
  • No PDF of the books is available for purchase

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Online ePub - Read Now

Click on the Read Now button to open the books in a second browser tab.  While Chrome is recommended, Firefox, Safari, Edge and others work. Internet Explorer (IE) cannot open the Online ePub.

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AMSEDU Bookstore 

Order isn't going through

Ensure all your information is correct and give it another try. Otherwise email [email protected] with a description of what is happening.

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No conformation email 

When you place an order, either directly or with a coupon, you should receive at least two automated emails from the AMSEDU Bookstore. One is the receipt, which will include your username if it is your first purchase, and the other is instructions for the format of the ebook.

Automated emails are often caught in email filters, which can delay their arrival, or pulled into the Spam/Junk folders. Some school accounts will not allow the automated emails from 'unknown' sources. 

Please check your Spam/Junk folder.

It is also possible there was a typo in the email address, which is why the email was not delivered.

If you do not receive a conformation email, contact [email protected]. Include the full name and email address provided when placing the order, as well as the order number if you have it.

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Page Not Found

When you enter the URL from the Access Card, you receive the Page Not Found message:

AMSEDU Bookstore screenshot for error Page Not Found

 

Double check that the url is correct. If it is, contact [email protected] with the url and coupon code. We'll check it against our records. 

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Invalid/Expired Coupon

When you enter the coupon code, you receive an error message stating "This coupon code is invalid or expired.

screenshot of bookstore with error message for invalid or expired coupon

The AMSEDU Bookstore does not recognize the coupon code, it assumes it is an invalid code or a valid code that has expired. Most likely, there is a typo. 

All the coupon codes are capitalized letters and digits, the zero will have an slash through it. Give the coupon code another look and see if that helps.

If the problem persists, email [email protected] with the coupon code and the control number (at the bottom of the right inside page of the Access Card) and we'll check it against our records.

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Coupon reached limit

When you enter the coupon code, you receive an error message stating "This coupon code has reached the maximum redemption limit.

screenshot of bookstore with maximum limit error message

Each coupon can only be used once. It is possible an earlier attempt went through. If possible, click on My Account in the upper right and see if that brings up the books. Otherwise, try resetting your password.

Otherwise, email [email protected] with the coupon code and the control number (at the bottom of the right inside page of the Access Card) and we'll check it against our records.

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Returning to the AMSEDU Bookstore

1. Go to the AMSEDU Bookstore and log in with your username. You may need to request a new password

bookstore homepage with username and password field circled

2. Once logged in, click on My Account

bookstore homepage with the My Account links circled

 

Or go to User Account page, which will take you directly to your books once you log in

Bookstore User Account page with Username and Password fields in the center

If you continue to have problems, please contact [email protected].

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Can't Log into AMSEDU Bookstore

When you enter your username and password, you receive the error message "Sorry, unrecognized username or password. Have you forgotten your password?"

Homepage with unrecognize username or password error message

Either the password or the username could have a typo in them. You can create a new password here and follow the steps here (or scroll down). After 5 failed attempts to log in, you will be blocked

If you did not create an account when you purchased the books, then one is created automatically. Your username is likely the first part of your email address (before the @). If you create a new password, you will also be given your username.

If you continue to have problems, please contact [email protected]. Include the full name and email address you provided when placing the order.

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Resetting Your Password

If you've never created or have forgotten your password for the AMSEDU Bookstore, you can change it. From the AMSEDU Bookstore homepage, click on the Request new password link.

1. Go to edubooks.ametsoc.org/user/password  

2. Enter the email address or username you used when you downloaded your materials then click on Reset Password

User account page with a field to enter the username or email and one for CAPTCHA

If your username or email address are not recognized, try typing them in again. Otherwise, contact [email protected] and we will find your account info. Include the full name provided when placing the order

3. Further instructions are sent to your email

user account page with message that the instructions were sent

4. Check your email, including your Spam folder, for the provided link. Your username is also included. Click the link (If you do not receive this email, after checking your Spam folder, contact us at [email protected])

email with link to reset the password, all instances of the username are highlighted

5. The emailed link brings you to a page with your username in italic as well as when the page will expire. Click the Log In button. If you receive an error that the link has already been used, request a new email

Password reset landing page with further information and instructions

6. In your account, your username and email address are already filled out. Create a new password and confirm that password. It must be at least 6 characters, including both lower and uppercase letters, numbers and punctuation

Account page with fields to make and confirm the new password

7. Once the password is created, scroll down to click the Save button

The account page with the text The changes have been saved

The new password has now been saved and you are signed in.

If you continue to have problems, please contact [email protected].

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No email with new password link

Automated emails are often caught in email filters, which can delay their arrival, or they are pulled into the Spam/Junk folders. Some school accounts will not allow the automated emails from 'unknown' sources. 

Check your Spam/Junk folder. If you do not receive an email, contact [email protected]

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Not Recognized

When requesting a new password, your email address (or username) "is not recognized as a user name or an e-mail address."

Account page with the username and email not recognized error message

Is it possible you used your personal or school address instead? This email address should match the one provided when you placed the order. 

If it still doesn't work, contact [email protected] and we will find your account info. Include the full name provided when placing the order.

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Link is already used

When following the link from the email to reset your password, you receive the error message "You have tried to use a one-time login link that has either been used or is no longer valid. Please request a new one using the form below."

Account page with notice that email address is not recognized

The emailed link only works for about a day and can only be used once. If you request an email multiple times, it's best to delete older requests so you know which are still active.

Fill out the form again to get a new password.

If you continue to have problems, please contact [email protected].

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Blocked Account

When entering your username and password, you receive the message: "Sorry, there have been more than 5 failed login attempts for this account. It is temporarily blocked. Try again later or request a new password. " 

Homepage with error message that the account has been temporarily blocked

It can take a number of hours for the username to be unblocked.

Contact [email protected] and request to have your username unblocked. Please include your username in the email.

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Online Reader

Pop-up Box Options

If you double click or click and drag in the online reader, the text will highlight and you can create notes, flashcards, copy the section or create a citation. 

If click on a single word or click and drag over many words, you will see a pop-up menu. Definition only words with a single word or term.

Popup box with four colors and four icons over the text of the online book

The second option is Create a Note, which allows you to make notes about the text you selected. This will be saved and can be reached from the Learning Tools (icon of horizontal bars in the upper left).  When you have saved a note, a dot the same color as the highlight is added to the right.

Popup box to add a note over the text of the book

The next option is the Create a Flashcard. You can review your flashcards in the Learning Tools. The easiest way to create a flashcard is by highlighting the definition instead of the term. This ensures the full definition shows up in the 'back' of the flashcard. You can enter the term and edit the definitions as needed.

1. Start by highlighting the text and select Create a Flashcard

Flashcard popup over the text

2. A popup to create the flash card will show the definition you highlighted. If you highlight a small amount of text, it will be placed in the front of the flashcard.

3. You can have several decks of flashcards. You can organize them by chapter, by section, or by topic. In this case, we are adding it to the already created 'Weather' deck.

4. Make sure you have a deck selected, a front and a back, then click Save

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To Copy Text, highlight the text you want to copy and then select the fourth options

Pop-up box with an arrow pointing at the copy option

The text you have highlighted then appears in the Copied Content field. 75% of the text in the books are allowed to be copied, so each time you want to copy part of it, it verifies that you do intend that to happen and it was not a mistake. Click the Copy button and you can paste the select elsewhere.

Popup box displaying the percent of text copied

The Citation option provides a quick way to cite the books in APA, Chicago and MLA formats.

Selecting Read Aloud from Here will start the text-to-speech.

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Top Menu

The online reader has helpful functions to navigate, study and listen to the books. They can be difficult to find if you're unfamiliar, so they are identified here.

screenshot of the top of the online reader

On the top left, is Learning Tools Drawer . On the top right, from left to right, Is the Table of Contents, the Search, the Appearance Settings and the Additional Options.

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Learning Tools

The three horizontal bars on the left are the Learning Tools Drawer. Click on this to review all the notes, flashcards, and copied content completed with the pop-up menu

Top menu of online reader with arrow pointed at 3 horizontal lines on the left

The menu appears on the left side of the screen

Menu under the left icon three options to select from and the Flashcards open

Table of Contents

A very helpful tool to when you want to move through the books. The Table of Contents is the first icon, a bullet list, on the right.

Online reader top menu with an arrow pointed to the Table of Contents icon

Click on this and you can jump to another chapter or to your bookmarks

Contents menu with table of contents listed and bookmarks option to its right

Search

Instead of an index, use the Search tool to look for specific words. You'll be able to scroll through everywhere it is listed in the book. The icon is magnifying glass on the left

Appearance

The double T, one larger and one smaller, allows you to adjust the appearance of the book. 

Online reader top menu with arrow pointed at the two T on the right

You can change the font size, though this does not affect the images. and for the theme pick between the Default (black text on white), Sepia (black on peach), Night (white on black), and High Color Contrast.  There is also a selection of fonts, and the letter spacing, line height and margins can be slightly increased or decreased. You can play with it to get what works best for you, and reset it to default if needed.

Appearance menu

Additional Options

The last icon on the right is three dots in a vertical line.

Online reader top menu with arrow pointed at right most icon

The additional options include reading offline, printing to PDF, collaboration and others. We will only go into the the first two, but if you want to share notes with a friend (collaboration), managed your shortcut keys, select another language or need other help or want to give feedback, those are also available in the additional options menu

Menu for additional options which includes offline and printing options

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The Offline reader allows you to read while not connected to the internet if you arrange for it beforehand. You need to read it on the same device you are on, as it is stored in your cache. When you are offline you open and read what you have selected. 

While 100% of the book is available to read offline, if you use multiple devices, you may 'download' more than 100% between them.  Make sure to cancel any reading once you're done to avoid that.

1. Click on Download for Offline

Menu of chapters for reading offline

2. Click the down arrow on the left of the chapter title, which starts the download

3. Once it downloads, a message pops up saying you need to bookmark this page in order for offline reading

Pop up message advising to bookmark this page

4. Later on, when you are not connected to the internet, return to the bookmarked page and all the content will be there. This is especially helpful for the textbook

5. If you return to the Download for Offline reading, it will list the saved content on this device, as well as the overall percent downloaded and remaining

Offline menu with the downloaded content at the top

6. Click the trashcan icon to remove that offline access for that chapter, or Clear Downloads to remove them all. They may need to be done on each device

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You can print up to 35% of each book. If you do print, make sure not to start at the very beginning, but start with Chapter 1 or Investigation 1A, as otherwise the cover, front matter, and table of contents will count against your total, when they're probably not what you want. Once you've printed 35%, you cannot print more

1. Determine the page number you want to start and stop at

2. Click Print Pages to PDF

printing menu

2. Enter the start and last page then click add

Print menu ready to print pages 10-20, which is a total of 4.4%

3. The menu will show the pages you want to print and the percent that it'll take up of the total. You can add more page, cancel or click Print to PDF to print them

print menu showing the print history

4. Under Print History, you can print an earlier selection again

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Navigation Menu

At the bottom of the screen, the navigation menu has arrow keys to move forward by chapter, the blue bar shows the length of the book, with a small dot for each chapter and a larger circle for your current location. The page number is in the right corner, though all page numbers are estimates, and you can use this to go to the 'start' of a page. There is also an ear icon for text-to-speech and you can bookmark that page overall

Online reader navigation menu

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The ear or listening icon in the lower right is the Text to Speech Controls. When you click on it, it opens a play button as well as a forward or back 10 seconds. If you click this play button, it will start at the top of the top of the chapter or where you last paused. (Click on the page and use the popup menu to start reading wherever you choose.)

Text to speech menu bar

If your screen is narrow, a down arrow will let you expand the menu to see the volume button and setting gear icon. A wider screen will show those by default

Expanded test to speech controls

Click the gear icon for the settings. From here, you can change the speed of the reader, as well as, for U.S. English, choose between David, Mark and Zira

Text to Speech settings menu

 

That covers most all of the the online reader. Experiment to see what works best for you! If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

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Timed out while reading online

Screenshot of timed out message: You've been away too long
 

After an hour, the online reader times out, which will also occur if the same book is opened in two different browsers or computers. 

Close this tab and click on the Read Now button in the AMSEDU Bookstore eLibrary again. You may need to refresh the page.

If you continue to have problems, please contact [email protected].

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White Page

Especially if you timed out, sometimes when you click the Read Now button, you receive either a blank page or a blank page with the text {"error_message": "Invalid security token"}

Refreshing the page should work. If it does not, close that tab and refresh the AMSEDU Bookstore page then click the Read Now button again. 

If you continue to have problems, please contact [email protected].

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Online Reading is currently unavailable

When you go to your books, instead of the Read Now button, there is the message "Online reading is currently unavailable."

Screenshot from eLibrary zoomed in on error message

Has your rental period ended? The Online ePub has a 6 month rental period with a 3 month grace period afterward. Once the 9 months has passed, the online reading is unavailable.

If your rental period is still active, contact us at [email protected]. Either there is a system wide problem or we need to push the books back into your eLibrary.

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