eSpotlight: O’Reilly

What is O’Reilly?

O'Reilly is a technical sourcebook publisher known for distinctive 19th century engravings on their covers. They also offer eBooks, audiobooks, videos, interactive learning, and practice exams covering topics related to technology, business, and professional development. The O'Reilly eResource contains all this and more and is available for free to San Jose Public Library card holders. Some examples are below.

Recently Published Titles

Courses for Specific Roles & Skills

A Real-Life Example

I keep getting advertisements on Instagram for the 4th Edition of Douglas Self's Small Signal Audio Design.

This is likely because I make things that go bleep and bloop in the night (guitar pedals, electronic noisemakers, stuff to annoy your parents with) and like to consult with people who know far better than I, how to make those bleeps and/or bloops as bleepy and/or bloopy as possible - parents won't annoy themselves after all!

Brand new, Small Signal Audio design is $75 - a lot for any book, let alone an eBook. The physical copy will set you back over $100. I build my own gear to (allegedly) save money, so I went on the lookout for cheaper options.

I could have requested a copy from SJPL's interlibrary loan service ILLiad, but that would take a week or few to arrive, and I would have the book for only a limited checkout period.

O'Reilly to the rescue! The book is available, and discoverable through SJPL's catalog. It’s the 3rd edition and not the 4th, but this beggar won’t be choosy.

Small Signal Audio Design, 3rd Edition

You can use O'Reilly's search feature to quickly find a concept that may reappear in different contexts in different chapters. This can come in very handy for this kind of work -- in this case using pulse width modulation controlled analog switches as part of a variable resistance element in a state variable voltage-controlled filter. What does that mean? Slightly different sounding bleeps and/or bloops that other more conventional approaches. Parents will be annoyed either way!

Where to Find It

To access O’Reilly, visit the SJPL website. Select Books & eResources in the menu bar, then eResources, A-Z. From there, scroll down to O’Reilly.
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Get Social! 

Have you used O'Reilly to support your own bleeping and blooping? Or maybe you have a favorite cover design? Tell us about it on social media! #SJPLeResources 

Need Help?

Please contact library staff with additional questions about any of our eResources. You can also find more information, FAQs, and tutorials on our eResources Help page.