Follett Software Company Enters Agreement with NetLibrary™
to Help K-12 School Libraries Offer Patrons Access to eBooks
McHENRY, IL – April 26, 2000 – Today Follett Software Company, the leading provider
of K-12 library automation, announced an agreement with NetLibrary, the world's premier
provider of eBooks over the Internet. This agreement, added to an earlier NetLibrary/Follett
Library Resources agreement, will allow K-12 libraries to purchase eBooks for their
collections from Follett Library Resources and also to integrate eBooks into their daily
operations via Follett Software library automation systems.
"Combining the strengths of Follett Software and Follett Library Resources with the eBook
technology of NetLibrary helps our customers maintain their role as students' first
source for information," said Tom Schenck, Follett Software Company president.
"It is a tremendous advantage to the K-12 marketplace to have the number one library
automation company and the number one library book distributor partnering to access and
deliver information content to schools," noted Chris Traut, president of the Follett
Corporation K-12 Group. "As a pioneer in the K-12 market, Follett knows school libraries
and their information needs better than anyone. We hope to foster the integration and
adoption of both electronic and print materials into the day-to-day curriculum of schools."
eBooks include published materials, such as reference books, scholarly monographs and
consumer books that have been converted into digital format for electronic distribution.
The Follett companies will help NetLibrary identify and obtain additions to its collection
of eBooks appropriate to the K-12 school market and facilitate the purchase of eBooks by
K-12 libraries. Access to these materials will
be available via the Follett Software library automation system 24 hours a day directly
from their online public access catalog. Follett Software Company will provide a direct
link from the Follett software system to the Follett Library Resources/NetLibrary web site.
This site, with a customized interface, will contain a large, rapidly growing collection of
eBooks for the K-12 library market. Follett Software Company is the only vendor in the K-12
marketplace to offer K-12 libraries the ability to integrate eBooks into their automation
systems.
Rob Kaufman, president and CEO of NetLibrary commented, "Our agreements with Follett
Library Resources and Follett Software Company represent a significant introduction of
eBooks to the K-12 school library marketplace. I look forward to working with the Follett
companies to enable students to experience eBooks at school and at home."
"We are pleased to be able to provide the K-12 interface to the NetLibrary site and to
offer an eBook collection appropriate to the K-12 marketplace," said Ross Follett,
president of Follett Library Resources and of the Follett Corporation Library Group.
"We believe this will enable libraries to maintain their key position in schools as the
source for information and knowledge, whether in print or electronic format. Follett
Software Company is adding a critical element: making eBooks a regular part of automation
systems."
To provide access to the eBooks, Follett Software will modify its Circulation Plus®,
Catalog Plus® and WebCollection Plus® library management systems this coming fall to
incorporate access to and tracking of the NetLibrary eBook materials. As a result:
- Patrons will be able to search for Follett Library Resources/NetLibrary eBooks or
a combined listing of eBooks and traditional library resources from their online
library catalog
- Patrons will be able to check out eBooks via the library automation system
- Library staff will be able to generate statistical reports to aid in the
analysis of eBook usage
The ability for librarians to routinely track eBooks opens the possibilities to
cater to the needs of an increasingly technology-literate student population. Now
school libraries can offer their students the choice of how they want to read,
whether for research or pleasure.
NetLibrary (www.NetLibrary.com) is a leading provider of eBooks and Internet-based
content/collection management services. NetLibrary has established relationships
with more than 200 publishers of trade, academic, reference, and scholarly books,
and has created digital versions of more than 18,000 titles. NetLibrary hosts and
manages eBook collections for numerous public, academic, corporate, and special
libraries around the world. The company also sells eBooks directly to consumers at
the NetLibrary web site. With NetLibrary, consumers can choose between PC-based
eBooks for reading online or offline, and eBooks for portable reading on a variety
of handheld computers, such as those running the Palm and Windows CE operating systems.
Follett Library Resources is the leading national distributor of books, audiovisual
materials and online services to libraries at schools, school districts and other
educational institutions serving the K-12 market. Follett Library Resources is a Follett
Corporation Library Group company, headquartered in McHenry, IL.
Since 1985, Follett Software Company has provided school, public and special libraries
with leading-edge library automation, Internet and curriculum resource software and
services. Its Circulation Plus software, with more than 30,000 installations worldwide,
is the number one selling library automation system in the K-12 marketplace. The company
also has the largest base of installed Windows customers, with 15,000 users. Follett
Software Company is a division of Follett Corporation, and is headquartered in McHenry,
IL. In 1999, the company was ranked among the top ten largest software companies in
Chicago. For additional information, call (800) 323-3397 or go to
www.fsc.follett.com.
Contact:
Follett Software Company
Celeste Sentman
800-323-3397, ext. 7205
csentman@fsc.follett.com
NetLibrary
Brian Bell
(303) 381-8703
bbell@NetLibrary.com
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