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NetLibrary Launches the World's Most Comprehensive Digital Library on the Internet
New service to enhance the traditional library experience by providing anytime,
anywhere access, search, and retrieval of books online
BOULDER, Colo.-- March 29, 1999-- NetLibrary™, the world's premier provider
of electronic books and information, launched today on the Internet at
www.NetLibrary.com. NetLibrary provides libraries and their patrons anytime,
anywhere access to a comprehensive collection of reference, scholarly, and
professional electronic books (eBooks) and information that can be viewed,
searched, and checked out via the Internet. All patrons need is a personal
computer with an Internet browser (version 3.x).
NetLibrary is redefining the learning experience by broadening the scope and
functionality of traditional libraries. By extending the 'bricks-and-mortar' library
institution to the online community, NetLibrary's platform offers a whole new world
of information resources to library patrons including twenty-four-hour-a-day,
seven-day-a-week access to electronic information, advanced search
capabilities, and the ability to highlight, bookmark, and annotate information.
"The Internet has created an opportunity to revolutionize the traditional library
system," said Tim Schiewe, president and CEO of NetLibrary. "It is NetLibrary's
mission to integrate the convenience, access, and capabilities of the Web with
the familiarity and depth of content patrons find at their local or university library
today."
"The Internet has created an opportunity to revolutionize the traditional library
system," said Tim Schiewe, president and CEO of NetLibrary. "It is NetLibrary's
mission to integrate the convenience, access, and capabilities of the Web with
the familiarity and depth of content patrons find at their local or university library
today."
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ABC-CLIO
AMACOM Books
Cambridge University Press
Columbia University Press
Duquesne University Press
E Source
Facts on File
Grove's Dictionaries Inc.
Harvard Business School Press
Indiana University Press
Johnson Books
Joseph Henry Press
Libraries Unlimited
M.E. Sharpe
Macmillan Press Ltd. UK
Macmillan Publishers Ltd. UK
McWhiney Foundation Press
National Academy Press
New York University Press
O'Reilly & Associates
Ohio University Press
Purdue University Press
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Reference Service Press
Rutgers University Press
Scarecrow Press
Southern Illinois University Press
St Martin's Press Scholarly and Reference
Teachers College Press
The Brookings Institution
The McGraw-Hill Companies
The MIT Press
University of Akron Press
University of California Press
University of Nebraska Press
University of North Carolina Press
University of Pittsburgh Press
University of Scranton Press
University of Washington Press
University Press of Colorado
University Press of Mississippi
Utah State University Press
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"NetLibrary offers publishers and libraries familiar models that make business
sense," said Ron Boehm, President and CEO, ABC-CLIO. "Even more
importantly, both publisher and library receive much more information and have
much more control over their key competencies than by working with traditional
distributors."
NetLibrary provides all the services of a traditional library, but with the
convenience and advanced capabilities provided by the Internet. The premise is
simple: patrons search for eBooks at NetLibrary and then have the option of
either checking out an eBook, viewing it online, or viewing it offline by
downloading the eBook onto their computer. If an eBook is already checked out,
users can queue for the eBook and will be notified when it is available.
Users are offered capabilities and services beyond what is possible with hard-copy
books. Besides twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week access, users
can search volumes of material by author, subject, title, key word, phrase, or
idea. A search for a phrase or key word in NetLibrary will not only pull up eBooks
with the requested information, but will also take you directly to the page where it
appears. Once there, NetLibrary allows users to highlight, bookmark, and
annotate text, all of which can be saved and used if the eBook is viewed again.
NetLibrary is converting hard-copy books to a proprietary electronic format,
storing them on NetLibrary servers, and then converting them to HTML as users
request them. NetLibrary has over 2,000 titles available today and will be adding
as many as fifty titles a day to its collection. NetLibrary will have over 8,000 titles
by the end of 1999. Initially, NetLibrary is focusing on reference, scholarly, and
professional books to meet the demand for higher education and distance-learning
curricula.
"NetLibrary offers us a tremendous opportunity to enhance our services,
particularly for higher education and distance learning," said Alan Charnes,
Executive Director, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. "This service will
impact both teachers and students by providing a totally new approach to
learning."
NetLibrary gives libraries the ability to better serve their patrons by reducing or
eliminating overhead and infrastructure costs associated with book storage,
replacement, and maintenance. Interlibrary loans can be handled via the
Internet, eliminating the need for shipping expenses and ending the delay
associated with traditional loans. Best of all, NetLibrary eliminates boundaries,
making eBooks available to anyone with an Internet connection.
NetLibrary also allows librarians to better manage and develop their collections
through usage reports. These reports show librarians how often an eBook is
checked out, how many people are waiting to check out specific eBooks, and the
last time the eBook was checked out. This information will also allow publishers
to craft new acquisitions strategies and plans for product revisions.
"As a consortium, we are committed to enhancing the services we provide our
patrons by investing in new and leading-edge products," said Tom Sanville,
Executive Director, OhioLINK. "From our perspective, NetLibrary is the most
powerful tool we have seen that may allow electronic books to play a major role
in our collection development strategies."
NetLibrary's advanced security technology insures that the copyright of eBooks is
as good or better than hard-copy books. Through controlled user access,
watermarking, frequent on-screen copyright warning messages, and limitations
on printing, copying, and downloads, the intellectual property of publishers is
secure. If a user ignores warnings and continues printing or copying materials,
they will be kicked off the system and be restricted from using the service.
"NetLibrary's extensive copyright protection and infrastructure have given us the
critical solution needed to take advantage of the Internet," said Frank
Urbanowski, Director, The MIT Press. "This new service will provide us with
additional distribution channels and revenue streams through the sale of
eBooks."
All that is required to view eBooks online is an account with NetLibrary, an
Internet connection, and a Web browser version 3.X or better. To download
eBooks, users need to install Knowledge Station on their PC. Knowledge
Station is a powerful research tool that allows users to view eBooks off line,
download documents, and annotate text with highlights, notes, and bookmarks.
NetLibrary is the world's leading provider of reference, scholarly, and professional
electronic books and information on the Internet. Based in Boulder, Colorado,
the company provides traditional libraries with new information and enhanced
services and provides publishers with new distribution and revenue channels.
Libraries currently using NetLibrary's services include Colorado Alliance of
Research Libraries, OhioLINK, PALINET, and The University of Texas System.
NetLibrary is also working with the world's leading publishers and university
presses. NetLibrary can be found at www.NetLibrary.com.
Contact:
Sandy Mickelson
NetLibrary
303.415.2548
Annie Baker
Fleishman-Hillard
415.356.1046
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