NetLibrary Expands Distribution to Middle East

Edutech Middle East to distribute eBooks in the Gulf region

BOULDER, COLORADO — September 20, 2001 - NetLibrary™, a leading provider of eBooks and Internet-based content/collection management services, today announced a new eBook distribution alliance with Edutech Middle East, extending the availability of NetLibrary eBooks to certain Middle Eastern countries located in the Gulf Region. NetLibrary eBooks are currently distributed and available through libraries in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and South America as well as throughout the United States.

"NetLibrary is pleased to welcome EDUTECH to its network of eBook distributors serving libraries around the globe," said NetLibrary Executive Vice President of Sales Rich Rosy. "We're seeing tremendous interest and rapid adoption of eBooks in international markets. As libraries renew their roles, and as corporations increasingly become more global, the demand for eBooks continues to grow,"

EDUTECH is a leading provider of technology based education, training and information resources, helping educational institutions and corporations harness the power of technologies to meet their learning and information needs. Edutech Middle East will work with NetLibrary to distribute NetLibrary eBooks to academic, public, corporate and special libraries in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar.

"EDUTECH’s association with NetLibrary comes at a time when the libraries in the region are fast transforming themselves to adapt to rapid digitization of content", said EDUTECH General Manager, L S Venkatesh. "As the leading provider of eLearning and information resources in the region, we see a growing interest in eBooks which will provide easy reach to a wealth of information to the library patrons."

eBooks are full-text electronic versions of published books that library patrons can search, borrow, read, and return via the Internet. With NetLibrary eBooks, users can access library resources anywhere, anytime, and perform full-text searches across hundreds of books or within a specific book to speed research and reference projects. These books can be viewed online from the library, office, home, or remote location using an Internet browser, or can be downloaded to a laptop. Added benefits include an embedded dictionary in each book with accompanying visuals and verbal pronunciation, as well as hyperlinks from both the table of contents and index. eBooks are available for varying checkout periods and are automatically checked back into the library collection when the checkout period expires.

About NetLibrary
NetLibrary (www.NetLibrary.com) is the leading provider of eBooks and Internet-based content management services for the institutional library market. netLibary develops, archives, hosts, and maintains eBook collections for academic, corporate, public, and school libraries. Thousands of libraries throughout the United States and internationally are currently providing NetLibrary eBooks to their patrons. In addition, the MetaText division of NetLibrary creates web-based digital textbooks that provide instructors and students with a full range of interactive learning tools.

About Edutech Middle East
Edutech Middle East (www.edutech-me.com) headquartered in Dubai has played a pioneering role in enhancing knowledge by providing technology based learning, information and library resources to the region. EDUTECH’s understanding and appreciation of the region’s sensitivities have now resulted in positive initiatives to create products and services that best address the specialized regional requirements.

Contact:
Marge Gammon
NetLibrary
(303) 381-8799
mgammon@netlibrary.com

Contact:
Shameema Parveen
Edutech Middle East
+971 4 3591222
shameema@edutech-me.com