Overdrive and the 3M Cloud Library may steal all of the limelight when it comes to support for digital books for libraries. Baker & Taylor, the company behind Axis 360, is trying to heavily compete in this segment and has announced new ebook formats. The company today has introduced support for EPUB for popular e-readers such as the Nook, Kobo, Sony, and a myriad of others.
Axis 360 is Baker & Taylor’s new digital media circulation and management platform, used by many of the country’s top public K-12 schools and academic libraries. It is a fully-accessible platform that opens a world of content to those who are visually impaired. The new upgrade was implemented for all Axis 360-enabled libraries and will serve as the platform for ongoing development and growth of Baker & Taylor’s digital media library, which now has nearly 300,000 electronic titles available for library circulation.
With Axis 360, library patrons can now use virtually any of the top multi-function phones, tablets, and e-reader devices to find, check out, and read digital titles from their local library. Patrons can select the ebook format that works best for them, choosing from EPUB or PDF formats. They also have an option to try Blio, the fully-accessible, free ereader app that offers rich features and content, available on Apple iOS, Android, and Windows devices.
“The newly-enhanced Axis 360 ensures that patrons with the most popular tablets, as well as dedicated e-readers, can tap into their library’s digital collection,” said George Coe, President of Library & Education at Baker & Taylor. “With Axis 360, libraries know they are providing all their patrons the best and most options to access and experience ebooks.”
“Baker & Taylor has a number of other enhancements – such as spoken word audio and other features – coming soon for Axis 360, to make more content readily available to more patrons, and to help libraries boost their circulation and better serve their communities,” Coe said.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
