Ebook provider ebrary announced this morning that it has now added the Boston Library Consortium to its growing list of library systems that rely on the company to make publishers’ titles available for online reading by its member patrons. YBP Library Services, a division of Baker & Taylor, is also helping in this partnership.
“Demand-driven acquisition at the consortium level adds a new layer to our members’ e-book acquisition strategies. Many of our members subscribe to ebrary’s Academic Complete™ database and purchase essential titles outright,” said Melissa Trevvett, Executive Director at Boston Library Consortium, in a press release. “By partnering with ebrary and YBP, we found a program that offers attractive DDA technology, superior content, and integration of members’ existing e-book plans with Consortium purchases. This demand-driven acquisition project is a great opportunity for members of the BLC to pilot cooperative collection development in the e-book environment.”
“Despite the widespread interest in a consortia PDA model among the academic library community, there are still many challenges from both a technology and content perspective,” continued Kathy Masnik, ebrary’s Director of Product Management. “By working with BLC, YBP, and participating publishers on this initiative, we can take a first step to meet an industry need while also learning how to best offer a consortia PDA model on a wider scale.”
Among the attractive features for partner libraries is the option to access a title for reading in the library’s catalog, but without having to purchase the title until it is actually borrowed by a patron. This will allow libraries to offer a larger number of quality titles to their readers without having as large an upfront investment.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
