Boston Library Consortium Chooses ebrary and YBP Library Services for Patron Driven Acquisition E-book Pilot

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston Library Consortium (BLC) has partnered with ebrary, a ProQuest business, and YBP Library Services (YBP), the academic division of Baker & Taylor, to make it easier and more affordable for its member libraries to acquire authoritative e-books from publishers including Princeton University Press, Wiley, and Brill.  Participating BLC member libraries are now offering seamless access to titles eligible for Consortium-wide purchasing automated through YBP. In the patron/demand-driven acquisition model, titles are only purchased based on real usage from the end-user.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120620/DE27948LOGO-b)
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090529/CL24290LOGO )

Patron driven acquisition is key to ebrary's strategic approach to e-book acquisition based on three steps:  Transition, Diversify, and Streamline™.  The growing number of libraries that are transitioning from print to digital books can achieve the greatest return on investment by diversifying acquisition models and streamlining the ordering process through YBP.

"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. "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."

Students and faculty from participating BLC members are now able to select and identify titles for their access, while the Consortium makes the actual purchase. Access to purchased titles is shared among all participating members and those member libraries that already have patron driven acquisition with ebrary can continue to run individual programs. ebrary's consortia PDA solution eliminates the potential issue of duplicative purchases and their short-term loan model can also be used in conjunction with the program for added mediation.

"With this next step of integration between YBP and ebrary, we are able to provide our customers with a consortia DDA program that offers a wide range of content and technology through the same workflow systems libraries currently use," said Kristine Baker, YBP's Director of Digital Sales.  "YBP and ebrary expect that our work with BLC will allow us to collaborate further in serving the needs of other leading consortia."

"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," said 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."

The ebrary platform includes the following key features and benefits:

• Dedicated apps for iPad®, iPhone®, iPod touch® and Android™
• InfoTools™, which turns words into portals to additional knowledge online
• Granular usage statistics
• Multiple search and navigation options
• Chapter ranking of search results
• Personal bookshelves 
• Highlighting and annotating
• Text-to-hyperlinks
• Text-to-speech
• Automatic citations
• Interface in multiple languages

YBP's demand-driven acquisitions service includes the following key features and benefits:

• Consideration pool based on profiling from YBP, or all available content from ebrary
• Additional titles can be manually added to your DDA repository on a title-by-title basis
• Free browse period
• Short-term loans
• Duplication control across all formats (digital and print)
• Basic and enhanced cataloging records
• Usage statistics available
• Activity and expenditure reports in GOBI³

About Boston Library Consortium (www.blc.org)
The Boston Library Consortium focuses on creating transformative 21st century member libraries by leveraging a shared platform of information resources, expertise and trusted relationships. It sustains strategic, cost-effective partnerships to achieve collaboratively what cannot be achieved singularly.

About YBP Library Services (www.ybp.com)
YBP Library Services, a Baker & Taylor company, provides books and supporting collection management and technical services to academic, research and special libraries in the Americas, Asia, Middle East, Australia and the Pacific Rim. GOBI³, YBP's acquisition and collection development interface, provides access to more than 10 million titles. YBP is located in Contoocook, NH, USA. For more on the company, visit www.ybp.com.

About ebrary (www.ebrary.com)
ebrary helps customers acquire e-books strategically through a three step approach: Transition, Diversify and Streamline™.  The company believes that by challenging the e-book status quo, organizations can effectively serve the diverse and growing needs of researchers and maximize their budgets. Founded in 1999, long before e-books were popular, ebrary is a ProQuest business located in Palo Alto, CA, USA.

SOURCE ebrary