Data Conversion Laboratory Helps Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia Master the Academic eBooks Market

FRESH MEADOWS, N.Y., March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to tremendous growth in the eBook market, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penerbit USM, thereafter USM Press) tapped Data Conversion Laboratory (DCL) to convert its inventory of books and academic journals to EPUB format. In the past 21 months, this partnership has facilitated growth of USM Press's list of eBook titles and digitized journals, and penetration of the global distribution channels that extend its product reach. 

"DCL's solution for USM is of the highest quality, with fast turnaround times. The result to date is a 15 - 20 percent increase in market penetration for our titles," says Akhiar Salleh, the Director of USM Press.  "We are considered the pioneer of end-to-end EPUB production and distribution for academic publishers in Malaysia. Our eBooks are available locally and globally on Amazon, Google Play and e-Sentral through our aggregators such as OverDrive and Trajectory, with more distribution channels in the pipeline including Kobo and Barnes and Noble."

"Our work with USM Press began in earnest with a pilot conversion of two of their books to EPUB back in 2013," said Mark Gross, CEO of DCL. "The geographic distance between us proved to be no barrier, and the digital collaboration between our teams has been outstanding. We're delighted to see USM's successful entry into the eBooks market and are proud to be a part of the effort."

DCL worked closely with the publisher to streamline the overall process of conversion, proofing and final production. "As the collaboration progresses, we continue working hand in hand closely to improve the conversion process," said Zulkifli Musa, Publication Officer, who is the technical liaison for USM Press.  "Our continued partnership indicates the level of confidence and comfort we have with DCL."

DCL originally performed conversion work on some of USM Press's journal titles in 2011, converting from PDF to XML. Following the successful EPUB pilot, the publisher chose to convert its books and journals to EPUB, and has to date converted a series of books and journal issues, representing more than 10,000 pages of text. Prior to DCL's involvement, textbook conversion took nearly two months per title; DCL's automated conversion and quality control processes honed turnaround time down to one to two weeks per title.

Akhiar notes, "USM Press has been around for more than 40 years with over 1,000 titles in print; so we have a lot of ambition for future work. More importantly we aspire to always be in the forefront of technological advances. Digitizing these products helps us achieve that."

About Data Conversion Laboratory, Inc. (DCL)

DCL (www.dclab.com) is a leader in helping organizations grow the value of their content assets investment. With digitization and content management expertise across multiple industries including publishing, life sciences, government, manufacturing, technology and professional organizations, DCL uses its advanced technology and U.S.-based project management teams to help solve the most complex conversion challenges securely, accurately and on time. Founded in 1981, DCL was named one of EContent's Top 100 Companies in the Digital Content Industry in 2014 for the fourth straight year.

About Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Press

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Press is an award-winning university press with deep experience in publishing scholarly materials since 1972. To date, the publisher has produced more than 1,000 book titles and carries 15 journals under its wing. USM Press continues to produce academic contents of international standard, aligned with its vision to become a world-class university press that disseminates knowledge globally.

Contact: Ariane Doud, Warner Communications, (978) 283-2674, Email

SOURCE Data Conversion Laboratory, Inc.

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