RE: NetLibrary novice

["Turner, Anne" <A.Turner@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks, Jean,

It's much clearer now!
  Anne

-----Original Message-----
From: Jean Bocchino [mailto:jbocchino@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 30 October 2000 16:32
To: innopac; A.Turner; INNOPAC
Subject: Re: NetLibrary novice


Hi all,

We have had access to netLibrary for about 5 mos now.  We are part of the initial public library demo, plus we are purchasing about 1000
books through our local library consortium which will be shared, and the State Library of Florida has just announced that it will purchase
access to the SOLINET program for all Florida public libraries. 

The main advantage of the netLibrary books is that our patrons have access to the books that we have purchased (nonfiction reference-type)
24/7.  Many of the books on the netLibrary site are free, but they also have many many books that are purchase only and many of them are the
types of books that tend to walk out the door, like computer books, travel books, and how-to books.

We think that students and distance learners especially will find the books useful for now with the rest of the public jumping on board when
the books are downloadable to PDA's.    The books are rather expensive right now from a print point-of-view (list + 50%), but you own them
forever and never had to worry about losing them or replacing them.  They are currently being held in escrow by OCLC, so  that if something
were to ever happen to netLibrary, purchased copies of books will not be lost.  netLibrary has also initiated a graduated payment schedule
for books that are updated yearly, like the travel guides.  

I have recently heard that netLibrary is the only ebook publisher that is actually paying print publishers, and hopefully this will go a
long way toward establishing a profitable market for ebooks from the publishers' perspectives.  

The IP recognition is really only used the first time a patron accesses the netLibrary site and establishes a login.  It is used (or a
referring URL can be used) to let netLibrary know which collection to present to the person logging in.  Once the person has established a
login from a library system IP or a referring URL, then they can access the library's collection from anywhere, anytime--they do not have to
be at a library computer, or even in the same country.    A patron can have multiple netLibrary accounts.

The main reason that the books can only be accessed one patron at a time is so netLibrary can ensure the publishers that copyright will be
enforced.  It's not a licensing agreement like other online database subscriptions---you truly have bought an electronic copy of a book,
down to the table of contents and the illustrations.  If you want multiple access...you have to buy multiple copies.

I don't have a good understanding of the preview option right now...I am 95% sure that when we first started this, multiple patrons could
access the book through preview...but I am told that this is no longer true, so I'm not sure what good it does anyone at this
point...especially since it is not counted as a use as far as I can tell.  

Hope this helps
Jean Bocchino
Sarasota County Library System





>>> A.Turner@xxxxxxxxxx 10/27/00 11:32AM >>>
Don't know much about the NetLibrary service yet - read the information on CSDirect and am left wondering:

1)  Apart from the Innopac interface, what are the main advantages of contracting with NetLibrary given that the service is (freely?)
available on the Web and users can register themselves and go ahead and read or download the e-books?  How expensive is it?

2)  Shouldn't Innopac access to the book be controlled by patron's number (same as with Electronic reserves) rather than Library IP address,
so the patron can use the service from anywhere?

3)  Why should the patron need to "check out" the e-book - why should they need "exclusive" access to it for a period of time?  Can't
e-books be used concurrently by severals users if required?  Is the booked "checked in" again automatically after the specified period?

4)  Why is there a separate Preview option to access the entire content of the e-book for a maximum of 20 minutes?  (I can perhaps see why
if only one user at a time can have full access as above.)

  Thanks for any help,

    Anne Turner
    Sheffield Hallam University, UK
    a.turner@xxxxxxxxxx 

    




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