E-Book Platforms for Libraries Comparative Overview

Chapter 4

E-book Platforms for Libraries Comparative Overview

Abstract on the scope or purchasing options for the products. E-book platforms frequently go through revisions as Chapter 4 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 49, no. vendors revise their offerings, in terms of both content 3) “E-book Platforms for Libraries” consists of four tables. and purchasing plans. The at-a-glance table lists all fifty-one products featured The information in the comparative tables was in the main directory, while three comparative overview supplied by the vendors who responded to a question- tables zoom in on the key features of thirty-five platforms naire sent to them electronically in November and (by vendors who agreed to supply information necessary December 2012. The report was finalized in January for inclusion by given deadline). Librarians may use the 2013. Not all platforms listed in chapter 3 and in table tables to gain insight into how certain platforms measure 4.1 are included in the comparative tables owing to up to others in terms of content, technical specifications, one of the following two reasons: the vendor did not functionality, and business models. respond to the initial request to provide more information, or the vendor responded but requested not to be able 4.1 is an at-a-glance overview of the fifty- included in the comparative tables as its product was one platforms listed in chapter 3. Each is identi- in the midst of a significant overhaul at the time the fied by platform type (e.g., aggregator, publisher, report was compiled. T TechnologyLibrary Reports distributor) and main library market (e.g., academic/ The specifics for each product are in line with research, public, K–12), and details about the prod- the purchasing criteria discussed in chapter 2 and are uct’s website and parent company are also included. broken down into four categories: Content, Technical The purpose of this table (arranged alphabetically by Specifications, Functionality, and Business Model, as product name) is to give librarians a bird’s-eye view of these are usually the most pressing issues that come up the types of e-book platforms they can purchase. in conversations with librarians who purchase e-book Tables 4.2.1, 4.2.2, and 4.2.3 are comparative platforms for their institutions. The abbreviation n/a overviews of thirty-five of the fifty-one e-book plat- is used in a number of fields to indicate that a particu- forms listed in table 4.1. The goal here is to give librar- lar column is not applicable to a product or that the ians an understanding of each product’s size, scope, information was not available at the time the vendor alatechsource.org technical aspects, and purchasing plans. Librarians was contacted. should note, however, that this information is time- sensitive and that these tables are not the last word April 2013

33 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Table 4.1 At-a-glance overview of fifty-one e-book platforms

Platform Website Platform Type Parent Company 123Library https://www.123library.org aggregator/distributor 123Doc Education 3M Cloud Library http://ebook.3m.com distributor/e-book lending service 3M ABC-CLIO eBook Collection http://ebooks.abc-clio.com publisher ABC-CLIO Axis 360 http://btol.com/axis360 distributor Baker & Taylor Books24x7 www.books24x7.com aggregator Skillsoft Books at JSTOR http://books.jstor.org university press consortium ITHAKA Books@Ovid http://site.ovid.com/site/products/books_land- aggregator/distributor Ovid Technologies ing.jsp Brain Hive www.brainhive.com distributor/e-book lending service Brain Hive Cambridge Books Online http://ebooks.cambridge.org publisher Cambridge University Press dawsonera http://dawsonera.com distributor Dawson Books De Gruyter Online www.degruyter.com publisher De Gruyter EBL (Ebook Library) www.eblib.com e-book lending service ProQuest eBooks on EBSCOhost http://ebscohost.com/ebooks aggregator EBSCO Publishing ebrary www.ebrary.com aggregator ProQuest epointbooks.com www.epointbooks.com publisher Rosen Publishing Follett eBooks http://aboutfollettebooks.com distributor/e-book lending service Follet Corporation Freading Ebook Service http://freading.com distributor/e-book lending service Library Ideas FreedomFlix http://freedomflix.digital.scholastic.com/home publisher Scholastic GVRL www.gale.cengage.com/gvrl aggregator Gale Cengage Infobase eBooks http://infobasepublishing.com/ebooks publisher Infobase Publishing Knovel http://why.knovel.com aggregator Knovel Corporation LexisNexis Digital Library www.lexisnexis.com/ebooks/lending e-book lending service LexisNexis Literati by Credo http://literati.credoreference.com aggregator Credo Reference MackinVIA www.mackin.com/via aggregator Mackin Educational Resources McGraw-Hill eBook Library http://mhebooklibrary.com publisher McGraw-Hill MyiLibrary www.myilibrary.com aggregator Ingram Content Group OverDrive www.overdrive.com distributor/e-book lending service OverDrive Oxford Handbooks Online www.oxfordhandbooks.com publisher Oxford University Press Oxford Reference www.oxfordreference.com publisher Oxford University Press Palgrave Connect www.palgraveconnect.com publisher Palgrave MacMillan PsycBOOKS www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycbooks publisher American Psychological As- sociation Questia www.questia.com aggregator Cengage Learning R2 Digital Library http://r2library.com aggregator/distributor Rittenhouse Book Distributors Routledge Reference Online http://routledgeonline.com publisher Taylor & Francis Safari Books Online www.safaribooksonline.com aggregator Safari Books Online SAGE Knowledge http://knowledge.sagepub.com publisher SAGE Publications ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com publisher Elsevier

April 2013 April SOLR http://sharpe-online.com publisher ME Sharpe SpringerLink http://link.springer.com publisher Springer Science+Business Media SpringerReference http://springerreference.com publisher Springer Science+Business Media StarWalk Kids Media http://starwalkkids.com distributor Seymour Science

alatechsource.org Storia http://scholastic.com/storia publisher Scholastic SwetsWise http://swets.com/ebooks distributor Swets Information Services Taylor & Francis eBooks www.tandfebooks.com publisher Taylor & Francis TrueFlix http://trueflix.scholastic.com publisher Scholastic University Press Scholarship www.universitypressscholarship.com university press consortium Oxford University Press Online University Publishing Online http://universitypublishingonline.org university press consortium Cambridge University Press UPCC Book Collections on http://muse.jhu.edu university press consortium Johns Hopkins University Press Project MUSE Wheelers ePlatform www.eplatform.co distributor/e-book lending service Wheelers Books Wiley Online Library http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology World Book Web http://worldbook.com publisher World Book, Inc.

34 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Compatible devices i OS devices, S ony Nook, eReader, most e P ub-compat - ible readers i OS devices, Nook, S ony eReader, Kobo any tablet or mo - bile device i P ad most any that supports Adobe Digital E di - tions & Bluefire Reader i OS devices, S ony Nook, eReader, Kobo, Nook, Kindle Fire, i P ad, S ony eReader i P ad, Android tab - lets, Kindle Fire, Nook Color Nook, i P ad, Kobo, Kin - S ony eReader, dle Fire, Android tablets all hand-held de - vices all major Android & i OS devices E-book file format e P ub P DF, e P ub, .xps P DF, (Blio), Acoustik HTML, P DF e P ub P DF, P DF e P ub P DF, P DF proprietary e P ub P DF, n/a HTML P DF, Technical specifications Technical Software or Software plugins needed 3M apps Blio, Adobe Digital E ditions or Bluefire Reader; Acoustik (for audiobooks) none none none Adobe Digital E di - tions Adobe Digital E di - tions, Adobe P DF plugin (for Mac) Adobe Digital E ditions, Java, en - abling of cookies & popups required Adobe Flash P layer Adobe Digital E di - tions n/a none Browsers Browsers supported application-based all I E , S afari, Firefox, Chrome all I E , S afari, Firefox, Chrome, O pera all all I E , S afari, Firefox I E , S afari, Firefox, Chrome all all all Multimedia no yes (audio - books, vid - eos) yes (videos) forthcoming in Fall 2013 no no no no yes (audio - books) yes yes (videos, slideshows, images) no Other con - tent types no no no no no yes (a small number of journals) no no yes (data - bases) no yes (related articles) no TechnologyLibrary Reports Content # of publishers 300+ 300 845 20 1 500 1,400 500 1,000 (pub - lisher im - prints) 60 1 80+ # of e-books 250,000+ 400,000 34,000+ 3,500 20,000 325,000+ 350,000 450,000 145,000+ 50,000 40 8,000+ alatechsource.org Main library market public public academic/ research K–12 academic/ research, public academic/ research academic/ research, public academic/ research, public K–12, public public K–12, public academic/ research, public April 2013 E-book platform 3M Cloud Li - brary Axis 360 Books24x7 Brain Hive Cambridge Books O nline E BL ( book Li - brary) eBooks on E B - S C O host ebrary Follett eBooks Freading E book S ervice FreedomFlix Ref - Gale Virtual erence Library Table 4.2.1 Table Comparative overview of thirty-five e-book platforms—content and technical specifications

35 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Compatible devices most devices that have a web browser n/a i P ad, VIA reader, Android tablets, Kindle Fire Nook, Apple de - vices, Kindle, S ony eReader all (including Kindle) forthcoming forthcoming all n/a i P ad, hone, tablet all i OS 3+ devices; all Android 1.5+, 2.1+, Blackberry 6 P layBook forthcoming in 2013 E-book file format HTML, e P ub P DF, (for some, not all titles) HTML (files may be saved in P DF) proprietary e P ub P DF, Kindle e P ub, DF, XML XML P DF for all; e ub for books pub - lished in 2011 & beyond P DF HTML P DF HTML P DF, Technical specifications Technical Software or Software plugins needed Adobe Reader Java S cript, Adobe Flash, M P 3 players Adobe Digital E di - tions Adobe Digital E di - tions (for offline download) Adobe Digital E di - tions, O verDrive Media Console app, modern web browser with Ja - va S cript enabled none none Adobe Reader none none Flash (version 10 & up) Java Browsers Browsers supported all all all all all I E , Firefox, Chrome, O pera, S afari all but I E 7 & older all all all all all Multimedia no yes (images, audio, vid - eos, maps) yes (videos) no yes (audio - books, mu - sic, videos) yes (videos) yes (videos) no yes (videos) yes (videos) yes (videos) yes (images, videos) - - Other con - tent types no no yes (data - bases) no no no no yes (jour nals) yes (articles, databases) yes (journal, magazine, & newspaper articles) yes (related articles) yes (jour nals) April 2013 April Content # of publishers 1 80+ 80 1,450 2,000 1 300+ 1 1 500 200 1 # of e-books 4,000 1,300 100,000 400,000 1 million 325+ 11,500 3,500+ 76,500 28,000 2,700+ alatechsource.org Main library market K–12, public, academic/ research academic/ research, public K–12, public academic/ research public, K–12, academic/ research, corporate academic/ research academic/ research, public academic/ research academic/ research academic/ research, 9–12 academic/ research academic/ research, corporate, public - Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology E-book platform Infobase eBooks Literati by Credo MackinVIA MyiLibrary O verDrive O xford Hand - books O nline O xford Refer ence P algrave Con - nect P sycB OO K S Questia S afari Books O nline S AG E Knowl - edge Table 4.2.1 cont’d Table

36 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Compatible devices i P ad forthcoming all does not support mobile screen size Nook, i P ad, Kindle Fire, i P hone, An - droid phones i P ad, Android tablets not yet supported all Flash-based devices (by Aug. 2013, non–Flash- based devices will be supported) all smartphones & tablet devices most all P DF-compatible Nook, i P ad, S ony S amsung eReader, Kobo, An - Galaxy, droid tablets E-book file format HTML HTML P DF, HTML P DF, streaming de - P DF, livery n/a P DF n/a XML (printable & downloadable in P DF at chapter level) P DF P DF e P ub P DF, Technical specifications Technical Software or Software plugins needed Java & Flash none none Flash plugin S toria app File O pen plugin Flash none none none Adobe Digital E ditions; Bluefire reading app Browsers Browsers supported all all all I E , S afari, Firefox, Chrome application-based all all all I E , S afari, Firefox, Chrome, O pera I E , Firefox, Chrome, O pera all Multimedia yes (audio & video) yes (videos) no yes yes no yes (videos, slideshows, images) yes (videos) no no no - - - Other con - tent types no yes (jour nals, proto - cols) no no no no yes (related articles) no yes (jour nals) yes (jour nals) no TechnologyLibrary Reports Content # of publishers 1 40+ 1 1 21 1 1 11 9 80+ 700+ # of e-books 29 (multivol - ume) 88,000 195+ 400 (by June 2013) 3,500 35,000+ 84 11,200+ 22,000 20,000+ 100,000 alatechsource.org Main library market academic/ research, public academic/ research academic/ research K–12, public P re K–grade 8 academic/ research, corporate, government, public K–12, public academic/ research academic/ research academic/ research; public public, K–12 - April 2013 ence E-book platform S harpe O nline Reference S pringerLink S pringerRefer Kids S tarWalk Media S toria & Francis Taylor eBooks TrueFlix University P ress S cholarship O n - line University P ub - lishing O nline U P CC Book Col - lections on P roj - ect MU SE Wheelers e P lat - form Table 4.2.1 cont’d Table

37 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic - - Persistent URLs no yes (book level) yes yes (book level) yes (book & chapter level) yes (book & chapter level) yes yes (collection, book & chapter level) yes (book level) n/a yes yes yes (book & chapter level) yes (book level, image, entry, topic) yes (book level) yes (book level) yes (to O ver Drive Read titles) yes (book & ar ticle level) yes (all levels) MARC records yes (free) yes (free) yes (free) yes (free) yes (free) yes yes (book, & page chapter, level) yes (on de - mand) yes no yes yes (free) yes (free) yes (free) yes (free) yes yes (paid & free options) yes (free) yes (free) Usage reports no yes yes yes yes yes yes (free) yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Annotation tools yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes no n/a yes no yes no yes yes yes forthcoming forthcoming ADA compliance no (forthcom - ing) yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes n/a yes yes yes yes Offline reading yes yes no no yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes yes yes (by saving in P DF) yes (via Mackin - VIA app) yes yes no no Printing no yes (if publisher allows) yes no yes yes (up to 20% of any book’s content) yes yes yes (if publisher allows) n/a no yes yes yes yes (if publisher allows) yes yes (if publisher allows) yes (in P DF) yes (in P DF) April 2013 April Copy/paste no yes (if publisher allows) yes no yes yes (up to 5% of any book’s content) yes (for 90% of titles) yes yes (if publisher allows) n/a yes yes yes yes yes (if publisher allows) yes yes (if publisher allows) yes yes alatechsource.org - Full-text searching yes yes yes yes yes yes yes (for 90% of titles) yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes (within VIA reader) yes yes (for O ver Drive Read only) yes yes - Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology E-book Platform 3M Cloud Library Axis 360 Books24x7 Brain Hive Cambridge Books O nline E BL ( book Li - brary) eBooks on E B - S C O host ebrary Follett eBooks Freading E book S ervice FreedomFlix Gale Virtual Ref - Gale Virtual erence Library Infobase eBooks Literati by Credo MackinVIA MyiLibrary O verDrive O xford Hand - books O nline O xford Refer ence Table 4.2.2 Table Comparative overview of thirty-five e-book platforms—functionality

38 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Persistent URLs yes (book level; chapter level forthcoming) yes yes (book level) yes (book level) yes yes (book & chapter level, image) yes (book & chapter level) yes (book & chapter level) no n/a yes (book level) yes yes (book & chapter level) yes (book & chapter level) yes (book & chapter level) n/a MARC records yes (free) yes no yes yes yes (free if re - quested) yes yes no no yes (free) yes yes (free) yes (free) yes (free) yes Usage reports yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes Annotation tools no no yes yes yes yes no no no yes yes no forthcoming no yes yes ADA compliance no yes yes yes yes no yes no no yes forthcoming in 2013 yes yes yes yes no Offline reading yes yes no no for libraries; yes for corpo - rate & consum - er accounts yes no yes no no yes yes no no yes yes yes TechnologyLibrary Reports Printing yes yes yes (one page at a time) yes yes yes yes yes (in P DF) no no yes no yes (in P DF) yes yes no Copy/paste yes yes yes (portions of the content) yes yes yes (content & images) yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes no alatechsource.org Full-text searching yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes no yes yes yes no - April 2013 E-book Platform P algrave Con - nect P sycB OO K S Questia S afari Books O nline S AG E Knowl - edge S harpe O nline Reference S pringerLink ence S pringerRefer tarWalk Kids S tarWalk Media S toria Taylor & Francis Taylor eBooks TrueFlix University P ress S cholarship O n - line University P ub - lishing O nline U P CC Book Col - lections on P roj - ect MU SE Wheelers e P lat - form Table 4.2.2 cont’d Table

39 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Free Free trials no n/a yes no yes (30 days) yes (30 days) yes yes (30 days) yes n/a yes (60 days) DRM full DRM protection lim - ited copy/ paste & printing none full DRM protection minimal some re - strictions apply Adobe DRM ap - plies some re - strictions apply restric - tions set by pub - lishers standard DRM n/a Embargo no mostly no no no yes (4–6 weeks) no set by publisher no no varies; set by pub - lishers no - - Consor tial pur chasing yes yes (limi - tations apply) yes yes yes yes yes (limi - tations apply) yes n/a n/a yes Invoicing intervals monthly yearly yearly monthly vary weekly & monthly depends on type of purchase yearly (for subscrip - tion) & weekly (for P DA) vary vary yearly - Inter library loan no no no no no no yes no no no no Minimum commitment no $1,000 mini - mum opening order (scaled by size of li - brary) no no 25 titles no no no (pledges may be re - quired for P DA accounts) no no no Annual fee no yes (for perpetual access) no no yes (for perpetual access only) yes (nomi - nal) no yes (for perpetual access only) no no yes PDA yes no (in devel - op - ment) no yes no yes yes yes no no no Short- term loans no no (in develop - ment) no yes forthcom - ing yes yes yes no no no April 2013 April Subscrip - tion no no (in develop - ment) yes no yes no yes yes no yes (via tokens) yes alatechsource.org Purchase Purchase to own no yes (single user or multiuser) no (but available as an option within the subscrip - tion pack - age) yes no (but available upon re - quest) yes (unlim - ited, mul - tiuser) yes yes (unlim - ited, mul - tiuser) yes no no One user/ one book yes yes no yes (on demand, rental) no no yes yes (for perpetual purchases) yes yes no Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology E-book platform 3M Cloud Li - brary Axis 360 Books24x7 Brain Hive Cambridge Books O nline E BL ( E book Library) eBooks on E B S C O host ebrary Follett eB - ooks Freading E b - ook S ervice FreedomFlix Table 4.2.3 Table Comparative overview of thirty-five e-book platforms—business model details

40 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Free Free trials yes (1–4 weeks) yes (30 days) no (3- month paid tri - als only) yes (15–30 days) yes (30 days) yes yes (30 days) yes (30 days) yes (30 & 60 days) yes (30 days) yes (1 day for individ - uals; 30 days for schools) DRM none none none none evaluated on a per- title basis standard DRM for e P ub & WMA none none none n/a some re - strictions apply Embargo no no n/a n/a varies; set by pub - lishers no no no yes (12 months) no - - Consor tial pur chasing yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes (case- by-case) Invoicing intervals upon avail - ability of content yearly yearly vary n/a monthly yearly yearly yearly yearly yearly for school; vary for higher ed (monthly, quarterly, bi - yearly, annual) - Inter library loan no no yes n/a yes no no no yes yes (in ac - cordance with license terms) no Minimum commitment no no no n/a

no no no 20-title mini - mum for Build- O wn Your- model n/a $750 for schools; no minimum for higher ed when bundled with a Cen - gage print product Annual fee yes no no no yes (for perpetual access only) yes yes (for perpetual access) yes yes (waived when a current col - lection is purchased) yes n/a PDA no no no no yes no no no no no no TechnologyLibrary Reports Short- term loans no no no yes (if enabled by admin - istrator) yes no no no no no no Subscrip - tion no yes yes no yes yes yes yes no yes yes - - - alatechsource.org Purchase Purchase to own yes (unlim - ited, per petual) yes (unlim - ited) yes (for col - lections) yes (unlim - ited, mul - tiuser) yes (mul - per tiuser, petual) no yes (unlim - ited) yes yes (per petual) no no One user/ one book no no no no yes yes (simul - taneous & metered access) no no no no no April 2013 - E-book platform Gale Virtual Gale Virtual Reference Library Infobase eB - ooks Literati by Credo MackinVIA MyiLibrary O verDrive O xford Hand - books O nline O xford Refer ence P algrave Con - nect P sycB OO K S Questia Table 4.2.3 cont’d Table

41 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic Free Free trials yes (30 days) yes (30 days) yes (30 days) yes (up to 90 days) yes (60 days) yes (30 days) n/a yes yes (60 days) yes (30 days) yes (30 days) no yes (30 days) DRM n/a none none none none none yes 75% of the catalog is DRM-free n/a download limited to 5 chapters per ses - sion minimal none Adobe DRM ap - plies Embargo no no no no no n/a no no no no no n/a - - Consor tial pur chasing yes yes yes yes yes yes nego - tiable on a case-by- case basis yes yes yes yes yes yes Invoicing intervals yearly (ne - gotiable) yearly n/a vary yearly yearly vary yearly yearly yearly vary yearly monthly - Inter library loan no no no yes yes no n/a no no no no yes for owned; no for subscrip - tions no Minimum commitment no no no no no $595 for schools no 50-title mini - mum purchase or subscription no no 25 no no Annual fee no no no yes yes no no yes (nomi - nal) yes yes (for perpetual access) yes (for perpetual access only) no no PDA no no no no no no no no no no no no some Short- term loans no no no no no no no no no no forthcom - ing no yes April 2013 April Subscrip - tion yes yes no no yes yes no yes yes yes yes yes no - alatechsource.org Purchase Purchase to own no no yes (unlim - ited) yes (per petual) no no yes yes (mul - tiuser & unlimited) no yes (unlim - ited) not stan - dard but available upon re - quest (via perpetual access) yes (unlim - ited) yes One user/ one book no no no no no no yes yes no no no no yes - - Library Technology ReportsLibrary Technology E-book platform S afari Books O nline S AG E Knowl - edge S harpe O n - line Refer ence S pringerLink S pringerRef - erence tarWalk Kids S tarWalk Media S toria Taylor & Fran - Taylor cis eBooks TrueFlix ship O nline University P ress S cholar University P ublishing O nline U P CC Book Collections on P roject MU SE Wheelers e P latform Table 4.2.3 cont’d Table

42 E-book Platforms for Libraries Mirela Roncevic