Thursday, June 30, 2011

Library E-Book Vendor Discovery #ebooks

I am attempting to gather all of the library vendors that provide e-books. This is a preliminary list of new and established vendors. I've added some brief commentary on those that I have tried. If you know of any that should be included that I have missed, please add them in the comments and I will move it into this post.



Overdrive
The big daddy of library e-books. I've used them in libraries off and on since 2007. They are by far my favorite, have provided the best collections, and have evolved with library demand. (Examples, used to be no iPods, that changed, used to be no Kindles, that will change).

NetLibrary
I haven't used this product, but will probably establish a trial shortly.  

Recorded Books One Click Digital
I haven't used this product, but will probably establish a trial shortly. Per Sharon K's observation, Recorded Books is downloadable audiobooks only. 

Ingram MyILibrary
I've used the e-book and downloadable audiobooks. At the time, the e-book didn't allow transfer to devices, which is a big deal for me. My library currently subscribes to the downloadable audio and the stats have been through the roof. It beats Overdrive on the price of the service, and the audio is device agnostic. However, there are some indications that the audiobook portion of the MyILibrary may not continue.  

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Will start using this service next month. Mostly Gale Encylopedias and general reference books placed on the web, downloadable as pdf (either by page, chapter, or entire book) and no Digital Rights Management on the books. 

3M Cloud Library
Completely new service, I am attempting to set up a trial, but I'm sure so is everyone else. Only thing I have read about it in depth is this post, 3M's eBook Cloud Library Didn't Come Out of Nowhere. (The txr page may be what it will look like?)


Recommended by Steven Harris, Director of Collections and Acquisitions Services at University of New Mexico:
Safari Books Online
Books 24X7
EBL
Ebrary 


Recommended by Greg Schwartz, Library Systems Manager Louisville Free Public Library:
Baker and Taylor Axis 360

That's all I have so far. I'm not including any free e-book sites like Project Gutenberg since I am looking for e-book vendors that provide new content from major publishers to libraries. Is there anything I am missing?

6 comments:

Steven Harris said...

Mostly aimed at the academic market:

Ebrary
EBL
Books24x7
Safari tech books

jdscott50 said...

Thank you Steven!!! Any experience with these vendors?

Greg Schwartz said...

Baker and Taylor's Axis 360 is going to be an e-book platform in the near future: http://www.baker-taylor.com/viewnews.cfm?press_id=299&typ=c

jdscott50 said...

Thanks Greg. I think my Baker and Taylor rep had mentioned something about it, but no details yet.

Sharon K. said...

Recorded Books One Click Audio does not offer e-books, only downloadable audiobooks.

Unknown said...

I really want my ebooks in libraries. I wouldn't put a limit on how many lends.