CalState/NetLibrary Press Release

[Sloan, Bernie]

FYI.....cross-posted from liblicense-l

Bernie Sloan

-----Original Message-----
From: Ann Okerson [mailto:ann.okerson at yale.edu]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 6:00 PM
To: liblicense-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: CalState/NetLibrary Press Release


August 28, 2001

Contact:
Marge Gammon
netLibrary, Inc.
303-381-8799
magammon at netlibrary.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NETLIBRARY AND CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY MOVING 
FORWARD IN EXPLORING NEW eBOOK ACCESS MODELS

In a statement issued today, California State University responded to a
recent article appearing in the Chronicle of Higher Education that
resulted in confusion regarding the pilot eBook project under study with
netLibrary, Inc.

netLibrary, the leading provider of eBooks and Internet-based
content/collection management services, has been actively working with a
number of publishers, libraries and consortia over the past several months
to test alternative access models designed to better serve library patron
needs without compromising publisher business models or the established
relationships with netLibrary.

"As the study period progresses so that data accumulates sufficient to
generate meaningful results from these tests, netLibrary and its research
partners are committed to reporting their findings along with the
background on these projects ", said Marge Gammon, Sr. Director of
Marketing at netLibrary.  "At no time, however, were our current
relationships with libraries or publishers compromised by any of our pilot
research projects, and we believe the results will be important and useful
for all our business partners as we continue to establish and grow the
library eBook market", said Gammon.

	"netLibrary joins with California State University in expressing
it's disappointment in recent coverage of its research efforts", said
Gammon.  A statement from California State University is attached.

About netLibrary

netLibrary (www.netLibrary.com) is the leading provider of eBooks and
Internet-based content management services for the institutional library
market.  netLibary develops, archives, hosts, and maintains eBook
collections for academic, corporate, public, and school libraries.
Thousands of libraries throughout the United States and internationally
are currently providing netLibrary eBooks to their patrons.  In addition,
the MetaText division of netLibrary creates web-based digital textbooks
that provide instructors and students with a full range of interactive
learning tools.

# # # # #
August 29, 2001

An Open Letter from California State University in response to The
Chronicle of Higher Education

I am concerned and disappointed in the article regarding the California
State University and netLibrary appearing in the August 14 Information
Technology edition of The Chronicle for Higher Education.  Regretfully,
what started as a discussion about the positive influence consortia and
large buying groups can have in bringing innovative products, services,
and business models to the library world, resulted in a portrayal of our
relationship with netLibrary, Inc. that is not entirely accurate in its
description of the project currently in place, or of our positive working
relationship.

A number of eBook access models are being tested by netLibrary and others
in the industry.  They are complex and often not as simple in their design
or execution as may have been implied.  It is not possible to use the
terms "Simultaneous Use", "Multiple Use", "Multiple Access", among others,
interchangeably without creating confusion and misunderstanding.

Cal State began discussions with netLibrary over a year ago regarding
opportunities for developing Multiple Access Models.  We jointly defined
the parameters for such a test project, which also included the purchase
of an equal amount of titles under the one-book one user model.  To ensure
a quality patron experience, honor netLibrary's publisher relationships,
and minimize financial risk to all parties, a cap was placed on the number
of patrons and, therefore, the number of titles that would be included in
our Multiple Access Pilot Project.  Numbers would be sufficient to be able
to track and compare circulation and usage activity between both models,
thereby providing netLibrary, publishers and libraries with important,
reliable data on the new and evolving eBook category.  This test is still
in progress.

More recently, Cal State acquired additional eBooks from the only
publisher who has now agreed to allow netLibrary to offer their titles on
a One-Book, Simultaneous-Use Model.  This purchase occurred only within
recent weeks and is not part of the original pilot project.

California State University continues to support the one-book, one-user
model and half of our eBook program operates on that basis.  We also
remain committed to working with netLibrary to fully understand the
benefits that alternative access models may be able to offer.  We regret
any confusion and concern that comments in this article may have caused to
both publishers and libraries, since, at no time, were there any elements
of this project that fell outside of the contractual relationships
netLibrary has in place with its publishers or library customers, nor has
there been anything but a positive, collaborative working relationship
between netLibrary and the California State University System.

Evan Reader 
Director, Systemwide Electronic Information Resources Group
California State University

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