eBook Platforms

EBL - Ebook Library

Platform Name

EBL - Ebook Library

Address

Third Floor
St Thomas Court
Thomas Lane
Bristol BS1 6JG

URL

http://www.eblib.com

Contact Email

kari.paulson@eblib.com

Contact Tel

+44 (0)790 687 5349

Titles

EBL's public catalogue can be viewed at EBLChoice.com

Summary

EBL is a platform for the acquisition and circulation of electronic books. Aimed mainly at academic, corporate and research institutions, EBL is comprised of a patron interface and library management portal. EBL aggregates high quality scholarly and professional content from hundreds of international publishers. Acquisition is mostly on a title by titles basis - either as upfront purchase or demand-driven rental or purchase. Libraries can choose from a selection of flexible pricing and access models.

Content

Business Models

Ebooks can be purchased with perpetual access. Ebooks that are purchased have either Non-linear Lending model or Unlimited Access (depending under which models the publisher chooses to make titles available).

• List Item Non-linear Lending allows for multiple concurrent access up to a total of 325 unique uses per year. These permissions renew annually without paying additional fees from the initial purchase.

• List Item Unlimited Access allows for unrestricted access perpetual access of ebooks by an unlimited number of patrons.

In addition to purchase models, EBL also offers many demand-driven access models including pay-per-view access (mediated or automatic) and auto-purchase.

Demand-driven access can be used alongside purchased titles to provide access to the broadest selection of content. The budget can be used to provide access to content as it is needed or if it is needed by patrons.

For a detailed summary of our business and access models, go to our Q&A

Licensing Models

EBL titles can be purchased on a title-by-title basis. There are two main components to our service - the content and the platform. EBL's service agreement covers the terms under which purchased content can be used and archived. Content that is purchased by a library will remain accessible in perpetuity. A copy of this service agreement is available on request by emailing info@eblib.com.

Access Control

Authentication

• Username/Password
• IP Address
• Classic Athens
• SAML Compliant (e.g. Shibboleth)
• Referring URL
• EZ Proxy
• Member of UK Access Management Federation

Concurrency Limit

EBL titles that are purchased can be accessed simultaneously by multiple users. There are three access models available within EBL:

1) Non-linear(TM) Lending: 95% of EBL titles are available with this access model. This access model allows for unlimited concurrent access up to 325 total loans (beyond a free 10 minute browse period) per year / per copy of title owned.

2) Unlimited Access: Approximately 15% of EBL's titles are available with unlimited access. Titles purchased with this access model can have unlimited simultaneous access.

3) Textbook: Approximately 5% of EBL's titles are available with textbook access model. This model is designed to encourage publishers to include ebook titles which they consider to be teaching texts. The model is slightly more restrictive than Non-linear Lending. It allows for 3 simultaneous users (active loans) and up to 325 total unique loans per year per title owned.

Some titles are available with multiple access options (i.e. both Non-linear Lending and Unlimited access). In cases where more than one lending model is available for a title, the library can choose which model it prefers at the point of acquisition or as a default in the EBL system.

Restrictions

Information not provided

Notes

In order to manage DRM/copyright, usage and provide interactive features for patrons (such as saved notes, etc), EBL requires that some unique identifier is passed to EBL at the point of authentication.

Shibboleth easily manages this requirement. EBL has also worked with Athens Authentication, EZ Proxy, SIRSI Dynix and other 3rd party authentication providers to facilitate the handling of this identification at the point of authentication.

Search

Features

• Advanced Search
• Boolean AND
• Exact Phrase
• Keywords
• Search by Author
• Search by Title
• Search by Full Text
• Search by ISBN
• Search by Date
• Search by Metadata
• Search by Library of Congress Subject Tree
• Search by Dewey Decimal
• Search by BIC Subject Codes
• Simple Search
• Wildcards
• Search Only Subscribed Content
• Search All Titles

Indexing

• Library of Congress
• Dewey Decimal
• BIC Subject Codes
• Dictionaries

Cross Database Search

EBL is z39.50 compliant. Libraries can choose to make EBL a target within their federated search products.

Web Search

Searching with the EBL portal is limited to titles available within the EBL catalogue.

Saved Searches

Saved searches is on EBL's short-term enhancement list and will be added soon. Access to this functionality will not require a separate sign-in to the initial authentication.

Search Tips

Yes - EBL provides extensive search tips in the online help guide.

Search Other Content

Users are able to search any content available within the EBL database/catalogue.

Search Results

Functionality

• Deduplication
• Include Abstracts
• OpenURL linking

Ordering

Search results can be sorted on any metadata criteria such as title, authour, date of publication, ISBN, LCCN, Dewey, LCSH, etc.

Full-text search results are ranked by the relevancy of the term (the frequency of the appearance of the term in the full-text). All other searches default to alphabetical ranking based on title.

Presentation

All search results are presented as a brief bibliographic record including title, author, date of publication, LCCN, Dewey, LCSH, e/ISBN, and brief summary. Full-text search results also include a visual relevancy index.

Selecting Results

Within the patron portal, users can sort and preview search results. Within the EBL acquisition catalogue, users can sort, save to selection lists, export search results or saved lists as excel files, and preview search results

Exporting

• Refwork
• Email

eBook Navigation

Presentation

EBL ebooks can either be read online, opened in Adobe Reader in the online browser, or downloaded to Adobe Reader to be accessed offline. The full-text display includes a table of contents/ bookmarks that can easily be hidden if desired.

Users can also view saved notes alongside the full-text. Copyright permission are shown for each titles- indicating # of pages that can by copied or pasted.

Links

Information not provided

Restrictions

• Copy
• Print
• DRM used

Other Functionality

Linking

• Title Linking
• Chapter Linking
• Page Linking
• Citation Linking
• Full Text Linking
• MARC linking
• Linking to OPAC
• Linking to VLE/MLE
• Open URL/Persistent URL

Help Information

EBL provides a comprehensive help guide for both the patron and library management interface. This help guide is fully indexed with clear TOC. Some contextual help links are provided in key locations as well.

Training

EBL provides both initial and ongoing training to all customers. Initial training is set-up to provide orientation in the EBL management and patron portals. During this session, we help customise settings to reflect the library's preferences. We will also schedule ongoing training sessions as needed to revisit particular features of the system or as new functionality is added. In-person training is provided whenever possible. Otherwise, most training is facilitated via web-based conference. EBL also provides an offline help guide for the library.

Interface Customisation

Libraries are able to brand the EBL interface with their own custom logo. This logo is visible from all pages of the web site.

Alerting

New title alerts are available direct through EBL or through our partner vendors - such as Blackwell Books and YBP. Direct new title alerts are available by email. EBL also provide sophisticated profiling tools which updates content visibility and sends monthly updates to library as CSV file or MARC records for new titles added which match profile criteria.

Software Updates

As EBL is a hosted platform, software updates to the EBL system and interface are done on the server side at regular intervals. These updates do not require any changes to the software or set-up on the library side.

Adobe Reader is the only software required to read books (both online and offline). EBL does not require proprietary software or plug-ins.

Usage Stats

• COUNTER Book Reports 1-6
• Available Online
• Available by Email

Metadata

• MARC
• ONIX
• Dublin Core
• Integration with Catalogues for MARC records

Technical Integration

EBL integrates with a limited range of systems including z39.50 products (and as a target for z39.50 searching), link resolvers, authentication products and third-party vendor acquisition systems.

VLE Integration

Yes. EBL provides links which can be incorporated into VLE systems - at book level and chapter level - allowing patrons to link directly into EBL content from the VLE.

Social Bookmarking

Coming Nov 2008.

Language Support

The EBL platform is currently English only but EBL does host content in various languages.

Other

EBL ebooks can be read online or downloaded to a laptop, PC or transferred to a PDA.

EBL titles can be downloaded to the Sony Reader ebook device.

EBL's pay-per-view access models provide libraries with flexible options for ILL or demand-driven access.

EBL will be launching many exciting 2.0 services in October 2008 - details TBA.

Accessibility

W3C Compliance

Information not provided

Browser Compatibility

EBL is compatable for Windows, MAC and some configurations on LINUX and supports a wide range of web browsers.

Further information on minimum requirements is available here.

Plugins Required

EBL does not require any plug-ins.

Availability & Uptime

24/7 Uptime

EBL is available 24x7.

Downtime (as specified in service level agreements)

A 2% level of downtime is specified in the service agreement. EBL schedules downtime for maintenance periodically. Emails are sent to customers and information is posted on the website ahead of scheduled maintenance.

Mirror Sites

EBL maintains multiple instances of the hosted platform and content on distinct hosting environments.