Tuesday, May 28, 2002
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NetLibrary's New Owners Hope Newer E-Books Will Be More Attractive to AcademeBy JEFFREY R. YOUNG
The new management of netLibrary, which took over in April after the troubled e-book company was purchased by a nonprofit library group, is taking steps to make the company more attractive to librarians in academe, such as adding more-current titles and improving the company's communication with librarians. The company, which was founded three years ago and is based in Boulder, Colo., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November after failing to find enough financing to stay afloat. It was bought by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, which is based in Dublin, Ohio, and provides computer cataloging and other services to 40,000 libraries worldwide. Officials at netLibrary say they sell e-books to 7,300 libraries, about 3,000 of which are at colleges and universities. Some of those libraries joined on a trial basis, however, or have ordered only small numbers of e-books. The question now is whether OCLC can make the e-book service work. "One thing we have heard loud and clear is we need to improve the currency of our collection," Rich Rosy, the company's new leader, said last week during a briefing about the company's latest strategy. The briefing was broadcast to OCLC's members over the Internet. Mr. Rosy said the company started off with mostly backlist titles from the publishers it works with, and that many of those books were 10 years old or older. Mr. Rosy was traveling last week and declined to be interviewed, but Marge Gammon, a spokeswoman for netLibrary, said in an e-mail message that the company has added 4,400 new books to its collection in the past six months, and that 65 percent of those were published between 2000 and 2002. "Our catalog currently contains more than 42,800 titles," she added. In the briefing last week, Mr. Rosy also said that the company was working to make it easier for librarians to add specific netLibrary titles to their electronic collections. He said netLibrary had formed partnerships with book wholesalers that librarians already dealt with, for instance, so that librarians could select and order e-books using the same systems they use for print orders. Such changes bode well for netLibrary, say some librarians who use the service. Some of them are already more confident in the company now that it has the backing of a professional group they are familiar with. "When you're buying an electronic book collection, where you're relying on perpetual access, long-term stability is very critical," said Steven J. Bell, director of the library at Philadelphia University. When netLibrary was in financial trouble last year, many librarians worried that the time and money they had invested in setting up netLibrary services on their campuses might go to waste. "We were very concerned because it kind of floated out there for a while," said Beth Schuck, an electronic reserves librarian at Northern Arizona University, which is a netLibrary customer. "We feel like OCLC is a very stable [group], and that definitely they will find a model that will be profitable." The biggest complaint librarians have about the service is its policy of only allowing one user on a campus to "check out" an e-book at a time. In other words, if one researcher is using an e-book, no one else on the campus can access that title until the book is put away. netLibrary officials say that the policy was set at the request of publishers, who worry that putting their books on netLibrary will cut the number of multiple copies they sell to libraries. That is something the company is looking at changing, said Mr. Rosy. He said he believes that publishers are now more willing to listen to the company's suggestions about contract terms. "There was a time, not too long ago, where we were still at the mercy of [publishers]," he said. "We have definitely crossed a threshold with the publishers. We are now at the point where publishers are asking us, 'What do you want? What do libraries want?' Because they're looking at it now as a revenue stream, if you will." Some of netLibrary's competitors, such as ebrary, already allow multiple users to use electronic books at the same time. Mary C. Summerfield, director of business development and planning for the University of Chicago Press, said academic publishers are starting to warm to the idea of e-books, and that they will be more willing to work with netLibrary if they see it as a way to make extra money. "University publishers are poor in general, and always looking for ways to further the sale of their books," she said. The University of Chicago Press sold about 100 older titles to the service years ago, she added. However, the press is not expanding its relationship with netLibrary because it is developing its own electronic-delivery service, Ms. Summerfield added. netLibrary also seems to be working to take advantage of OCLC's existing links with academic libraries. Last week, the company notified OCLC members by e-mail that it had linked the nonprofit organization's WorldCat database, an extensive electronic catalog, with the netLibrary collection. That means netLibrary customers who own an electronic book can let patrons access the full text of it directly from the WorldCat directory. "This greatly enhances the utility of the e-books," said Mr. Bell, of Philadelphia University's library. But Mr. Bell said the WorldCat arrangement also raises questions about whether the commercial division of OCLC will distract from the group's nonprofit mission. "Can OCLC maintain its mostly noncommercial relationship with its library customers?" Mr. Bell asks. "Will they be tempted to develop system enhancements that work under optimal conditions for owners of netLibrary e-books? Can OCLC remain neutral with respect to providing access to e-books through their vast bibliographic network?" Cathy De Rosa, vice president of corporate marketing for OCLC, says that the organization is treating netLibrary as it does its other services. "OCLC is in the business of serving libraries and being self-sustaining," she said. In his talk to librarians, Mr. Rosy said that netLibrary is trying to work more closely with librarians to see what services they want. "We're learning," he said. "We've got a long way to go."
Background articles from The Chronicle:
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 Federal government considers major changes to enforcement of Title IX U.S. House approves bill that would cover deficit in Pell Grant program Report cites research reactors' vulnerability to terrorists Athanasius Kircher, dude of wonders Alfred University and SUNY's Alfred State consider merger possibility Nigeria forbids public universities to charge tuition Civil war forces Liberian college to relocate Spring commencement speakers are announced by 14 colleges NetLibrary's new owners hope newer e-books will be more attractive to academe Museums seek methods for preserving digital art Online teaching redefines faculty members' schedules, duties, and relationships with students |
Copyright © 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education