Springer Launching New eBook Collection
Today I had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Springer who gave me a demo of their new eBook Collection.
I was already a bit familiar with it because my own library is buying it and I had a chance to look over the beta Web site a bit and give my own comments about it. My initial reaction was positive and I liked what I heard from the Springer reps as well.
The Springer eBook Collection will launch next week on June 20. Here is a sneak peak of the user interface as it is right now. Access is through SpringerLink. Search results are subdivided by subject, publication, author, editor, online date, etc.
Springer's product is different from some eBook vendors I've used in that they allow unlimited copying of the ebooks. Some vendors severely limit the number of pages that can be copied, so that roadblock has been eliminated. The Collection isn't a subscription--a library will own the material it buys and can store it locally if it chooses.
Springer advertises this Collection as "the world's most comprehensive online scientific book collection." 10,000 books will be available in 2006 (which includes 3,000 titles from 2005 plus all imprints transferred from netLibrary) with 3,000 added each year.
The Collection includes eBooks, eReference works (handbooks and "major reference works"), and eBook Series, and is divided into 12 subject collections with no overlap between them. A heavy chunk of that is in STM, but titles from Humanities & Social Science are included as well.
Chapters of books are searchable, and each has its own DOI. When intergrated into a library catalog, users can search the chapters as well as the book titles. MARC records and usage statistics are provided.
Users can download in either PDF or HTML format. It's a nice feature that the chapters are separate entities, so users can download just one chapter of a book if they want. There is no limit on the number of concurrent users.
Many users want material in PDF format, and they want to copy and share material with others. Springer, from my viewpoint, is a step ahead of others in allowing unlimited printing and sharing, as well as improved access to searchable book chapters.
Ebooks allow libraries to save space and better serve users at multiple locations who may not have the ability or desire to visit a library and look through a printed book. Any library investigating eBooks focusing on science, technology and medicine should take a good look at the new Springer Collection.
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