Moving to combine its expertise running college bookstores with its increasing share of the e-book retail market, Barnes & Noble announced a partnership with Blackboard, an online teaching and study platform used by colleges across the country, that will allow students to purchase and download B&N study content through the Blackboard platform. The new partnership will integrate the Blackboard platform with NookStudy, a forthcoming software application from B&N that will let students buy, aggregate, and customize digital textbook content on their Macs or PCs.
Although still in development, once available NookStudy will give students access to B&N e-textbooks for up to a 40% discount. The application will allow students to create a library of content on their personal computers (a Nook reading device is not required) and is said to offer enhanced notetaking functionality that will be customizable and searchable. NookStudy will also offer supplementary study materials and allow students to view multiple textbooks and source materials at one time.
Matthew Small, chief business officer at Blackboard, said the deal is part of a “strategy to transform the way that students and instructors use and share digital content.” Small said the partnership will, “will make it much easier for students to access the resources they need for their courses and leverage the best in interactive, digital content.
NookStudy will be free and available for download from BN.com by the fall. The integration of Blackboard and NookStudy will be known as Blackboard Building Block and will be available to educational institutions later this year.
Tracey Weber, executive v-p, textbooks and digital education at BN.com said the partnership offers students, “simple and seamless access to all of their educational materials.”
