Ebrary, an online information resource marketed to libraries and students, has released Ebrarian 2.0, a software platform that offers research tools and content; the company has also announced several new library customers and content partners.
Ebrary CEO Christopher Warnock told PW that the company has signed pilot agreements with Stanford University and Yale University libraries as well as with the Peninsula Library System, a consortium of 34 public and community college libraries, to use the Ebrarian 2.0 platform. Warnock also said that ebrary has signed deals with the presses at Harvard, Cornell and Indiana universities to provide online access to their titles.
Warnock told PW that Ebrarian 2.0 offers its library customers a wide variety of content through a co-branded, customized Web interface. Ebrarian 2.0 offers "new functionality," said Warnock, including highlighting and annotating capabilities for digital texts; personal accounts; customizable searching tools; and accounting and reporting tools to track usage and transactions.
Ebrary offers "multiple business models," he said. In one model, students can search and read online for free, but pay for copying and printing; another offers pay-per-view licenses and subscriptions for institutions. "Using ebrary, publishers can sell content to libraries, libraries can offer more services and consumers get an international library of secure content," said Warnock.
Ebrary.com, the firm's Web site, has yet to launch. Warnock said he was "confident" the site would be up and running in "early 2002."
