A’s Across the Board

Ebooks are getting ready to go to school

By Shonda Brisco -- School Library Journal, 12/1/2006

Imagine never having to send out an overdue list, repair a torn page, or worry about how four history classes can use one two-volume reference book for research on the Middle Ages. If you’re thinking about ebooks but haven’t yet investigated what is available, here’s where to start.

Grades 9–12+

Cost Oxford Digital Reference Shelf is available by subscription for $295 for the core collection subscription or $395 for the premium collection subscription. Oxford Reference Online is sold for $395 per title.

The Big Picture Oxford University Press offers two different ebook products that provide unique and affordable options for most school libraries: Oxford Reference Online and Oxford Digital Reference Shelf.

Oxford Reference Online is a comprehensive resource that contains over 130 reference titles from science, medicine, social sciences, business, and the humanities. Among the titles in the core collection are the Oxford Companion to American Literature, the Oxford Companion to American Theatre, the Oxford Companion to English Literature, The Dictionary of Biology, and more. A complete list of the subjects with URLs, the titles with ISBNs and URLs, as well as a set of MARC records are available

Two premium collection additions can be added: the Literature Collection, which includes 14 of the best Oxford Companion literature titles, and the Western Civilization collection, with six reference titles ranging from the Byzantium period to the Renaissance. Oxford Reference Online is updated at least three times a year with new titles, new editions, and additional features.

The Oxford Digital Reference Shelf provides not just access but ownership through a one-time-only purchase. In the Digital Reference Shelf, 17 scholarly reference titles are sold separately and include choices such as The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, The Encyclopedia of Evolution, and more. Each title is searchable as a stand-alone resource or can be cross-searched through the optional Oxford Reference Online Premium subscription.

Look & Feel Oxford Reference Online offers students the opportunity to access over 130 full-text quality reference titles. The Premium collection provides additional titles that upgrade the package for very little cost.

While sophisticated and scholarly in content, Oxford Reference Online provides an easy-access format that is clearly understood from the home page. Users may initiate a Quick Search from the front page or select an Advanced Search. Within the Advanced Search options, students may select the subject areas (such as English Language Reference, Performing Arts, or Science) and choose three search options including Standard Search, Boolean Search, or Pattern Search. One unique feature within the Advanced Search includes the detailed explanations of how a search will be conducted. A list of subjects and books is also provided for selecting a specific title or for browsing.

On the home page, users will find direct links to English Dictionaries and References, Bilingual Dictionaries, Quotations, Maps, and more. On the banner, students can Browse, search through the Subjects & Books, examine the Timelines, or search pre-selected Web links to subject-related content.

The Oxford Digital Reference Shelf provides a smaller self-selected group of materials. Each digital title provides access and ownership of the ebook through a one-time purchase. Like Reference Online, the Digital Reference Shelf is an easily accessible and user-friendly ebook package which provides the user with direct access to scholarly information.

A simple search box on the Home page offers a basic search while a Widened Search appears on the results screen from the original search. A Widened Search opens additional entries within the ebook. Unlike searching within a database, Oxford offers four levels of searching: Level 1, all search terms in the entry heading; Level 2, all search terms in full text; Level 3, one or more search terms in full text; and Level 4, words spelled like your search term.

How It Works Both Oxford Reference Online and the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf provide a structure and accessibility that is similar to what most users think of when using an online database. Through search capabilities that allow users to locate specific information, words, titles, or concepts, the ebook format allows for more flexibility within a search and more options to quickly scan a number of titles.

Using the Oxford Reference Online, I conducted a search on the topic of “chivalry.” A return of 45 hits produced a list of 15 dictionaries and 30 encyclopedias with information as it related to the specific title. For example, The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages reported the decline of chivalry within the 14th century and the Oxford Companion to Military History provided the orders of chivalry including knighthood. This information was detailed enough to begin a project on the history of chivalry in the Middle Ages.

Within each results page, list tabs allow the user to specifically choose a preferred reference by selecting dictionaries, quotations, encyclopedia articles, or maps and illustrations. On the left-hand side of the results page, additional subject areas are listed with a Refined Subject listing to help continue the search.

Formulating a search on the topic of Mark Twain within the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf, and specifically in the Oxford Companion to American Literature, I was provided with a similar format for searching and selecting information. On the left-hand were Entry Sections within the ebook which provided quick access to specific information and on the right-hand side of the results page, a list of additional resources within the Oxford University Press package for more information.

For Students and Teachers Because the contents mirror the print contents of the reference titles, users will not only be able to find the entry that they need, they can also search by keywords to locate specific information throughout the specific title or within the entire collection. Users will value the ability to click into specific areas within a title to examine other subjects or topics relating to the original search. For users who are visually impaired, both products provide ADA accessibility with JAWS.

Report Card Each of these products receives an A for their wealth of excellent information and ease of use. Both the Oxford Reference Online and Oxford Digital Reference Shelf offer informative and scholarly ebook reference titles in a format that is reasonably priced. Interested in creating your first ebook collection? These products are a great introduction while providing the quality historical, literary, and artistic content for which the Oxford University Press is so well-known.

Grades 2–12+

Cost Pricing varies based upon the titles selected; a minimum order for new NetLibrary customers is 100 units/titles per library. The hosting service is calculated on the total list price for all the copies purchased. Libraries pay for the ebook’s list price, plus the NetLibrary hosting fee, and, if selected, the remote access fee (about $1800) for using the Adobe Content Server. School libraries are able to set up a NetLibrary account through NetLibrary’s partner, Baker & Taylor.

The Big Picture NetLibrary has been a part of libraries for years. As school libraries move into e-content, NetLibrary is one of the first choices to be considered. NetLibrary offers an easy-to-use information retrieval system for accessing the full text of reference, scholarly, and professional books, as well as others. NetLibrary’s ebooks are full-text electronic versions of published books that library patrons can search, borrow, read, and return over the Internet. Ebooks are available to users at terminals in the library or from their personal computers via the Internet.

Visitors are able to quickly search the entire ebook collection for authors, titles, or keywords. And because they are “virtually” always there, ebooks are available for checkout and are automatically checked back into the library collection when the checkout period ends.

NetLibrary’s ebook collection for schools (available through Baker & Taylor) is called TitleSelect. It contains approximately 122,700 titles with both professional and recreational titles. In addition to informational material, the program provides fiction for students as young as second grade. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is embedded in all NetLibrary ebooks.

Look & Feel The front page of the NetLibrary search screen provides a Basic search for titles by Full-text, Keyword, Title, Author, or Subject. An Advanced Search provides a selection of these search options with Boolean operators, as well as limiters that include the formats (ebook, eaudiobook, or ejournal) and language. NetLibrary provides nine different languages.

The top banner of the front page shows the Favorites and Notes link, which allows users to list their favorite titles or take notes as they read; Checked Out, which lists the content the user has out; and the Help link.

Once a title is entered into the search box, a list of titles (or matches) appears on the screen along with a small cover photo of the book, the basic bibliographic information, and a summary. Blue hyperlinks allow users to View this ebook, Show Details, or Add to Favorites. When users select View, a new screen appears with a Table of Contents and the book cover. When a page, chapter, or unit listed within the Table of Contents is clicked, the corresponding page appears on the right. Users may also search by specific page numbers or by keyword or terms. Each page may be saved, printed, e-mailed, or downloaded.

Providing access to the contents within NetLibrary is simple since all of NetLibrary’s ebooks can be searched through the library’s OPAC by clicking on the hyperlink within the record. Then, from the NetLibrary page, users may view titles online or, if a title is available in a PDF format, borrow it. Checkout involves downloading an ebook to a hard drive (or a device with Palm OS 3.0 or higher) for a specific amount of time, after which it becomes unreadable. When a patron has a title downloaded, however, other patrons cannot access it unless the library has multiple copies. For a video tour of NetLibrary, go to www.oclc.org/NetLibrary/demo.

For Students and Teachers For most new teachers, NetLibrary is a recognized product that will enhance access to both professional and recreational titles. For students, NetLibrary provides an introduction to the content that they may find in public libraries or will soon find in university libraries. Regardless, most users will certainly think that the ebook content and ease in access (and use) is a model of 21st century library progress.

Librarians will appreciate the availability of statistics to determine usage. Different types of usage reports can be created—great for weeding or building your collection.

Report Card NetLibrary already has a strong reputation as an ebook delivery system and certainly deceives a strong A. But with no free trial accessibility listed on the NetLibrary Web site, busy school librarians may dismiss the product as something to investigate later, if they have time. However, as NetLibrary continues to add more children’s and young adult titles and more schools become accustomed to ebooks, this product will definitely be a standard within the school library program.

Grades 6–12+

Cost The cost varies by title; most ebooks cost approximately 10 percent above their print counterpart.

The Big Picture Thomson Gale was one of the first publishers to make their reference titles available in digital format. With a wealth of reference titles available for purchase, the Virtual Reference Library provides students with access to a potentially wide range of titles. Showcasing a collection of 840+ titles for immediate access, Gale’s Virtual Reference Library ranges from the arts to technology.

Look & Feel Most visitors will immediately recognize many of the titles. Ebooks available within the program are listed below the Basic Search box with the subject areas to the left. By clicking View Publications, a list of the titles available expands to allow for immediate selection and use.

For those users who want to search all titles available for possible information, a Basic Search can be conducted within a Document Title, through the Entire Document, or by performing a Keyword Search. An Advanced Search allows users to search by Keywords, Document Title, Image Caption, Publication Title, Author, Publisher, Start page, ISBN, or Document Number. Limiters allow users to restrict their searches to documents with images, publications date ranges, publication titles, subject areas, or target audiences.

How It Works Using the Virtual Reference Library is as easy as accessing an online database. With the MARC records that are also available, librarians can upload record information to their catalogs. Once the subject heading is selected, the user is redirected to the Gale Virtual Reference Library portal. This provides seamless access from the search catalog directly to the book without closing applications and entering online databases.

Each library selects its own ebook collection. If enabled by the library, the Virtual Reference Library can be included in a cross-search, simply by selecting databases from the Database Menu. Through the cross-searching option, both online databases and the Virtual Reference Library can be searched at once providing a one-stop search option for users.

For Students & Teachers Both students and teachers will appreciate the convenience and quality of the titles within the Virtual Reference Library. However, the accessibility and ease of use will win them over. Because of these factors, librarians can easily encourage users to select ebooks for online research and recreational reading.

Once an ebook is selected and information is found, users can create an InfoMark to share with others, email, hyperlink within an electronic program, or print. An InfoMark is the “Web address” (or URL) of the specific page being viewed. This Web address allows the user to come back to the same page, making it much easier for librarians to encourage the use of ebooks for online research.

Report Card Thomson Gale consistently provides a quality content product and this product certainly rates an A. As more school librarians begin to explore the opportunities of providing ebook content, the popularity of Gale’s Virtual Reference Library within schools is sure to grow.