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(Note from the Washington State Library: In order to participate in the Fall 2000 Washington State Databases Trial, each vendor was asked to address questions the Statewide Database Licensing Committee felt were most critical in order for library staff to evaluate products and vendors. Please contact the vendor's representative, listed below, for additional information on this product.)
1. Describe the database product(s). Include information on subject scope, percentage of full-text, dates of coverage, target audience (including age ranges), and how often the contents are updated.
Books24x7.com's IT Pro Library Collection is an individualized professional information service that gives you access to the web's best technical reference library. Since this is a subscription based service, you will benefit from using any new content we add to the service during the subscription year at no additional charge. Also, you can lease access to as many simultaneous users your community may need. Our patent pending search engine aids the user in drilling down into the content and finding the most relevant content. You'll find full electronic versions of over 700+ top technical books and journals, fully searchable and consistently presented. Over 90 different topics are covered including programming, graphic design, and web development. The collection contains full content from the world's top publishers such as MIT Press, O'Reilly, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, Que, Sams, Sybex and Wiley. The content is hand picked. Our editorial board of distinguished technical writers and authors prepares a brief summary and a more detailed synopsis to help you select the most relevant content.
The collection is being constantly added to and the number of titles will double in size by early 2001. Publication coverage spans primarily 1997 to the present with over 60% of the collection copyrighted in 1999 and 2000. End users utilize the collection to answer specific questions instantly to time-sensitive problems and issues, to brush up on a topic or learn more about a new technology, and to view the entire contents of a printed book prior to purchasing it to ensure it contains the right information.
Features of the service include:
- Browse. Content is organized by topic and sub-topic. Researching new technology is only two clicks away and you're browsing titles.
- Search. We've prepared the book contents for easy searching so you can pinpoint very specific information fast. Search results indicators guide you directly to the most relevant books, chapters, sections and sub-sections.
- Lookup. Locate any book in Books24x7.com by searching on title, author, ISBN or publisher.
- Personalization. Create your own personal bookshelf, bookmark and annotate frequently referred-to books. Remote patrons who choose to personalize their experience with Books24x7.com receive e-mail notifications of new books that match their interests.
- Collaboration. Recommend books to colleagues; share bookmarks and notes.
- Community. You can review any book in the service, and read reviews from your peers and industry colleagues.
2. What are the hardware and software requirements for using all the features of the product(s)?
The requirement for internet browser capability is Internet Explorer 4 or better and Netscape 4 or better if you want to take advantage of all user features. Computer - PC or MAC.
3. Is remote access included for the subscription price? If there are additional charges or requirements in order to offer remote access, please describe. What methods of remote access are supported?
Yes, remote access is included in the price. We support IP address authentication and referring URL.
4. Please discuss any methods or assistance you offer regarding remote access patron verification and authentication.
Remote Patrons are supported via authentication using referring url. Remote library patrons authenticate themselves with the library. They then are able to gain access to a protected page on the library web server which has a special link to Books24x7.com.
If desired, remote patron simultaneous users can be separated from in-library. Usage reports account for in-library versus remote usage. See question #7 for technical support assistance.
5. What end user delivery options, such as printing, e-mailing or faxing results, are available beyond just viewing results on the computer monitor?
Emailing and faxing are not options. The library product offers a "printer friendly" format. When viewing a section (display page) of a book there is a "printer friendly format" option that re-displays the page in a format more suited to printing.
We understand the needs of our users to print their search results and try to balance this with our publishers' copyright issues. We allow "fair use" when printing.
6. What customer training is provided, and at what cost? Please include "freebies" such as Web-based tutorials, end-user documentation tents, cheat-sheets, etc.
No customer training is available at this time. "Freebies" include an online help site and tips feature.
7. What customer and technical support is provided, including hours of operation? In your reply, please include the phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your support services.
Customer and Technical support is provided with:
- response to feedback within 24 business hours entered directly from our web site (it is not necessary for a user to be logged in to submit feedback but if you expect a response include your email address)
- email ([email protected]) - telephone (781-440-9304) - [email protected]
- Hours of operation are 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM EST Monday - Friday.
Support for urgent problems is typically provided from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST Saturday and Sunday, but due to the low volume of requests this coverage is not assured.
8. Please describe the statistics you provide, and discuss whether your statistical reporting complies in part or in whole with the guidelines developed by the International Coalition of Library Consortia which may be found at http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/webstats.html .
Our statistical reporting complies with the guidelines set by ICOLC for the most part. There are instances where we generate data not currently on the guidelines. For instance, we can provide the titles of the most frequently searched book titles and topics. Currently, statistics are supplied by us on a customized basis. Plans are underway to provide a mechanism by which the library can download and manipulate statistics based on their needs.
9. Describe your pricing structure or formula for the product. If there are additional costs for retrieving full text, describe the pricing for this service.
NOTE: As of October, 2000, the pricing for Books 24x7 is being revised. Please check back soon as a new pricing model will be published shortly. Books 24x7 is also working with BCR for library purchasing.
10. If a library subscribes to any of your products as a result of this trial, will their future subscription rates continue to reflect any savings or discount they may receive today?
There is no guarantee of future discounts or savings.
11. What is the minimum participation level (however you care to define it) that would be needed to allow participating libraries to receive a discount? What is the minimum discount for a group buy? How will you would treat existing library customers with regard to a group buy?
Our pricing includes a built in discount linked to the number of simultaneous users you lease. The more you lease, the less expensive it is per simultaneous user. Please see the attached price sheet.
With a consortium purchase we will only execute one bill for the entire group purchase. For instance, several libraries in Washington may decide to lease access to 10 simultaneous users in order to take advantage of the discount. Books24x7.com will only bill a central location and not each individual site.
There are only a few libraries currently leasing the product. These early adopters of the service have provided us with valuable feedback during a testing period and were given a special price in exchange.
12. Please indicate whether libraries from Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and/or Hawaii are eligible to participate in the group buying process. Again, the fiscal and contracting relationship will be between each vendor and library. The Washington State Library will help determine if the criteria for a group discount has been met.
All the libraries from these states are allowed to participate individually and we will bill them separately. As part of a consortium they can take advantage of the discount, however, the one central bill still applies.
13. Please provide the name and contact information (toll-free telephone number, e-mail address, hours, etc.) for libraries to make further inquires.
Carole Myles, MSLIS
Director of Library Business Development Books24x7.com
100 River Ridge Drive Norwood MA 02062
[email protected] 781-440-9330
Hours: 8AM-5PM EST