- ProQuest's ebook businesses work together to expand access to essential titles across the UK

CAMBRIDGE, England, Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Academic libraries across England will now have wider access to ProQuest® extensive ebook collection through EBL - Ebook Library (EBL) and ebrary platforms. The Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) has selected both EBL and ebrary as recommended ebook suppliers for the next two to four years.

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Under this new framework agreement, more than 500 higher and further education institutions across England can acquire ebook content from EBL and ebrary.  Both platforms seamlessly integrate into a library's own collection management and catalogue systems and offer online and mobile access.  The agreement began this August and provides Joint Consortia members with a simplified framework for acquiring and accessing hundreds of thousands of ebooks available through ebrary and EBL. 

Susan Wright, Head of the SUPC said, "This new framework agreement includes nine ebook vendors of which ebrary and EBL are an integral part.  By working with suppliers such as EBL and ebrary we are able to provide our Joint Consortia with the ebook solutions they need to ensure their users have research discovery at their fingertips."

ProQuest strengthened its already successful ebook business through its acquisition of EBL earlier this year, enabling the company to significantly expand its ebook delivery and aggregation capabilities and offering greater choice to libraries worldwide.

Combined, EBL and ebrary offer access to more than 500,000 titles, with the widest selection of access models.  Both platforms offer libraries the option to purchase with perpetual access, with multiple concurrent access models available for most titles. ebrary's acclaimed Academic Complete™ subscription provides access to a growing collection of more than 86,000 titles.  EBL's Non-Linear™ Lending and sophisticated Demand-driven Acquisition models offer libraries uniquely flexible acquisition options.  

Kari Paulson, ProQuest Vice-President and General Manager, Ebooks said, "This comprehensive agreement enables EBL and ebrary to provide a uniform framework for academic institutions throughout England to purchase ebooks.  The agreement helps to encourage the widespread adoption of ebooks in higher education institutions and delivers maximum value to libraries and end users alike."  

About EBL – Ebook Library (www.eblib.com)

EBL is a leading global ebook aggregator, serving academic, corporate and research libraries worldwide. With an extensive catalogue of ebook titles from premier international academic publishers, EBL is renowned as a pioneer of flexible, innovative access models such as Demand-driven Acquisition and the esteemed Non-Linear™ Lending model. EBL is a ProQuest business and was originally founded in 2003. 

About ebrary (www.ebrary.com)

ebrary helps customers acquire e-books strategically through a three step approach: Transition, Diversify and Streamline™.  The company believes that by challenging the e-book status quo, organisations can effectively serve the diverse and growing needs of researchers and maximise their budgets. Founded in 1999, long before ebooks were popular, ebrary is a ProQuest business located in Palo Alto, CA, USA.

EBL and ebrary are working together to provide an unparalleled ebook solution with proven innovation, the greatest content selection, integrated end-to-end management and expert consultation.

75th Anniversary of Landmark Innovation

ProQuest is celebrating the 75th anniversary of microfilm and the legacy of innovations that have supported researchers and librarians for more than a century. The launch of University Microfilms, Inc. (UMI) introduced a new era for libraries, enabling preservation and sharing of large document collections.

To commemorate this pivotal milestone, the company created a comic book that tells the story in true superhero fashion of how microfilm became the gold standard for information preservation. Eugene B. Power and the Wild Beginnings of UMI is available in print and ebook format.

About ProQuest (www.proquest.com)

ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company's products are a gateway to the world's knowledge including dissertations, governmental and cultural archives, news, historical collections and e-books. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create and manage information.

The company's cloud-based technologies offer flexible solutions for librarians, students and researchers through the ProQuest®, Bowker®, Dialog®, ebrary®, EBL® and Serials Solutions® businesses – and notable research tools such as the Summon® discovery service, RefWorks® Flow, Pivot™ and Intota®, a new library services platform. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices around the world.

SOURCE ProQuest