Move into the eBooks world with assistance from Swets

Amazon.com recently released their list of 2011′s best-selling books , revealing that more eBooks are being sold than print books. Since last year, Amazon sells around 105 eBooks for every 100 print books, hardcover and paperback. And the #1 and #2 best-selling eBooks of last year weren’t even available in print editions suggesting the eBook market is approaching a tipping point.

Market predictions
Swets has worked alongside libraries worldwide, to ensure we can cater to a library’s eBook needs during these changing times. Currently, we have added more than 1 Million eBooks into our SwetsWise catalog, giving you titles from 43 vendors to choose from. We expect to see further growth in the eBook market over the next couple of years, furthering the shift from print to electronic. As eBooks become more prominent, so the complexities of dealing with them increase. Purchase models and licensing agreements change from publisher to publisher, aggregator to aggregator. We are noticing new trends appearing, such as patron-driven acquisition schemes and complex Digital Rights management discussions taking place within the market. Swets is monitoring the developments closely to assist you in uncovering which is the right content for your library and under what purchase model.

To continue to meet the growing demand, Swets will endeavor to:

1. Increase our publisher and aggregator portfolio

2. Focus on adding access to non-English language content and titles via SwetsWise

3. Continue to developing the SwetsWise eBook platform by listening to your comments and suggestions and building new functionality where possible

4. Developing enhanced comparison functionality to give better clarity on a vendor level

5. Maintain awareness of the changes in the industry to be able to offer up-to-date technology on devices, readers, downloads from our vendor base to our clients

The Swets eBooks story
The eBook market has been emerging since the mid-1990s with so called ‘aggregators’. Aggregators are companies who represent 100s of publishers on one platform. They are taking the lead to digitize content and build eBook searchable platforms that were directed at the academic library market. Swets quickly saw the value in this new market and so, in 2007, Swets met with the top aggregators and made the decision for a first step; to partner with MyiLibrary to offer their content and publishers through an ordering eBook portal on SwetsWise. Developments and improvements have continued on the platform ever since. In June of 2011 we implemented a major release that offers automation for ordering, price comparisons of aggregators and publishers, Google Preview of each eBook and more!

Opening up libraries to 24/7 usage
The eBook market has rapidly evolved from infancy to a mainstream product; replacing print books in many libraries around the world. The library market was eager to be able to offer eBooks as it opened their libraries to 24/7 usage and allowed them to build holdings without the costs of print books on valuable and expensive library shelves. However, although eager to do this, librarians struggled with the question of exactly which books to replace with electronic and which to keep as print. That struggle continues today but with much faster results in moving from print to electronic.

As the eBook market grows and changes, Swets will continue to search for ways to address the challenges our customers are facing every day. Your input and ideas on functionality for the SwetsWise eBook platform will benefit that development too so contact us today if you have any suggestions.

To read more about our overall Books proposition, visit our website where you can find a range of materials to help introduce you to the world of eBooks or improve your current eBook selection strategy.