netLibrary, our primary eBook provider, has a new look and new features. For starters, they aren't calling themselves netLibrary anymore. They were bought several months ago by Ebsco, the same database provider that produces CINAHL, HealthSource, Points of View, and other familiar library database titles.
We have been in contact with Ebsco over the past few months about the transition to the new product platform but were quite surprised to find that we had switched over sometime Friday evening.
We are still learning the new interface and features and will provide training opportunities to interested faculty and students in the near future. For now, here's what you need to know:
- The content hasn't changed. The titles we owned in netLibrary are still owned with the new product.
- The main URL to the search page (www.netlibrary.com) no longer works. The new url is much longer (https://ezproxy.roanestate.edu:3443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,url,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=nlabk,nlebk) Yuk!
- Faculty will need to update any links that point directly to the old netLibrary search page (www.netlibrary.com) with this new URL. Faculty, please check your syllabus, class assignments, D2L course pages or other documents for the outdated netLibrary URL. Let us know if you need help updating your links.
- You do not need to change item specific links that contain the netlibrary.com domain. These will automatically resolve to the new Ebsco eBooks URL.
- At present, area residents do not have access to the new Ebsco eBook platform. We will report more on this as we learn more.
While the timing of this transition could have been a little smoother, we are happy with the overall direction Ebsco is taking our eBook collection. A few improvements to look forward to:
- easier search interface
- easier reading interface
- multiple simultaneous users for a single book
- potential for downloading to mobile eReaders for offline reading
More on this soon. As always,
ask us if you have questions or need help finding the information you need.
Labels: databases, eBooks, Ebsco, netLibrary, new_stuff