Baker & Taylor's "ED" Resurfaces

In the February 2001 newsletter, I reported on an ebook system under development by Baker & Taylor, referred to as "ed" (in lower case letters). After almost a year of silence, the B&T product has resurfaced, but this time "ED" is in upper case. A January 25th B&T Press Release, describes ED as an "eContent delivery and management solution" that will be available in 2002.

Similar to netLibrary, ED provides library patrons with access to ebooks through a co-branded website, using the same "one user at-a-time" model. As Publishers Weekly reported, the value-added of ED over netLibrary is in procurement-- ED ebooks will be integrated into B&T's collection development and purchasing tools. What remains missing from ED is content. Last January, B&T had deals with 3 publishers. This year, that number has only inched up to 7 (Indiana University Press, Palgrave MacMillan, Information Science Publishing/Idea Group Publishing/IRM Press (USA), University of Scranton Press, The Greenwood Publishing Group, University of North Carolina Press and Taylor & Francis). No pricing information or additional information on ED is currently available from the B&T website.