Safari Tech Books Online is the newest ebook service to provide access to IT titles online. The collection of some 640+ titles come from IT publishers O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. and The Pearson Technology Group, which include imprints such as Adobe Press, New Riders, Peachpit Press and Sams. The XML repository includes titles in more than 20 IT categories, including Web Development, Software Engineering and e-Business. All can be searched at the full-text level, with ranked relevancy and the ability to cut and paste sections.

The library subscription model permits a library to select the titles it wants to include in its collection, similar to netLibrary's model. But, pricing is a monthly or annual fee based on the number of simultaneous users and titles selected. Each month, the library can swap titles in and out of its collection, enhancing the currency of the collection. All Safari content is read on the web within a browser, so does not require any downloads or plug-ins. As of mid-March, according to a Safari representative, the overall Safari collection had the following currency:

• 2002 publications- 5%
• 2001 publications- 12%
• 2000 publications- 42%
• 1999 publications- 26%
• pre-1999 publications- 15%

The same Safari representative indicated that they plan to provide MARC records in the future. At present, Proquest is the exclusive distribution partner of this publisher-backed effort. Because of O'Reilly's participation in Safari Tech Books Online, the publisher will not be renewing its relationship with netLibrary-- netLibrary will continue to carry past titles, but will receive no new O'Reilly titles. For more information on Safari Tech Books Online, see http://safaribooksonline.com/ .