Ebrary.com Offers Consumer Accounts

Looking to showcase its content resources and attract researchers unaffiliated with library databases, ebrary.com, an online information distribution and retrieval services company, has launched a fee-based research site aimed at individuals.

Ebrary offers online access to a database with more than 20,000 full-text books through libraries and research institutions. Chris Warnock, CEO of ebrary, said the new consumer service will be available through a Web site called Discover Ebrary (discover.ebrary.com).

"This is an effort to promote the services we offer through libraries," said Warnock. "We think it will be a valuable service to the libraries that license our content." Warnock said consumers can set up individual accounts for as little as $5. The accounts give the consumer full access to ebrary reader, the PDF-based software plug-in that gives the researcher a range of capabilities including full-text access and searching. Consumers are only charged for copying or printing from the texts, and fees go to compensate the publishers that have licensed their content to ebrary. Researchers who use ebrary through libraries are not charged a fee.

To attract consumers and show off their technology, ebrary is also offering a collection of about 100 books and maps on the Middle East and related topics. The new consumer site will being promoted through a number of ebrary partners as well as through traditional marketing campaigns. There is no fee to view the collection.