Midwestern library and educational publisher Abdo has organized its digital publishing lines into Abdo Digital, a Web-based division that offers online access to e-book versions of Abdo print titles as well as new educational database products.

Dan Verdick, Abdo director of marketing, Web access, and digital publishing, said the new division consists of Abdo Interactive books, a line of 70 digital titles that allow kids to read themselves or use the "read along" function, take quizzes, and more, and Abdo e-books, a line of more than 3,000 downloadable digital versions of Abdo print titles. The house is also launching Abdo Digital Databases, a subscription-based program offering access to Abdo's database of the United States and the Inside the NFL database.

Paul Abdo, editor-in-chief of the family-owned publisher, said, "We want to make great curricular support materials for kids doing research for school, and we also want to be a leader in bringing personal interest subjects to today's young people, no matter what medium they choose to read or research with."

Both the Abdo iBooks and the Abdo e-book titles will run on a Mac or PC, and Abdo offers password protected subscriptions to individuals and to schools or libraries that will allow subscribers to access their own titles wherever they may be. Subscriptions can also be tailored for school and library use to allow multiple users at the same time. A subscription to the Inside the NFL database is $395 a year, and the U.S. database is $495 a year.

Both databases are based on Abdo book lines and aimed at elementary-age students. Abdo is also introducing the Inside the NFL database as a key element in Football Literacy, an Abdo initiative to use the NFL and football to encourage boys to read. The NFL database is updated regularly and focuses on team and league histories, statistics, quizzes, games, and the Football Hall of Fame, "not injury reports or last week's scores," said Verdick.

"The NFL has never been more popular," Verdick said. "Boys love it. We've produced a white paper that shows educators how using football to encourage reading is a worthwhile investment."