NetLibrary teams with Airiti to offer Chinese-language eContent

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA,  21 August 2006 —NetLibrary, a division of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., and a leading platform for eContent to libraries worldwide, has announced an agreement with Taipei, Taiwan-based Airiti, Inc. to offer subscription service to three highly-regarded Chinese-language databases.

The agreement, which was announced on the opening day of the 72nd IFLA General Conference and Council in Seoul, Korea, will provide OCLC NetLibrary with rights to sell annual subscriptions to Airiti's Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services (TEPS), the Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS) and the National Palace Museum (NPM) Online Database.

"We are very pleased that this agreement will make Airiti's quality online databases available to OCLC's members through NetLibrary's access portal and support infrastructure," said Chris Chang, President and CEO, Airiti, Inc.  "NPM Online is the world's most complete and feature-rich eContent offering for ancient Chinese art treasures, and our periodical services will provide hundreds of thousands of high caliber journal articles to academic and public library users worldwide."

Named the Best Subsidized Digital Publication by News Bureau of The Executive Yuan of Taiwan, the NPM Online database contains more than 12,000 images of Chinese antique art paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, jade, bronze, Buddhist antiquities and other artifacts from the National Palace Museum in Taipei.  NPM Online provides high-resolution 1024x768 pixel images and includes artifact descriptions in multiple languages, including Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and English.  Japanese versions will be coming soon.

Airiti's Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services (TEPS) and Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS) database products will provide library users with direct access to more than 2,500 full-text Chinese-language journals.  The Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services covers 81,000 articles published in leading Taiwanese academic journals, and the Chinese Electronic Periodical Services includes 338,000 full-text articles from journals published in China and in Taiwan.  Spanning subject areas including medicine and life sciences, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and applied sciences, each service is updated daily with new academic journal content and includes archived issues dating to 1991.

"We are delighted to be able to offer these exciting new resources to our partner libraries," said Rich Rosy, Vice President of Content Management, OCLC.  "NPM Online will be the first collection of high-quality images available through the NetLibrary platform, and the addition of the Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services and the Chinese Electronic Periodical Services will significantly enhance both the quality and quantity of Chinese-language content available to our users."

"The strategic alliance with Airiti, Inc. marks a new era for OCLC in providing Asian eContent to libraries worldwide—information representing thousands of years of rich culture," said Andrew H. Wang, Executive Director, OCLC Asia Pacific Services and New Initiatives.  "The rich Chinese cultural heritage of the National Palace Museum Online and important Chinese-language publications are invaluable additions to NetLibrary, providing access to users at the point of need—through the World Wide Web."

The Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services, Chinese Electronic Periodical Services and NPM Online database are available to libraries as an annual subscription, offering unlimited, simultaneous usage.  Users will be able to link directly to the image database and periodical services from the NetLibrary user interface, and will be able to search, browse and access content online.  For more information on the Taiwan Electronic Periodical Services, Chinese Electronic Periodical Services or NPM Online database, please contact an OCLC representative at: libservices@oclc.org.  Or call +1-800-898-OCLC.

About Airiti
Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Airiti is a leading Chinese e-content vendor that has provided Chinese academic e-journals and classical art images to more than 450 libraries and institutes around the world.  For more information, visit www.airiti.com.

About OCLC
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, USA, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, eContent and preservation services to 55,000 libraries in 110 countries and territories.  For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

The NetLibrary division of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. <www.netlibrary.org> helps academic, public, corporate and special libraries create a richer, more productive learning environment for their users.  By combining the time-honored traditions of the library system with electronic publishing, NetLibrary offers an easy-to-use information retrieval system for accessing the full text of reference, scholarly and professional books, journals, eAudiobooks and other eContent.

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