Bayerische Staatsbibliothek purchases NetLibrary eBooks

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA,  12 June 2006—NetLibrary, a division of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., and a leading platform for eContent to libraries worldwide, will provide eBooks to Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Bavaria's state library, under an agreement for an initial purchase of 1,000 titles.  The purchase is part of a plan by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany's research funding organization, to improve access to electronic content throughout the country.

The eBooks will be available to academic libraries throughout Germany, including Berlin State Library, Goettingen State and University Library, Technical Information Library Hanover and the State and University Library of Dresden.  The agreement covers English language titles in the subject areas of business, social sciences, engineering and arts. 

In addition to accessing titles through Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, participating institutions will be able to augment the collection by purchasing unique NetLibrary content of their own. 

"We conducted an exhaustive review of available eBook service providers and found that NetLibrary offered a broad range of titles covering many disciplines and an option for multiple, simultaneous access for users, which the DFG evaluation group approved of," said Dr. Hildegard Schaeffler, Head of Serials and Electronic Media, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.  "We are thrilled to be able to offer eBooks as an electronic resource in Germany."

"This is a first of its kind agreement that will provide students, faculty and researchers with 24/7 access to a rich collection of eBooks," said Rich Rosy, Vice President of Content Management, OCLC.  "We are delighted to be among the first to introduce eBooks to German academic libraries and are already working with Bayerische Staatsbibliothek to add new titles to their collection."

For more information about eBooks from NetLibrary, visit www.oclc.org/netlibrary.

About Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) is the central, self-governing research funding organization that promotes research at universities and other publicly financed research institutions in Germany.  The DFG serves all branches of science and the humanities by funding research projects and facilitating cooperation among researchers.

About Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, located in Munich, Germany, is the second largest academic library in German-speaking countries with a collection of just under 9 million books, 85,000 manuscripts and more than 44,000 printed and electronic journals.

About OCLC
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit computer library service and research organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, eContent and preservation services to 54,000 libraries in 109 countries and territories.  For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, NetLibrary <www.netlibrary.org> is a division of OCLC.  NetLibrary provides content and technical delivery solutions to institutional libraries, corporations and government agencies that facilitate the purchase, management and distribution of research, reference, digital learning, and general interest content via Web-based technologies.  NetLibrary's eContent solution is the most broadly adopted in the market, making the content of more than 400 publishers and eContent providers available through more than 14,000 libraries worldwide.

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