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Info Tech sites Shape E-Book Model.(IT-Knowledge, Books24x7.com, and ibooks.com)

Information Today February 1, 2001 | O’Leary, Mick Three companies are in the forefront of forming a distribution standard There are so many models for e-book delivery that it’s difficult to keep up with them. E-book providers offer every type of content–including scholarly monographs, bestsellers, and self-publications–with several different technologies, from e-book readers to downloadable books to Web-stored collections, and even access via hand-helds. In addition, they supply numerous varieties of transactional and subscription payment methods.

As these models all bid to replace print books, they fall short in one critical way: The collections themselves are usually small, erratic, and incomplete. Whatever its model, an e-book supplier may have some prominent titles, or a selection in a given topic, but it’s not comprehensive, even by modest standards. Any medium-sized public library or bookstore has a vastly larger and broader collection than any e-book site. Thus, most e-book providers are gimmicks or (to put it more charitably) prototypes that are not yet ready for prime time.

IT Leads the Way There is one impressive exception to this promising, but unfulfilled, pattern: information technology books. There are three information technology e-book sites-IT-Knowledge, Books24x7.com, and ibooks.com–that have large, comprehensive, up-to-date collections in all aspects of the subject. If the slogan for most c-book sites is “Something you might want,” theirs is “Everything you might need.” These sites also provide the unique benefits of e-books, from searching and browsing to personalization and attractive purchase plans.

It’s no surprise that the information technology field should occupy this forefront position. Information technology workers arc, by definition, comfortable with using electronic information; professional books and technical manuals are just another type of digital content. For their part, IT publishers are fully aware that an c-book strategy is a necessary part of their future. Finally, the site creators themselves have recognized that this is fertile ground for e-commerce entrepreneurialism.

Pieces of the Model All three sites have a lot in common. As you would expect, each has a thorough collection of books in the broad field of information technology, along with similar browsing, searching, and reading features. In each you can also find the following:

* A large, comprehensive collection–The three sites represent all aspects of information technology: hardware, operating systems, applications software, programming, networking, communications, Web applications and design, certification and training, e-commerce, and IT management. The collections range in size from 1,500 to 3,000 books, most published within the past few years. These are not large collections, but since they cover one specific field in which retrospective materials are unimportant, they’re quite thorough. Many of the most prominent IT publishers are represented–books from IBM, Que, Sams, and Sybex arc available on all three sites, and numerous other noteworthy publishers on one or two. go to site ibooks for mac

* Effective browsing, searching, and reading–The books are integrated with easy browsing and powerful searching features. Each site has an intuitive subject classification for efficient and pleasant browsing, and full-text searching of the entire collection or selected subsets. The books themselves include original graphics. Nonmembers have browsing and searching access to the complete collection. To get the flavor of an individual book, there’s access to some combination of citation/table of contents/synopsis/selected text.

* Adventuresome pricing models-IT-Knowledge and Books24x7.com use subscription pricing, with a variety of plans for enterprises and individuals. ibooks.com uses transactional pricing, with substantial discounts from full retail prices.

* Good design–All three sites are attractively and efficiently designed. It’s easy to browse and search their collections, read books, and make payments. Sometimes pages can be a little long and overcrowded, but otherwise, navigation and use are apparent.

ITKnowledge ITKnowledge has titles from 23 publishers, with another 14 named as forthcoming contributors. Besides the publishers mentioned earlier, it features books from Artech House, Delmar, and Wiley Computer Publishing. go to web site ibooks for mac

ITKnowledge offers three different “editions.” The Enterprise Edition includes the complete collection for organizations, with individually calculated site licenses. The Academic Edition is for colleges and universities and uses site licenses. This edition has over a dozen university consortium clients, including Amigos, CAPCON, NELINET, and PALINET. The Standard Edition, which is limited to an 800-volume subset of the entire collection, is for individuals and costs $195 per year. Nonsubscribers can examine books using the citation, table of contents, a one-line synopsis, and the first paragraph.

Books24x7.com Books24x7 provides individual quotes for volume subscriptions. Individual subscriptions are $299 per year, and, unlike ITKnowledge, provide access to the entire collection. Nonmembers can view citations; one-line abstracts; tables of contents; and a one-paragraph, staff-written synopsis.

ibooks.com Unlike the subscription plans offered by the other two sites, ibook.com has transactional pricing. The prices are substantially discounted, ranging from 25-45 percent, with most between 30-35 percent. There’s a free book section, with a few hundred titles of somewhat older vintage. Before purchase, books can be viewed by citation, table of contents, illustrations, and the full text of each chapter’s introductory paragraphs. Purchased books can be book-marked, and held on a separate, individually searchable bookshelf.

Which Site for IT Books?

ITKnowledge, Books24x7.com, and ibooks.com are so similar that choosing among them is a precise calculation. While there are many marginal differences among their collections, each provides an extensive and up-to-date set of books in all the main branches of information technology. Searching, browsing, and reading are similar. The principal divide is between the subscription pricing of ITKnowledge and Books24x7.com, and the transactional pricing of ibooks.com. If you need access to a large number of books on continually changing topics, a subscription plan makes good sense. On the other hand, if you use a small number of books repeatedly, pay-per-book pricing is more economical.

Regardless of the fate of these individual sites, they’re shaping a model for e-book distribution that will likely become commonplace. Information technology may be leading the way, but other professional, technical, and managerial fields will begin using large, searchable, Web-based book collections. In fact, these are no different from full-text journal databases, except that the information containers are larger (and we’ve already seen how journal databases are replacing print journal collections). So even if you have no interest in information technology, drop by these sites to see one future path for e-books.

Mick O’Leary is the director of the library at Frederick, Maryland, and a principal in The Data Brokers.

ITKnowledge, Books24x7.com, and ibooks.com SYNOPSIS Each of these three information technology e-book sites has a large, up-to-date, searchable collection of professional and technical books, with attractive pricing methods. They serve as important models for e-book distribution in other knowledge-based fields.

PRODUCERS EarthWeb, Inc., 3 Park Ave., New York, NY 10026, 212/725-6550.

Books24x7.com, Inc., 100 River Ridge Dr., Norwood, MA 02063, 781/440-0550.

ibooks.com, 7501 N. Capital of Texas Hwy., Bldg, C, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78731, 512-478/2700.

O’Leary, Mick