Santa Barbara, Calif.—January 18,
2001—ABC-CLIO, the independent, award-winning reference publisher,
has announced its eBook publishing program will be picked up by the
California State University Library Consortium beginning February 1st,
2001. The alliance will allow users at the 23 California State
University campuses to access ABC-CLIO’s 138 eBooks, including the
recently published landmark, Encyclopedia of the American Civil War. In
2001, ABC-CLIO will simultaneously publish print and eBook versions of
new titles, while converting 1999 and 2000 titles to eBooks throughout
the year.
The California State University Library
Consortium has established the eBook Pilot Project to understand the
potential uses of eBooks in CSU libraries. Its purpose is to test the
viability, identify the usefulness, and assess user acceptance of eBooks.
During the pilot program, CSU will collect and analyze data, prepare
usage reports, and survey readers.
“We at ABC-CLIO are excited to have a
system as wide and as prestigious as the Cal State system pilot our
entire eBook list, which includes our frontlist for 2001. One of our
goals at ABC-CLIO is to have our reference materials enjoy broad and
open 24x7 access by each and every student, in whatever medium best
serves the students' needs. If we are in the business, as we believe we
are, of expanding the boundaries of education through our books, what
better way than this partnership with Cal State,” said Vince Duggan,
Vice President, Sales and Marketing at ABC-CLIO.
“ABC-CLIO's eBooks are significant
resources for California State University's faculty, students, and
library staff,” commented Evan Reader, CSU's Director of Electronic
Information Resources. “The CSU-SEIR consortium and its campus
partners are very pleased to be working directly with a publisher of
such high repute. This new model presents a unique opportunity not seen
before by allowing unlimited access to all titles while retaining the
right for each individual library to carry out collection development in
support of its own local curriculum requirements. The eBooks from this
new and innovative resource are expected to bring added scope and a new
dimension to CSU’s eBook Pilot Project.”
Established in 1955, ABC-CLIO is
a privately held corporation. It has for many years enjoyed an
international reputation for high quality and innovation. The company is
headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, with offices in Denver,
Colorado, and Oxford, England. As an educational reference publisher,
ABC-CLIO has received critical acclaim for its computer-assisted
abstracting and indexing services, world renowned book program, and
cutting-edge online and CD products.
The California State University,
a 23-campus system of comprehensive and polytechnic universities, has
established one of the nation’s most successful models for shared
acquisition of electronic information resources. The systemwide program,
designed to provide cost-effective access to the information resources
required to support teaching, learning, and research is managed through CSU-SEIR,
an organization within the CSU Chancellor’s Office. The Systemwide
Electronic Information Resources project (CSU-SEIR) focuses on achieving
economies of scale through the combined and cooperative purchasing of
electronic information resources. This consolidation of group purchasing
power enables the system to effectively leverage its available dollars
to obtain valuable information resources. Get Descriptions of the
CSU-SEIR organization, its function, and services.
Press Contacts:
Tara Guentz
ABC-CLIO
(800) 368-6868 x 359
tguentz@abc-clio.com
Evan Reader
Cal State
(562) 951-4643
ereader@calstate.edu