From Resource Shelf:
The new Public Library Complete (PLC) subscription service from ebrary includes more than 20,000 ebooks from leading publishers with more ebooks coming into the package every day-at no additional cost to subscribing libraries. In March, ebrary launched a School Collection of more than 6,600 ebooks plus more than 4,200 Spanish language ebooks from ebrary partner, e-Libro, available separately (e-Libro Secundaria) or as a subset. That School Collection is now itself a subset of the new PLC and public libraries subscribing to PLC can share access to local public high schools at no additional charge. The DASH! (DAta SHaring, Fast) do-it-yourself, e-publishing tool lets libraries create and incorporate their own digital content in PDF formats into PLC and share this content with specific websites or the open web. This is the first time that ebrary has offered a collection geared for public library patrons.
The ebrary program allows unlimited, simultaneous, multi-user access. Such access could eliminate the inevitable limits imposed by a finite number of print copies. The application of recommendation engines could let librarians anticipate patron interest and aggressively promote wider use of library-licensed ebooks-a development that might help public libraries prove their worth in these troubled times.
