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A Publication Featuring The Information
Services Technology of Maine State Government
| Volume VII, Issue 3 | March 2004 |
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In 2000, the Maine State Library and the University of Maine System Libraries partnered in a consortium with other New England libraries to purchase a collection of electronic books from a company called netLibrary. Though on-line, the books are in fact "owned" by the libraries, just like the volumes lining the shelves of your local public library.
What’s in the collection? The netLibrary collection has something for everyone. There are children’s books, how-to books, scholarly monographs, and reference directories from major publishers like Harvard Business School Press, McGraw-Hill, O’Reilly, PowerKids, and many more. Most of the titles from such commercial publishers were published from 1990 to 2000 (when the collection was purchased). But netLibrary also includes approximately 3,400 public-access titles from Project Gutenberg, which covers the classics from Aristotle to Emile Zola, as well as numerous political texts such as the Constitution of the United States, inaugural addresses of the presidents, and treaties.
Are people using the state’s netLibrary e-books? Looks like it! Statistics show that thousands of Mainers link to the netLibrary database each year. Some of the most popular titles are SAMS Teach Yourself Visual C++ in 21 Days, Eating Disorder Sourcebook, and 101 More Best Resumes.
How can I use the e-books? Search and link to Maine’s netLibrary books from MARVEL! Maine’s Virtual Library at http://libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/. Click on netLibrary in the list of databases. You can search by title, author, or subject. (Depending on your connection location, you may be asked to enter your town’s name and zip.) If you have not already created a netLibrary user account, you will need to do so. After you have a valid user name and password, you can view or checkout netLibrary e-books on-line!
Happy reading!
Questions? Please contact Maine State Library Reference by calling 207-287-5600 or on the web at http://www.maine.gov/msl/services/ask.htm.
Deborah V. Rollins, M.L.S., is the head of the Collection Services Department at the Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono, ME. She may be reached by e-mailing: deborah.rollins@umit.maine.edu.
