OCUL, ACUP/APUC and eBOUND partner to promote Canadian ebook scholarship

 
The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) and twelve members of the Association of Canadian University Presses/Association Des Presses Universitaires Canadiennes (ACUP/APUC), in conjunction with eBOUND Canada have partnered to promote and support the availability of Canadian scholarship in ebook format throughout Ontario’s universities.
 
Innovative in both scope and design, the agreement reached by OCUL, ACUP/APUC and eBOUND Canada will provide access, via OCUL’s Scholars Portal Books platform to a comprehensive collection of over 3,000 ebooks published primarily between 2007-2012.  The agreement also has a roll-forward licensing provision and it is anticipated the volume will grow to a total of nearly 4,000 titles by 2014. This collection, which is comprised of ebooks, almost all of which are not currently owned by the OCUL community, will significantly expand OCUL’s ebook holdings of Canadian scholarly works. The agreement provides OCUL with perpetual ownership and local hosting rights on the Scholars Portal Books platform for all of the content provided.
 
OCUL libraries are committed to building ebook collections that reflect the intellectual richness and diversity of Canadian scholarship. This agreement is a major step toward ensuring this wealth of scholarship is readily accessible and preserved in ebook format for the benefit of the OCUL community. Scholars Portal Books will be the exclusive point of access to the collection, soon to be available to over 290,000 students and faculty at the ten early adopting OCUL libraries currently participating in the deal.  This will ensure they can easily search and use this important gathering of Canadian scholarship, now and into the future.

eBOUND Canada is equally as enthusiastic about the partnership. "Central to the eBOUND mission is ensuring that Canadian-produced ebooks are widely available and easily accessed by readers", says eBOUND President & Chief Executive Officer Robert Hayashi. "We are delighted to partner with ACUP and OCUL in bringing these works to the Scholar's Portal platform and aiding them in meeting their commitment to their communities. Our common goals have allowed us to harness the logistical simplicity of ebooks to expose this comprehensive collection to the maximum number of readers in an almost perfect marriage of technology and content.”

OCUL Chair, and University Librarian at Carleton University, Margaret Haines comments, “In these difficult economic times OCUL libraries, like academic libraries everywhere, are being challenged to stretch their budgets to acquire all the appropriate resources for their universities. We are very glad that so many of our member libraries are able to join this agreement with ACUP and eBOUND, and thus provide their users with this signature collection of Canadian academic scholarship.”
 
OCUL, the Association of Canadian University Presses/Association Des Presses Universitaires Canadiennes and eBOUND look forward to building on this relationship in the years to come.

Further Information

  Launched in 2009, eBOUND Canada, formerly the Canadian Publishers Digital Services (CPDS) arm of the Association of Canadian Publishers, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing Canadian publishers’ engagement in the digital marketplace regardless of their size or level of expertise. Its growing number of programs includes ebook distribution, digital asset management, conversion services and professional development. eBOUND acknowledges the financial support of the government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Ontario Media Development Corporation on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.