It is software that contains a catalogue of ebooks for purchase by libraries. The software is held on the Dawson server (the library does not install it locally). It is accessed via the internet just like a website. The software enables a library to manage a growing collection of ebooks and to "lend" them to their users (eg: students).
Yes, any library, with an interest in building a collection of ebooks can use dawsonera. If your library is not a current Dawson customer you can still use dawsonera. The only thing you must do is sign a Licence Agreement before you start buying ebooks.
Yes, and we would encourage you to do so. Any library can choose a 30-day trial before signing and Dawson staff will provide support by telephone or, when possible, in person.
dawsonera has been developed to be user friendly but it has a great many features that cannot be understood instantly by a novice. There is a User Guide to help you. At the beginning some technical support may be needed to ensure the digital link between your library and Dawson is operating smoothly.
It looks like an interactive website. So, any website where you establish an account profile to research products and buy online has features that are similar to dawsonera. In fact, from the customer point of view, dawsonera is two websites - one for readers (students) and one for administrators (librarians). How they work is fairly obvious from their names - the Reader Portal is where a student finds an ebook in the library collection and reads it; the Admin Portal is where a librarian finds an ebook in the Dawson catalogue and buys it for the student to read. As a librarian, you have access to both portals - but only one at a time. Publishers also have password-controlled access to their own Publisher Portal.
There is no charge for becoming a dawsonera customer. Each ebook purchased is charged at the list price set by the publisher plus a small hosting fee. There are no other charges (ie: no annual subscription, maintenance, or platform fees)
We will bill customers exactly as we do now for printed books. Invoices can be sent at a frequency that suits each library. We expect most libraries to operate a separate ebook sub-account under their existing Dawson account, but it is your choice.
You can order as you do now - via enterBooks or via EDI. You can also place orders via the dawsonera platform itself.
Yes, you will receive electronic order confirmations.
Very quickly. It depends at what time the order is placed but normally the wait should be no longer than two or three hours.
If it's a librarian you log onto the Admin Portal with a Userid and Password. If it's a student they log onto the Reader Portal with one of several different options. In the UK the most common is via Athens.
Shibboleth might one day supersede Athens. It hasn't yet, but, if it does, Dawson will be ready. Unlike some online databases (eg: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) where IP recognition is enough to authorise access, Dawson has to approve down to individual level (not just institutional level), hence Athens. Outside the UK other authentication routes are supported (eg: EZproxy)
It is very likely that readers will reach the ebook via your library catalogue or institutional VLE. However, they can also search in dawsonera itself using a range of search parameters such as author, title, or keyword.
Yes (to AACR2).
The ebooks are presented as PDFs and read using Adobe Reader. We recommend Version 8.0 but Version 7.0 is fine.
When working with Windows we recommend either Internet Explorer Version 6.0 or Firefox Version 1.5. If using Mac OS dawsonera supports the Safari browser.
Yes, in line with the "fair dealing" rules of copyright protection a reader may print 5% of the book and copy 5% of the text - but no more than that.
Yes, the standard functions of Adobe Reader that allow for a page to be enlarged or to read aloud are available.
No, but learning to use the two dawsonera portals for a very small collection of ebooks might not be a wise investment of time.
The dawsonera catalogue of ebooks is integrated with the enterBooks catalogue of all books. So, you can find ebooks in dawsonera itself or in enterBooks.
Yes, we will announce new ebook availability as part of the the enterProfile monthly alerts and according to subject profiles established by customers.
Because an electronic book is in a format that has implications for copying and cloning (like music on the web) we have to enter into formal agreements with publishers and promise to host their content in a secure environment. Dawson had licensed in excess of 30,000 ebooks from many publishers. The acquisition of more content continues and many more thousands of titles of particular relevance to the academic community will be loaded by the end of 2007.
Yes, most publishers will automatically send new titles to Dawson as they appear. Our Content Administration team will do all they can to secure new titles in a timely fashion.
Yes, although Dawson hosts the ebooks that are purchased, the ebooks are the library's forever. Access is not dependent on an annual subscription fee, you own them.
Yes, this is one of the special features of dawsonera. Because digitising a book makes it possible for lots of people to read it at once (unlike a printed book) why would anyone stop this from happening? We don't!
No. To preserve the intellectual property rights of the publisher, usage cannot be infinite. So, the solution is to cap usage during a year for each copy owned. If usage approaches this "cap", the library will need to buy another copy to ensure continued access (as they would do with high demand printed books).
Yes, although reading online is more common, it is also possible to download the ebook to a laptop or memory stick. This is another special feature of dawsonera and not common in any similar product. Of course, after download, the student can't keep the ebook forever. Access will be denied after a few days.
Yes, all libraries that buy ebooks will make their collection available to readers. However, they won't buy all the ebooks Dawson has to offer. So, they can, if they wish, also show readers the whole catalogue of ebooks, including the ones they haven't bought. The reader can then ask the librarian to rent one of the "non-owned" ebooks for a couple of weeks (eg: so that they can have it while they complete an essay). This is a bit like an Inter-Library Loan (ILL) for ebooks.
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