CRIV received a request for assistance from several County Law Librarians regarding the change LexisNexis made from including CDs to including E-books as the accompanying format with purchased print books, the lack of notice in the change, and how to implement this change in the library. CRIV contacted Cindy Spohr, Senior Librarian Relations Manager at LexisNexis. Below is the response.
Since our recent shipment of the Ohio Criminal Law Handbook, we have heard from several librarians who expressed concerns regarding the replacement of the CD-ROM companion version with an eBook. We take your comments and concerns seriously.
Please accept our apologies for not sharing our strategy with you in advance. We appreciate the responsibility you have for your libraries’ patrons, and understand the burden that supporting an unanticipated change in format will cause. We are committed to avoiding such an omission in the future.
We continually evaluate electronic formats which will best meet customer needs as the Legal Publishing industry continues to evolve. In this instance, eBook technology provides superior capabilities in portability, readability, and eReader functionality (such as highlighting and annotations). Because of these advantages, LexisNexis plans to migrate our titles with accompanying CD products to eBook companions over the next 18 months. Additionally, selected newsletter titles are being transitioned to eBook (PDF) only to significantly improve timeliness and reduce paper consumption.
Please be assured that in utilizing eBooks, you have the same latitude for patron usage as you have had with CDs. Namely, each are licensed for single installations or installation on a shared device for one patron at a time. Additionally, multi-user solutions for both licensing and distribution are available for libraries that require broader circulation. We encourage library customers to contact our customer support organization so that we can deliver a solution that best suits your specific situation.
We will also launch a website which will contain a vast array of resources to aid you and your patrons on leveraging eBooks for optimal advantage. Please be on the lookout for our announcement when the site launches.
Finally, as we move away from older technologies such as CDs, we want your feedback on the instructions, user experience, and communications you desire regarding our eBooks to best support your patrons. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Customer Support (customer.support@lexisnexis.com or 800.833.9844) or through your Print Customer Representative.
Thank you to Cindy for her assistance in this matter.
If you have a similar issue or any issue that CRIV can assist with, please use our Request for Assistance form available at http://aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/request-assistance.html.
Michelle Cosby, CRIV Chair
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