Our institutional library platform, Ebook Collections, has been updated to add two new features requested by our publishers. The first is the ability to add a limit to the number of concurrent users. The second is additional DRM options for downloadable ebooks. Here’s a more detailed explanation about each feature.
Concurrent User Limits
Previously collections had no limits on the number of concurrent users so publishers priced their collections accordingly. But now, with the ability to add limits to the number of users, it allows the publisher a lot more freedom when pricing collections. It also ensures that your customer adheres to whatever user limit is agreed upon. Please note that concurrent users limits only apply to users accessing the ebooks via the Online Reader, so if you are setting up an institution to have a concurrent user limit it’s best not to enable downloads for these customers. If you do enable downloads then they will be unrestricted.
How it works
Concurrent User limits can be set at different levels (the default is unlimited).
- At the Customer (institution) level. Enter the number of permitted concurrent users in the customer’s access settings, and it will apply for the entire customer account, regardless of how many collections they own. So, if you set a customer level concurrent user limit to 10 this means across all of their collections there can only be 10 patrons accessing ebooks in the Online Reader at any moment in time.
- At the Collection level. When assigning a collection you can set a limit to the maximum number of users that can access ebooks from that collection at any one time. So, if you set the limit to 5 then no more than 5 people can access ebooks in this collection at the same time. However, if the customer has other collections, then there can still be more concurrent users accessing ebooks in those other collections.
- At the individual Ebook level. This can also be set when assigning a collection. You can set a limit to the maximum number of users that can access each individual ebook in a collection. So if the limit is set to 2 this means two users can have a particular ebook open at a time but a third will not be allowed. But other users can still open other ebooks in the collection (or in other collections).
Each of these settings can be used individually, or you can combine some, or all, of them. For instance you could set a customer’s concurrent user limit to 20, the collection limit to 10 and the limit on a specific ebook to 5. This would mean that the maximum number of users for this customer at any one time would be 20, but within this particular collection they couldn’t exceed 10 users, and no more than 5 in that specific title (within this collection) at any one time.
All concurrent user limits can apply regardless of the type of access you are granting; subscription, perpetual, or trial.
New DRM Settings
New DRM settings have been added to Ebook Collections so customers can be given access to collections where the ebooks either have social DRM (watermarks) or completely DRM free. The default will always remain as Adobe DRM applied. But it means you now have the flexibility to offer social DRM or DRM free ebooks via Ebook Collections if needed. Please note DRM settings only apply for downloads.
How it works
DRM settings for downloads can be set at different levels (the default is always Adobe DRM protected).
- At the Customer (institution) level. In the customer’s access settings you can check a checkbox to activate social DRM or to activate DRM free. This will apply to every single collection that this customer owns. But it will only apply for this customer. Please note that if you enable both options then the least restrictive option (DRM free) will apply.
- At the Collection level. When assigning a collection to a customer you can set the DRM level for that particular collection (Adobe DRM, DRM free, Social DRM). This means you can give DRM free access to a particular collection while still maintaining DRM on the other collections owned by the customer.
If you’re an existing Ebook Collections user, these features are live now ready to be used.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ebook Collections just contact us and we’ll get right back to you.
