Project MUSE in partnership with the University Press Content Consortium (UPCC) has launched an ebook collection for libraries. This collection contains thousands of peer-reviewed digital books from more than 65 major scholarly publishers and university presses, including the University of Pennsylvania Press.
"The addition of ebook collections to the MUSE platform means that, going forward, scholars and students will find a one-stop shopping experience for new university press publications," says Penn Press Director Eric Halpern. Librarians, researchers, and students can discover and search UPCC ebooks along with content from journals on MUSE.
As one of the founding UPCC presses, Penn Press has made more than 400 ebooks available through Project MUSE, and the list of available Press titles is growing. Patrons of participating libraries will be able to read these ebooks on any computer or mobile device with a web browser. Readers can download enhanced web-ready PDFs of the book's chapters and sections—including table of contents, bibliography, notes, and index—from the Project MUSE website. Providing small, chapter-length files discourages piracy while allowing readers access to texts without cumbersome digital rights management (DRM) software. It also improves access to libraries located in areas with low bandwidth. An unlimited number of library patrons can access UPCC ebooks simultaneously.
"'Do for e-books what MUSE does for journals'– became our rallying cry," said Project MUSE Director Dean Smith in his blog Director's Musings. Smith and other Project MUSE representatives have been out in force since last October, spreading the word about the ebook program to librarians and scholars. So far 62 institutions have signed up for the program.
For more information about the UPCC ebook collection and how your library can participate, visit the Project MUSE website. Librarians may request pricing information here.
