Ingram Digital(SM), an Ingram Content Company focused on solutions for digital content management, hosting, distribution and promotion, today announced that it has added the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) to its rapidly expanding roster of international customers.

Internationally recognized as a leader in the development of digital content infrastructure, CRKN has selected Ingram Digital to provide 67 Canadian universities, encompassing nearly 900,000 researchers, scholars and students, with access to premium e-book content from leading academic publishers.

The completion of the CRKN deal underscores Ingram Digital’s unparalleled ability to provide institutional customers worldwide with access to the most current, premium content from today’s leading publishers. Under the terms of the agreement, Ingram Digital will supply CRKN with access to over 20,000 digital titles from Taylor & Francis, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press through its industry leading MyiLibrary platform.

“We constantly strive to negotiate innovative content licensing agreements that meet the needs of the Canadian academic research community,” said Deb deBruijn, CRKN’s Executive Director. “Ingram’s longstanding relationships with some of world’s top academic publishers will advance our mission of providing Canadian researchers with access to the best in global knowledge.”

“We are excited to have partnered with Ingram Digital to provide library patrons with access to our content,” commented Christoph Chesher, Group Sales Director with Taylor & Francis Group. “Ingram’s legacy in the book business, combined with their reputation for excellence as technology providers, made them an ideal match for us.”

Digital titles available to CRKN will be offered via dual access, through both the MyiLibrary platform and the publisher platform where available, in a model pioneered by Ingram Digital to provide its customers with flexible options for e-book access.

“Ingram Digital’s ability to adapt their solutions to meet publishers’ needs, from both revenue and strategy standpoints, truly sets them apart in the industry,” said Hannah Perrett, Director of Digital Partnership Sales at Cambridge University Press. “Coupled with a proven, leading-edge aggregation platform, Ingram Digital’s business model made them the right partner for us as we strove to extend access to and optimize monetization of our digital content.”

The next-generation MyiLibrary platform is the fastest growing e-content aggregator currently available, adding an average of 1,000 titles per week. In addition, MyiLibrary offers more front-list content than any other aggregator and is the only aggregator with no minimum number of titles required for initial purchase.

“Ingram’s leadership in the publishing industry makes them a natural fit for helping both publishers and consumers, providing the technology platform and business strategies to deliver flexible access to digital content,” said Evan Schnittman, Vice President of Business Development for Oxford University Press. “We are excited to join the world’s leading publishers in bringing the finest quality content to the Canadian Research Knowledge Network.”

Ingram Digital’s agreement with the CRKN adds to a series of successful engagements by such renowned international entities as the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee. In order to meet the growing global demand for digital content services and solutions, Ingram Digital recently enhanced its EMEA operations and continues to work with top publishers to expand its inventory of electronic titles.

“The Canadian Research Knowledge Network is renowned for its visionary content acquisition strategy,” said Rich Rosy, Vice President and General Manager of Ingram Digital Institutional Solutions. “We are honored to have been selected by yet another academic network to help bring premium e-books to the next generation of scholars.”

ABOUT THE CANADIAN RESEARCH KNOWLEDGE NETWORK

The Canadian Research Knowledge Network is a partnership of Canadian universities, dedicated to expanding digital content for the academic research enterprise in Canada. Through the coordinated leadership of librarians, researchers and administrators, CRKN undertakes large-scale content acquisition and licensing initiatives in order to build knowledge infrastructure and research capacity in Canada’s universities.

This agreement was reached under CRKN’s Digital Content Infrastructure for the Human and Social Sciences (DCI) Project. The DCI project was funded under the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s National Platforms Fund, in partnership with 8 provincial governments and 67 Canadian universities.

For more information on CRKN, visit our website at www.researchknowledge.ca/ or please contact:

Allison Kelley
Member Services Officer, Canadian Research Knowledge Network
Tel: 613.907.7036
Cel: 613.219.6919
akelley@researchknowledge.ca

ABOUT INGRAM DIGITAL

Ingram Digital is an Ingram Content company. The Ingram Content companies provide a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry, and immediate access to the largest selection of books and book-related products in the industry. The Content companies are Ingram Digital, Lightning Source Inc., Ingram Book Company, Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Coutts Information Services, Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc. and Tennessee Book Company LLC.