LAKE OSWEGO, OR - An agreement was announced today between Blackwell and Ingram Digital, giving Blackwell e-book distribution rights to libraries around the world via Ingram’s industry-leading MyiLibrary® platform, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Canada. The agreement will allow Blackwell Digital Services customers to discover and order MyiLibrary e-books via Collection Manager, the Blackwell interface.

MyiLibrary is a sophisticated platform of aggregated e-book content from the world’s leading commercial publishers. It currently hosts over 185,000 e-books and is used by hundreds of academic, public and professional libraries around the world.

Blackwell’s Collection Manager has just been released in a new version, providing sophisticated faceted search capabilities using the Endeca search engine. FRBRized organization of searched titles will allow libraries to see metadata for both print and electronic versions of books, including those available from the MyiLibrary platform. Identified orders can then be ordered directly through Collection Manager, or from the library’s order system, based on data downloaded from Collection Manager. Assistance in answering licensing and platform questions will be available from experts within Blackwell’s Digital Services Department.

“This is a significant moment for Blackwell,” stated Andrew Hutchings, company CEO. “Our goal has been to be a true marketplace for e-books. Adding MyiLibrary’s content base to the titles we already distribute from other aggregators and publishers makes that goal more of a reality. MyiLibrary’s e-book coverage is significant and growing all the time. This agreement allows us to work with Ingram to better serve the library community throughout the world.”

Rich Rosy, Vice President and General Manager, Ingram Library Solutions said, “We’re pleased to have entered this arrangement with Blackwell. Working with them significantly broadens the base of worldwide library customers who will now have access to Ingram’s growing e-book collection. We welcome their partnership.”

Blackwell and Ingram will be working together over the summer to integrate MyiLibrary titles into Collection Manager in anticipation of the new academic year. Announcements will be made when the titles are available to Collection Manager users.

Blackwell and Ingram will be discussing the new partnership at ALA Annual 2009 in Chicago, IL. Stop by Blackwell booth 2420, for MyiLibrary and Collection Manager presentations.

ABOUT BLACKWELL

With offices in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States, for 128 years Blackwell has been supplying books and bibliographic support to academic and research libraries. Blackwell’s aim is to help libraries keep the cost of identifying and acquiring books and e-books, as low as possible. Their tools, services, and partnerships are all built with the concept of creating efficient workflows for libraries. Blackwell accomplishes its mission, to be the partner of choice in building library collections, by providing innovative solutions to the challenges created by rapidly changing ways that information is published, distributed, and accessed. For more information on Blackwell’s Digital Services contact us at digital@blackwell.com.

ABOUT INGRAM

Ingram Content Group provides a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry. Ingram is a leading wholesaler of trade books, spoken audio, magazines, and a leading provider of demand-driven printing and digital solutions for publishers. Ingram provides librarians and booksellers with immediate access to the largest selection of books and book-related products in the industry. Ingram’s operating units are Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc., Ingram Digital, Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Tennessee Book Company LLC, and Coutts Information Services. For more information, visit www.talktoingram.com.