eBook Pod Configuration

As digital materials become more and more prevalent it was only a matter of time before Resource Sharing would find a way to share eBooks between libraries. Rapido recently added the ability to join eBook pods along with new options in Alma and Rapido to support the pods. Below are the basic configurations to join the first eBook pod. 

It is important for libraries in any eBook pods to be able to Lend materials as well as Borrow them. Since eBook is a new format for Resource Sharing the majority of eBook licenses likely do not mention whole eBook Resource Sharing at all, so we are starting fresh in this area. 

Contacting Publishers About Existing Titles

If you want to join an eBook pod right now you should start by contacting the person at your library who deals with eBook licenses. This may be an ERM librarian, Collections librarian, or someone else depending on the structure of your library. This person can verify if your existing eBook licenses already allow whole eBook lending or not. If not, their next step would be to reach out to eBook publishers to ask for a list of titles or packages where whole eBook Lending is approved. This flow chart serves as a general guide in checking on the lendability of eBooks at your library. 

The first eBook pod to go live only allows sharing whole PDFs, so they should ask for a list of titles where:

• The eBook can be downloaded as a PDF.
• The publisher allows the entire PDF to be shared through Resource Sharing. 

Future pods will have the ability to share temporary links to a read only version of the PDF. It is worth noting if eBooks can be shared with those stipulations to have a list of titles ready to share if you join that pod in the future. 

Libraries should not feel the need to focus too much on getting permission for existing titles. Any amount of approved titles is great! The focus should primarily be on negotiating language in new or renewed licenses for titles going forward.

Negotiating New Licenses and Renewals

Whoever negotiates licenses is encouraged to ask for clarification on whole eBook Lending when negotiating new licenses or renegotiating existing ones. If possible, it would be helpful if language clarifying the publisher’s willingness to allow whole ebook lending, for entire packages of eBooks, or even just individual titles, is included in eBook license agreements going forward. For example, language saying that the eBook is lendable as a PDF, sharable with a link giving temporary online access, or is strictly not allowed are all helpful clarifications, though it is preferred if the item is sharable in some form. 

An example of language you can ask be added to the license:

Requests may include eBooks to be sent in their entirety either as a single, compiled pdf created by the lending library from the chapter pdfs that comprise the work or as a whole eBook file made available through (publisher's) eBook platform.

Once libraries have determined whether an entire eBook collection, subset of an eBook collection, or a single title can be shared via whole eBook lending, the library will then need to add an Internal Description note at the Electronic Collection or Electronic Portfolio level, respectively, in Alma to mark the item as available for Lending. This uses the same process used to add the RapidILL Lending Note and License Terms but uses one of two new Internal Descriptions:

• eBookLendablePDF: Lendable to all Rapido libraries worldwide in the eBook Rapido pod sharing whole PDFs.
• eBookLendableLink: Lendable to all Rapido libraries worldwide in the eBook Rapido pod sharing temporary links (coming later 2025). 

Once there are at least a handful of sharable eBooks, the library can join an eBook pod This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. and proceed with the rest of the configuration. 

Sometimes a publisher will allow eBook Lending for a certain subset of eBooks in a package, but not for others. To make it easier to add the Internal Description note at the Electronic Collection level in this scenario, moving the allowed titles to a separate custom Electronic Collection could be helpful. Jess Hartwigsen made a guide for that process on the RapidILL Lending Note and License Terms page. The guide was written for eJournals, but it could apply to eBooks as well. 

There was a presentation This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. on how to accommodate these individual titles in the ERM Office Hours on September 29th, 2024.

If you only receive permission to lend individual titles (not enough to warrant creating a new custom electronic collection), you also have the option of adding the Lending Note at the Electronic Portfolio level. If you do it this way, adjustments will need to be made in the creation of your Logical Set in Alma (see next section). 

Location:
Admin > Manage Jobs and Sets > Manage Sets

Action Steps:

• Click Add Set

• Choose Create Logical Set

• Fill out the following fields:

  • Set Name: Rapido eBook Pod - No DRM

  • Description: eBooks approved to share through Rapido with no DRM

  • Set Content Type: Electronic Portfolios

  • Set Type: Logical

  • Content Origin: Institution Only

  • Private: ☐ (Uncheck this option)

  • Active: ✅ (Check this option)

• Define criteria to include only the appropriate eBooks:

  • Click the magnifying glass icon near the top of the screen to open filter options

  • Add the following filters (Note: some filters appear to be duplicated but that is because of how AND and OR statements work in Alma. These must be input in the below order):

    AND/OR	Field	Operator	Value
    	Electronic Collection: Internal Description	Contains Keywords	The Internal Identifier for the Pod (eBookLendablePDF or eBookLendableLink)
    AND	Has Inventory	Equals	Yes
    AND	Tag Suppressed (Title)	Equals	No
    AND	Availability (Electronic Portfolio)	Equals	Available
    AND	Material Type	Equals	Book
    OR	Electronic Portfolio: Internal Description	Contains Keywords	The Internal Identifier for the Pod (eBookLendablePDF or eBookLendableLink)
    AND	Has Inventory	Equals	Yes
    AND	Tag Suppressed (Title)	Equals	No
    AND	Availability (Electronic Portfolio)	Equals	Available
    AND	Material Type	Equals	Book

• Click Save Query

Location:
Configuration > Resource Sharing > Configuration > Members

Action Steps:

• On the Members page, select your Resource Sharing Library.

• Go to the Digital Lending Policies tab.

• In the Participating eBooks section for the Rapido eBook Pod, select +Add Participating eBooks.

• In the popup window, name the Participating eBooks rule: No DRM Titles.

• Use the Add Set search to locate the logical set you created in Step 1: Rapido eBook Pod - No DRM

• Click Add and Close.

• Confirm that the set now appears in the Participating eBooks section for the Rapido eBook Pod.

• In the Digital Items Lending Policies section, click the ellipsis (⋮) next to the Rapido eBook Pod and select Edit.

• Click the Participating Items drop-down menu and select the Participating eBooks rule you previously made: No DRM Titles

Location:
Configuration > Resource Sharing > Configuration > Members

Action Steps:

• On the Members page, select your Resource Sharing Library.

• Go to the Borrowing Policies tab.

• Select the eBook DRM Free International pod.

• Move it to the appropriate spot in your Borrowing Pod Priority preferences.

  • To prioritize eBooks above physical items, move the pod to the top of the list.

• Click Save to apply your changes.

You can now borrow and lend eBooks through Rapido!
Your library is officially contributing to and benefiting from the Rapido eBook sharing network.