The titles, drawn from both academic and commercial publishing groups such as Oxford University Press, MIT Press and McGraw-Hill, are electronic facsimiles of their printed counterparts. They retain original features such as photographs, charts and other illustrations. The electronic format offers numerous advantages over its print counterpart. Because they are electronically based, these documents are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Other advantages of the electronic medium include the ability to do full-text searches for particular words and phrases as well as the ability to link to and from the table of contents and index.
Patrons also are able to print the text.
As a final convenience, there is no need to check a title back in. Access automatically expires after the loan period. According to Melanie Remy, collection development coordinator at Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Library, USC Libraries will purchase about 300 titles each year. Once a title is purchased, the university has permanent online access. To take advantage of the service, patrons must register by choosing a user name and password, which enables the check-out function.