Microsoft Corp., along with such publishing giants as Donnelly Printers and Penguin Books, has recently announced partnerships with book publishers in the United Kingdom, France, and Italy to create and distribute thousands of popular titles on CD-ROM , and eventually online. These e-books will be published using Microsoft Reader and the company's ClearType technology. The e-books will be sold by software and book retailers. The actual number of members is not yet clear, since many libraries have been offered the opportunity to try netLibrary free for a period of from three to six months.
Users can search for e-books by author, subject, title, key word, or phrase.
Users are allowed to copy or print single pages of information. There is also a link for purchasing e-book titles. Books are searchable both within a single title and across the collection purchased. Libraries generally join by buying at least 500 books. In theory, participating libraries can eliminate overhead and infrastructure costs associated with book storage, maintenance, and replacement.