Lux Committee Digital Magazine Meeting Minutes
7/27/15

This special meeting was convened to discuss the future of LION’s digital magazine platform. Our current subscription with Zinio ends in September, and there is a competing product available from OverDrive.

Alan created a comparison chart of the two products, which we shared prior to the meeting. The notes in red are comments from the meeting or information gathered after it.

 

ZINIO	OVERDRIVE
AVAILABILITY Current issues and all back issues from subscriptions.	AVAILABILITY Current issues only. Back issues if checked out by patron when current (build own library) Back issues – maybe Fall 2015
READER Zinio for Libraries app (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Kindle Fire HD/HDX) ZINIO reader in any Browser (streaming)	READER Nook DEVICES Nook app (note: not available on Mac or Windows less than 8) Some staff reported better usability in nook app
PLATFORM FEE $12,500 for 2015/16 Cannot subscribe as a consortium to a competing platform during contract. Can subscribe to a competitor as an individual library.	PLATFORM FEE $0 for 2015/16 $7500 for 2016/17 Negotiable with multiyear commitment
LENDING TERMS Simultaneous use Limits by issue – not a problem so far	LENDING TERMS Simultaneous use Limits by issue – Economist=5 Limits by issue are lower than Zinio generally
CHECKOUT LIMIT none	CHECKOUT LIMIT We can set
CONTENT Acceptable pricing Over 100 titles of reasonable quality Better selection in personal finance and children’s	CONTENT Acceptable pricing Over 100 titles of reasonable quality
TRAINING Staff and some patrons already familiar with product	TRAINING Staff and patrons would need to learn nook app, unless they already use it for other purposes
UPCOMING ENHANCEMENTS Full-text article search (later this year)	UPCOMING ENHANCEMENTS Back issues (maybe Fall 2015, but maybe much later)

 

Most of the attendees felt that the shortcomings of the OverDrive platform (lack of back issues, fewer compatible devices and operating systems) and the need for patron and staff retraining overrode the benefits of the lower cost and one-stop shopping. We will have a one-vote-per-library survey available for the next two weeks to select the platform we recommend at the upcoming Board meeting.

 

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