ProQuest has launched Ebook Central, a new digital platform with 790,000 scholarly titles and 1,350 imprints from more than 650 publishers, with the goal of simplifying the workflow of librarians and researchers who use ebooks.

The system was designed to improve ebook discovery, selection and acquisition. Titles can be read online and downloaded offline. Furthermore, users can digitally take notes, highlight passages, and instantly cite works.

“We’re delivering on a promise we made to librarians to boost the power of ebooks for research,” said Kevin Sayar, ProQuest’s senior vice president and general manager. “Ebook Central does exactly that with a platform that’s flexible enough to respond to any environment and tools that empower librarians and users to achieve their most important goals.”

Ebook Central is built upon intensive research on the workflows of librarians and researchers when using ebooks. Acquisition trends, ebook use by subject, and reported frustrations about working with ebooks were among the several topics studied.

The platform’s ebook content is backed by administration and acquisition engine LibCentral, which simplifies librarian workflows. LibCentral offers collection management and assessment tools that eliminate redundant and tedious tasks, allowing librarians to focus on higher priority initiatives.

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