Contenders for the Crown: Six E-Libraries and their Business Models

Contenders for the Crown: Six E-Libraries and their Business Models examines the rapidly growing e-library industry. According to this report, the e-library market will grow from its current $250 million market size to $850 million annually by 2004.

E-libraries are poised to become an important component of the e-learning industry, particularly in the higher education market. A major impetus for the e-library industry's growth is its acceptance by publishers and other content providers. Virtually every major publisher - including Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Houghton Mifflin - has signed agreements to distribute works via e-libraries.

The six leading e-library firms profiled in the report are Questia, XanEdu, ebrary, Britannica.com, Jones e-global Library, and NetLibrary. Within the next year, e-library businesses will seek to prove the merits of their business models by gaining market acceptance. However, the long-term success factors for e-libraries will be content, channels to end-users, and connection to curriculum.