Adding to its already long list of customer benefits, EBSCO Book Services announces an affiliate program that will enable participating libraries to receive a percentage of their book purchases when using their EBSCO Book Services account.

The affiliate program is available to new and reactivated institutional accounts and works as follows: Customers may earn 4 percent of sales (excluding shipping) when purchasing items through EBSCO Book Services. Checks will be issued to qualified participants on a quarterly basis when revenue earned is $100 or more.

“We are very pleased that we can now offer this new program, and welcome the opportunity to put a little money back into the librarians’ budget,” said John Fitts, vice president and general manager of EBSCO’s Information Systems and Services department. “It is evidence of the increasing value EBSCO Book Services provides its customers.”

Additionally, EBSCO Book Services features a revamped interface. The new format includes detailed product information, provided by Muze, an organization dedicated to delivering information about commercially available books, music and movies.

The agreement with Muze enables EBSCO Book Services to provide product descriptions, including cover art scans, editorial and publisher reviews, and even an out-of-print section to make book searching an informative, personalized experience. This data also applies to the music products offered by EBSCO Book Services. Users may see additional discography information (a list of the recordings of a particular performer) and song track details before making purchase decisions. More product information may also be found when searching EBSCO Book Services for DVDs or videos, with details including retail price, screen and sound formats, street and pre-order dates, color and running time information, as well as translated languages, original production information, MPAA ratings and DVD special categorizations and features.

EBSCO Book Services includes a complete suite of administrative functions. Using these tools, administrators can set up approval authority codes to manage order activity, create system messages to be displayed on product tabs and consult their account profile.

EBSCO Book Services includes more than 2.5 million books, both fiction and non-fiction, and audio and video titles, available in a secure online-ordering environment at www.ebscobooks.com. Free shipping is available to customers who purchase four or more titles at once and have the order shipped to a single U.S. address via the United States Postal Service.

A dedicated customer service staff provides responsive follow-up to inquiries from any end user through an e-mail link on the Web site or by telephone. Payment options include VISA^®, MasterCard^® and American Express^®, corporate purchasing cards, purchase orders and invoicing. Libraries can arrange for set up of multiple ship-to and bill-to accounts, enabling books to be received at any location or within any department with complete payment and invoice information sent to the appropriate staff. With distribution centers located strategically throughout the continental United States, next-day delivery is available, and most orders ship in 48 hours or less.

Release Date: April 7, 2003