Digital Textbooks Acquire Powerful Search and Social Networking Capabilities

OAK BROOK, Ill., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- E-textbooks are advancing far beyond mere PDFs of hardbound editions thanks in part to powerful new search capabilities introduced today by Follett Higher Education Group.  CafeScribe improvements derive directly from student needs that Follett has directly observed, gleaned from research, or heard articulated by individual students. To ensure student needs continue to drive product development, Follett has created a special early adopter program that gives a limited number of students early access to new features prior to product rollout to the larger CafeScribe user community.

The new capabilities in the latest product release now let students and educators using Follett's CafeScribe® eBook platform easily perform robust people searches to find other digital book readers, class groups, study groups or academic interest groups anywhere in the world. Once a user discovers a potential friend or group through the CafeScribe platform, the user can request friendship or membership just as they would on other popular social networks. Once connected, groups can discuss their studies and automatically share notes using the CafeScribe social networking platform for academic applications.

In addition, digital textbook consumers can search a fast-growing collection of more than 8,500 digital books by title, author, subject, publisher or ISBN number. This makes it easy to pinpoint and purchase an assigned text or supplemental reading in a matter of seconds.

"The digital nature of the e-textbook has opened up a world of possibilities beyond simply reading online," said Bryce Johnson, Follett's director of eTextbook solutions. "Powerful search helps learners make the most of huge volumes of information, and the social networking element adds collaborative learning opportunities and welcome human interaction for distance learners."

Students and educators who wish to sample digital textbooks' most powerful search can take advantage of the Try Now, Buy Later 2010 program available through the CafeScribe application. Students and professors can download and use, for seven days, a majority of the CafeScribe titles for free. Users can annotate, highlight and bookmark the texts. The modifications will be saved if the user purchases the book.

Join CafeScribe on Facebook® to receive the latest information and news about CafeScribe digital textbooks.

About CafeScribe

The CafeScribe eBook platform is an e-textbook and social networking platform for students and educators. The platform is the latest addition to Follett's broad portfolio of course material options for students, available online and at more than 850 college bookstores operated by Follett in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.cafescribe.com.

About Follett Higher Education Group

Follett Higher Education Group of Oak Brook, Illinois, is the leading provider of bookstore services and the foremost supplier of used books in North America. Follett services five million students and over 400,000 faculty members through more than 850 stores. Follett also services more than 1,600 independent campus stores with its wholesale services, and has the most visited ecommerce collegiate website, efollett.com, that provides services and products through a network of more than 900 campus stores.

About Follett

Follett Corporation is a $2.7 billion, privately held company that provides products, services and solutions to the educational marketplace.

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SOURCE Follett Higher Education Group