Columbia University Joins The Palace Project Platform and App

From LYRASIS:

The Palace Project, the nonprofit library-centered platform and e-reader app for digital content and services, announced today that the Columbia University Library has adopted its platform. The Palace Project is an easy-to-use platform for the management and delivery of ebooks, audiobooks, and other e-content and puts libraries at the center of their communities’ digital experience.

“Columbia University Libraries is pleased to announce a significant expansion in access to mobile ebooks on The Palace Project app. Columbia University faculty, students, and staff can now download The Palace Project app and access hundreds of thousands of ebooks,” said Robert Cartolano, Associate VP of Technology and Preservation. “There are many reasons why we began working with Palace but ultimately it was our common goal to maximize access to e-content, increase literacy and reduce the equity gap. All of which ultimately improves the academic reading experience.”

The Palace Project, which is currently in use in over 400 public libraries across the United States, provides patrons with a single app to access all of their library’s digital content. Users can access content across a library’s holdings from commercial ebook providers to open-access collection providers, publishers, and institutional digital repositories.

Columbia University Libraries marks a significant expansion of The Palace Project to academic settings, where students, researchers, and faculty can now streamline their library e-content through one simple-to-use app.

“Students and faculty are increasingly relying on tablets and smartphones to access reading materials, conduct research, and do their course work. The majority of online users today access the internet on mobile devices and most of that traffic is via a mobile app vs a PC and web browser,” said James English, Director of Business Development at The Palace Project. “The Palace Project is unique in that it provides academic material access and reading where users are – whether they are on or off-campus – using just their university login. No need for complex VPNs software or content sideloading into 3^rd party reading systems.”

The Palace App is available for iOS and Android. Students, faculty and staff of Columbia University can search for the app or visit a user guide here.

“The Palace Project’s mission is to support public and university libraries by increasing equitable access to all the library’s digital holdings, and reducing any barriers while protecting patron privacy,” said Michele Kimpton, Global Senior Director, Lyrasis/The Palace Project. “We’re thrilled to welcome Columbia University to the Palace family and look forward to working with them to remove any barriers to accessing ebooks.”

In addition to Columbia University, New York University (NYU) and the University of California are academic library partners. The Palace Project seeks to build on its existing ebook provider and publisher collaborations such as Springer Nature, ProQuest, Fulcrum, and Bibliolabs to continue to improve the academic reading experience.

Librarians and potential partners interested in learning more about The Palace Project are encouraged to attend a webinar at 1pm ET, January 18, 2023, to learn how the platform works from the unique licensing model to content available. Register here.

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Open Access, Patrons and Users, Preservation, Public Libraries, Publishing, Springer Nature