Bibliotech
Bibliotech is a modern e-textbooks platform for both students and library institutions. They have partnered with select universities and libraries to provide their service. The platform was founded by students who were unsatisfied with the lack of e-textbook options. Their goal was also to provide a more affordable option for students who frequently struggle to come up with the rather large expense required for textbooks.
- A fully-functional e-textbook library you can purchase unlimited access to for a monthly fee.
- It has partnered with universities to ensure the textbooks offered are the exact ones needed for individual classes.
- A search engine that quickly and easily returns definitions, diagrams and examples.
- This makes the learning process easier, faster and more efficient for students.
- You can highlight and comment on the text and your notes are synced across all devices.
- It partners with publishers big and small to make their books available to students and institutions through their platform.
- It is considerably cheaper and more convenient to access e-textbooks through Bibliotech than buying or renting and then having to sell or return physical textbooks.
- Bibliotech is available for mobile on major operating systems. It also has offline features.
- Access to your library is unlimited.
- It saves users considerable shelf space and eliminates the need to haul heavy textbooks around.
- Bibliotech syncs with class text requirement lists for each institution so you will always have the books you need available.
- It is only available for select universities, largely in the UK.
- It is a subscription-based service as opposed to buying just the individual textbooks you need. Other services allow for simple rental of e-textbooks. Most platforms also have a library of your content you can access at any time.
- It is incompatible with e-readers at this time.
- No compatibility with Kindle, perhaps the most popular e-book platform. There is no compatibility with Amazon's tablets either.
- No compatibility with Windows phones.
Bibliotech was designed with both the needs of students and the needs of libraries and educational institutions in mind. It has been called "Spotify for textbooks" and allows students to access their university's library of e-textbooks for a small monthly fee. If you are a student, you must have and be able to provide a university e-mail address to begin the sign-up process. One of Bibliotech's unique features is personalized access for each class offered by their partnered universities. This means you can be sure you will be getting the exact books you need for each class. Bibliotech works with the major publishing houses to make books available for students. They are also proud to work with small publishing houses - the service claims no publisher is too big or too small. It also integrates into all available library management systems and virtual learning environments in addition to reading list software. Supported platforms for the Bibliotech app include Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 11+ or Edge, Safari 7+, Chrome for Android and Safari for iOS 7.1. This includes desktops and mobile devices. You can read both online and offline. The major downside is that e-readers are not currently supported. Student plans start at £2.99 per month. Bibliotech does not have standard fees for institutions. Institutions should contact Bibliotech individually for a quote. You can request a demo and free trial at their website.
Alternatives to Bibliotech
Panorama
Google for Education
Talisma
Naviance
Grammarly
