The Safari Tech Books Online Web site lists the following publishers as contributors of electronic‐books: Sun, Addison Wesley, O’Reilly, Peachpit Press, QUE, SAMS, Macromedia Press, Java, New Riders, Prentice Hall Press, Alpha, Abode Press, Cisco Press and Microsoft Press. As this list suggests, Safari Tech Books Online is a practical collection of computer technology books. The collection is broad enough to include some monographs on specialized software in addition to an array of books on popular topics. New books are to be added on an ongoing basis. This venture was formed as a joint project between O’Reilly & Associates and The Pearson Technology Group.
Many libraries should be able to find a large number of books in Safari that are not in their print collections. Most of the subjects covered are quite popular among college students and would be of excellent value to public libraries. Monographs on the subjects covered are often checked out of the library or must be placed on reserve or reference, which may serve to limit the practical use of such books. Electronic books have the potential to increase user access to practical materials about information technology. Added to this is that users of this product are likely to be more comfortable with online dissemination of information than those of more broadly diversified collections of electronic books. The claim that Safari will continue to add significant numbers of electronic books in the future is important to the long‐term value of the product. Whether Safari will be able to extend the collection beyond Pearson and O’Reilly titles is a question that will have to be faced in the years to come.
Each book has a homepage that includes date of publication – down to the day and month, cover images, tables of contents and a link to the back of the book index. The index terms are links to the content and instead of page numbers or ranges multiple instances of the same index term are listed as ordered numbers. Pages within books are readable and in general the books are easy to use. Links to book reviews, such as those included on the O’Reilly Web site (http://www.oreilly.com), are also included in the Safari interface.
Options from the basic search screen are to search all books within the Safari collection or the collection of books to which the using institution has subscribed. The basic and advanced search screens allow searches to be limited to Code Fragments, where search results are limited to the examples of programming/scripting code found within the books. The advanced search screen includes the simplistic search capabilities of “With all of these words”, “With exactly these words” and “With at least one of these words” and field searches include “Words in book titles”, “Primary category and author” and ISBN. Limiting features include publication year and a drop down menu to Safari’s small list of publishers. The test searches that this reviewer conducted generated results with exemplary speed. Search results default to an ordering of hits by book and a tab enables the user to sort by book section. Search terms are highlighted in the text.
Licensing of Safari Tech Books Online is based on a subscription model, but libraries or individuals do not need to license the complete set of electronic books. Safari’s system allows the librarian to actively manage the collection of books, eliminating titles that are little used and replacing them with others. Safari has a much more useable interface than NetLibrary and does away with the cumbersome individual book checkout model. NetLibrary, on the other hand, provides for permanent access to licensed materials and a broader subject range of books. Books24×7 also specializes in information technology and business electronic books and has a much larger range in the latter area than Safari.
This product is ideal for libraries in academic institutions with computer science programmes and for information technology departments or personnel of corporations. It would also be an excellent source of computer books for a mid‐sized public library. Only institutions with large and diverse programmes in computer science and related information technology are likely to select every electronic book in the collection. If a library closely monitors use and selects material for its users, a more economical collection can surely be maintained. One concern is that, as a working collection, Safari does not guarantee permanent access to individual titles. Not all information technology books are obsolete on publication as technology business marketing hype often purports. Many books will show enduring use; for example, C++ monographs published long ago are still popular items. Nonetheless, Safari is an important resource that will enable libraries with limited funds and shelf space to develop a useful collection of information technology monographs.
