eBooks on Demand (EOD): a European digitization service

Within the framework of the European Union funded project Digitization on Demand (2006—2008), the eBooks on Demand service (EOD) is currently available in more than eighteen libraries in ten countries. EOD enables users to order public domain books as PDF eBooks. The requested books are digitized, delivered as an eBook and saved long-term in a digital library. The EOD service is implemented within the framework of a network. The individual library is responsible for the processing of the order and the digitization. The ordering of eBooks, delivery to the customer, electronic payment and automatic text recognition even for old and gothic font texts are supported through a central database with web access. The basic advantages of the network lie on the one hand in the reduced workload of individual libraries and on the other hand in the recognition value of the EOD service for the user and the public.