Third Party Vendor Recommendations from the Digital Commons Community

Have a project that requires the use of a third-party vendor but aren’t sure where to start looking? Over the years, members of the Digital Commons community have been sharing ideas and swapping third-party vendor recommendations with each other for a wide variety of services. We’ve collected a few of them here for the most frequently sought-after needs—keep them in your back pocket to use when the need arises!

On-Demand Printing

• Lulu – One of the most popular services for printing full-length books on-demand among the Digital Commons community.
• Amazon – Amazon offers on-demand printing through their BookSurge service.
• MagCloud – For those looking to print smaller magazine and journals, MagCloud is a great option. This is particularly popular among creative writing programs.

Scanning

• Atiz – Their BookDrive product is desktop-sized and automatically turns pages for scanning.
• Backstage – Recommended by a Digital Commons admin for books as well as difficult, large-scale archival items.
• Crowley – Crowley offers a spectrum of services, including technical support and supplies.

Embeddable Readers

• FlippingBook – Comes as separate software with a wide range of features. Here’s an example from Portland Public Library.
• Calameo – Similar to FlippingBook except it does not require separate software installation and the basic level of service is free. Here’s an example from the University of Pennsylvania (scroll to bottom).
• Issuu – One of the sleekest options in terms of design, Issuu also offers several different levels of service.

Want to know more about the pros and cons of these vendors for your Digital Commons repository? Get in touch with your Consulting Services Representative at support@dc.bepress.com.