South African LR Learning Solutions, a business unit of Learning Resources, has partnered with US-based, publisher-owned joint venture, Safari Books Online, to offer a comprehensive e-reference library of technical books aimed at programming and IT professionals.
"Users can search across over a thousand books online - not just snippets, but entire books, from cover to cover. Alternatively you can search for the exact section or code that you need," explains LR Learning Solutions account manager Marlinie Naidoo, adding that entire books can be downloaded in PDF format to be viewed offline.
Safari contains over 5 000 titles from well-known publishers, Naidoo says, thus eliminating the potential of picking up erroneous code / text from unreliable sources.
"Unlike an online bookstore, this e-reference library allows users to search across all books in the library simultaneously, pinpoint the exact chapter, sentence and example needed, download chapters to view offline in PDF format, and gain access to the latest, most powerful solutions."
E-library allows access to the latest technology and innovations through new books that are added regularly, enabling people to remain current and competitive within the IT profession, explains Naidoo.
Safari`s technical sub-library carries books across 20 technical categories, ranging from Linux to .NET to Web design.
Naidoo points out that pricing it is dependant on the number of users an organisation would like to grant access to.
"The more users there are per company, the more discount is allowed. For example, if we were to invoice 30 users it would cost the company R270 per user per month. Each user is given a download option, and these downloads can be accumulated for a period of 90 days," she states.
Safari has entered into an agreement with participating publishers, ensuring that copyright laws are adhered to. In terms of this agreement, each user is restricted to five downloads per month, and this is strictly monitored, she says.
"Automatic warnings are sent out to users who are about to exceed this limit and those who do are immediately kicked off the system," she says.
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