Follett Higher Education releases new CafeScribe platform for digital textbooks providing enhanced study tools, increased accessibility on different types of devices, more book titles

Kendall Sinclair

OAK BROOK, Illinois , August 23, 2011 (press release) – Follett Higher Education Group's new CafeScribe® platform makes digital textbooks smarter with better study tools, more accessibility on different types of devices and more book titles than ever before.

"Our updated platform is quick, intuitive and easy to use with great organizational features built in," said Tom Christopher, President, Follett Higher Education Group. "We invested heavily in CafeScribe® to maintain our leadership and continue to better serve our customers and partners in the academic community."

CafeScribe® is available at CafeScribe.com, Follett campus stores, independently managed bookstores and through efollett.com, the most-visited collegiate ecommerce site. The enhanced product has a simplified interface for easier reading, note-taking, highlighting and searching. It also saves students as much as 40-60 percent off the price of new textbooks and features:

The Freedom to Move Seamlessly Between Devices because textbooks are device agnostic, meaning students can work on Macs, PCs and also take advantage of Follett's new HTML5 mobile solution that provides access on most web-enabled devices like tablets and smart phones. This approach lets students study anywhere, anytime on their choice of device.

Unique Social Note Sharing allows students to interact with their peers and professors by sharing notes and insights.

Better Study Tools like Snap Summary that enables students to quickly and easily compile notes and highlights into a powerful study and reference tool.

Online and Offline Access that allows users to read and study even while offline.

More Titles than ever before with 160 percent growth in the last year

To provide millions of students across the country the opportunity to experiment with digital textbooks for free, Follett is offering three-day trials for most CafeScribe® titles. The company created the Try Now, Buy Later program because it found that after using digital textbooks, two-thirds of students prefer the option to print.

"We listened carefully to students, faculty and administrators during the last year and have evolved CafeScribe® into an even smarter digital textbook platform," said Christopher. "Follett has a strong history of creating industry-leading solutions, and we're confident that CafeScribe® will drive even better learning."

Champions of Student Choice

Follett offers solutions for students to be successful no matter their learning style. In addition to its digital textbooks, Follett provides students a variety of cost-saving choices from new, used and rental book options.

Last year the company launched Rent-A-Text, the fastest growing and most successful textbook rental program in the industry. Follett implemented Rent-A-Text at more than 800 Follett-managed bookstores and rented more than 2.5 million textbooks for a total savings of more than $130 million in student savings for the 2010-2011 academic year.

In addition to Follett's format choices, the company gives students a range of choices when it comes to purchasing their course materials. Follett's network of campus stores offer greater convenience and more payment options than any other online retailer. Students can purchase their materials in-store or online through efollett.com, with the option of store pick-up. The company also gives students the option of paying for their textbooks with financial aid and campus cards.


About Follett Higher Education Group

Follett Higher Education Group of Oak Brook, Illinois, is the leading provider of bookstore services and the foremost supplier of used books in North America. Follett services five million students and over 400,000 faculty members through more than 850 stores. Follett also services more than 1,600 independent campus stores with its wholesale services, and has the most visited ecommerce collegiate website, efollett.com, that provides services and products through a network of more than 900 campus stores.

About Follett

Follett Corporation is a $2.7 billion, privately-held company that provides products, services and solutions to the educational marketplace. Follett Corporation was founded in 1873, and today is headquartered in River Grove, Illinois.

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