Case Study: ABC-CLIO Upgrades to a Mobile-First eBook Site... While Keeping an Eye on Value

“Tizra’s support for cutting-edge web design was a key factor in our decision. They enabled us to achieve a modern, mobile-first user experience that fits our profile as a technology leader.”

--Troy Martin, VP Operations, ABC-CLIO

Tizra API's enabled complex, faceted search.

With more than 8,000 eBooks already published, and a steady flow of 30-40 new releases every month, ABC-CLIO was well established as a leader in digital publishing. But their homegrown eBook platform wasn't keeping pace. They knew they were in a race to meet increasingly high user expectations, particularly as content consumption shifted to tablets and mobile devices.

Initially, they considered leveraging their own outstanding in-house technology team to rebuild the site, but careful financial analysis revealed they'd get better value if they went outside.

After surveying a field of 13 vendors they decided on Tizra. Key factors included...

Support for advanced, mobile-first design using the latest responsive frameworks and techqniques.
High-performance, easy-to-use search, with the ability to filter large numbers of results.
Easily customized interfaces that marketing and editorial staff could update without help.
Single sign-on integration, enabling ABC-CLIO to leverage existing infrastructure and providing users with the ability to access all ABC-CLIO products seamlessly with one set of credentials.
Ability to automate content loading and updates from their existing distribution partner (Ingram CoreSource).
A preview widget so they could embed samples from their eBooks in their online catalog and other web pages.

Tizra's deployment team collaborated closely with ABC-CLIO to ensure the Tizra platform was configured and branded to ABC-CLIO requirements. Now live, the new site is a seamless extension of ABC-CLIO's brand identity and a faithful reflection of their reputation for technology leadership.

“I’m very happy with where we ended up,” says Martin. “Tizra enabled us to take leaps forward in meeting our users’ high expectations.”

Want to learn more? Read the full case study.

Comments

What Einstein Taught Us About Searching Inside Publications

When the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein went live on Tizra a few years ago, it was a huge step forward. Suddenly, anyone anywhere could search and access the output of one of the 20th Century’s great minds…from love letters to breakthrough articles that changed how we think about the nature of time and space. But the project also showed the limits of traditional tools for searching within large, complex publications. These limits sparked a collaboration with Princeton University Press and Einstein Papers Project editors, which this year resulted in a dynamic new search interface, which we’ll be demonstrating in a Webcast Friday, December 15 at 1pm ET . The interface not only makes it easier for Einstein researchers to home in on relevant content on both mobile devices and desktops, it points the way toward faster, better searching within a wide range of publication types, from reference books to periodicals, technical documentation and standards to textbooks. Click T...

Using XML to Create a Better Online Reading Experience for the American Payroll Association

Congrats to the American Payroll Association on their recent launch of XML-based publications on Tizra! Thanks to this collaboration, APA's authoritative books for payroll professionals are now available in crisp, reflowable HTML, creating a user experience that feels like a truly digital native product, rather than a conversion from print. XML-based publishing also creates a better mobile reading experience, supports more precise search and navigation, and opens the door to better accessibility for users with low vision and other disabilities. Our partners at Scribe did a great job supporting APA through the process of producing the XML for loading into Tizra, and we’d definitely recommend them to anyone interested in such a transition. It’s hard to overstate what a big step forward this is for Tizra as a platform and a company. XML has long been planned for in the product's architecture, but now for the first time, we have a working example that demonstrates t...

Webinar: Why not Use Your Content to Build YOUR Brand?

Update: New Session Added. Join us for a live webinar , Friday, May 21 at 1pm EDT If you own valuable content, there's a dizzying proliferation of new ways to sell and otherwise distribute it electronically...from downloadable Apps, to embeddable widgets to expensive custom XML-based websites. All have their tradeoffs, but at Tizra, we think there's one factor that, more than any other, should guide your long-term strategy: Does it build your brand? Brands aren't just colors and logos. Brands are what happens when publishers deliver content that readers believe in visit after visit, and build audiences that authors want to reach. Like Joe Esposito, we believe in the power of publisher brands . And we agree with Mike Shatzkin that the publishing brands of the future are being built right now on the web . Our software sits quietly in the background, helping some of the most respected organizations in the world promote, sell and deliver their own electronic ...

Tizra Blog

Search This Blog