How to deposit e-books?

The Library Law designates the National Central Library (NCL) as the entity responsible for the legal deposit of publications. With the advent of the digital era, NCL has, as a way to fulfill its mission as the permanent archival of digital cultural assets, adapted the Executive Yuan’s August 31, 2009 resolution “Digital Publications Industry Development Policy and Project” and the National Science and Technology Development Foundation’s resolution “Permanent Archival Plan of Taiwan’s Digital Publications.” Starting in September 2010, the E-publication Platform System (EPS) was established as the mechanism for the legal deposit and archival of e-publications.

To deposit an e-book, the depositor must first apply for an account. Once verification procedures are complete deposits can be initiated. This process includes online submission of basic deposit information, access authorization, and the deposit (either on or off-line) of an e-book’s full text file.

After the e-book is deposited and NCL verifies that there are no errors with the deposit, an ISBN is assigned and the resource organization process starts. The e-book’s ISBN determines its scope and policies. Subject analysis is performed on and a call number is assigned to the e-book based on resource organization regulations. Once these steps are complete, the system assigns a digital copyright seal. The deposit then undergoes a final review, after which the system automatically generates cataloging and copyright information and sends it to the depositor. The depositor must embed this information into the full-text file, or print it in a conspicuous place on the physical product. This completes the process of ISBN application and deposit.

When the deposit is complete, the e-book is officially added to the booklist on EPS. It is also linked to NCL’s ISBNnet and main library catalog, the nationwide NBINet, publisher’s and/or retailer’s website, and WorldCat. This provides users access to cloud computing services for e-books, including new publication services, interactive sharing services, and decision support services.