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July 11, 2017
LINCOLN, Neb.-- Building on their five-year relationship, Nebraska Book Company, Inc. (NBC) and Verba Software LLC., a VitalSource company, have expanded their collaboration to increase campus store competitiveness and lower the cost of course materials for students. NBC is a leading source of software, textbooks, rental program options, and digital content delivery to independent college retailers, and Verba is the leading supplier of competitive software tools for campus stores.
Enhancing tools available to independent bookstores has been a key NBC objective; the partnership with Verba’s tools is a key component of that objective. To help NBC customers gain immediate access to Verba products and tools, customers can now begin using Nebraska’s Reward Dollars to subscribe to any of Verba's cutting-edge tools for campus stores, including Verba Collect (adoptions management), Verba Compete (marketplace tools), and Verba Compare (price comparison shopping). Verba and NBC will also collaborate on web sourcing and rental management enhancements to the Verba Compete application, ensuring NBC clients have access to industry-leading integrations in these critical competitive areas.
“The expansion of our existing agreement was a no-brainer for NBC and Verba as we are both focused on keeping campus stores at the center of course materials while making it easier for the stores to promote affordability for students,” said Verba’s VP, General Management Ryan Petersen. “While we have helped leading stores succeed, this new approach will simplify how NBC stores acquire and use our successful adoption, sourcing and comparison products.”
As part of this deepening collaboration, NBC is also adding VitalSource Technologies LLC®, Verba’s parent company, as an integrated platform for digital content delivery on the PRISM Core platform. A new streamlined integration will be available later this fall, and any customer requesting access prior to fall will be able to enable the VitalSource’s Bookshelf® platform through an existing NBC and VitalSource integration. This expansion of digital content options provided by NBC is a clear win for its customers as they work to increase access to affordable course materials with more options than ever before.
“As we have studied course materials programs at the most successful independent campus stores, the recurring theme I see is advanced usage of Verba products,” NBC CEO Rick Bunka said. “Our goal is to greatly expand access to Verba’s products to ensure campus stores succeed. Couple that with the modernized VitalSource integration through Nebraska Book’s POS platform, and with enhancements that Nebraska will bring to Verba Compete, stores will have much greater advantages.”
These new integrations will add to NBC’s existing partners of digital content, adoption management, and sourcing products, helping ensure NBC remains a leader in providing valuable products and options to independent campus stores. NBC will continue to augment this portfolio with products and services that enhance the independent campus store’s ability to remain independent and to bring affordable course materials to students.
About Nebraska Book Company, Inc.
Nebraska Book Company, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nebraska Book Holdings Inc., began in 1915 as an independent college bookstore and is now a key resources partner to over 2,000 independent college retailers nationwide. With its strategic business services and technology offerings, including localized e-commerce capabilities, back-end system access and support as well as textbook solutions, Nebraska Book Company is devoted to supporting and strengthening independent higher education retailers across the United States. For more information about Nebraska Book Company, visit www.nebook.com.
About Verba | www.verbasoftware.com
Founded in 2008, Verba Software LLC, part of VitalSource Technologies LLC, works with colleges and universities to reduce the cost of course materials by elevating transparency and access. Verba offers web-based tools for faculty to select course materials, bookstores to acquire low-cost learning materials and for students to easily compare prices and gain on-time access.
About VitalSource | www.vitalsource.com
VitalSource Technologies LLC, part of Ingram Content Group LLC, is improving the learning experience by making it easier to create and deliver effective and affordable content. The preferred choice among educational institutions and companies for digital learning materials, VitalSource® helps over 1,000 educational content providers create and deliver seamless interactive learning experiences through its exclusive Bookshelf® platform to millions of learners at 7,000 institutions. Bookshelf users opened more than 20 million digital textbooks last year and read more than 2.4 billion pages.
