15 May 2001

Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in Network Publishing, launched Adobe eBook U, a joint project between Adobe and a select group of higher education institutions to explore the use and impact of eBooks on educational environments. As part of the program, students and educators at participating campuses will be able to experience course materials that will be made available as eBooks, based on the dynamic and graphically rich Adobe(R) Portable Document Format (PDF).

Partnering institutions receive Adobe's industry-leading software and training to create, encrypt and distribute Adobe PDF-based eBook content such as textbooks, course packs and customized course readers. In turn, Adobe will have the opportunity to learn and examine the way eBooks are being adopted in institutions of higher education. Participating institutions include:

• MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Mass.
• Occidental College, Los Angeles
• Miami-Dade Community College Medical Center Campus, Miami
• Mills College, Oakland, Calif.
• Scottsdale Community College, Scottsdale, Ariz.
• University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, Md.
• University of Utah, Center for Advanced Medical Technologies, Salt Lake City
• Tufts University, Medford, Mass.
• University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

"We selected these colleges and universities based on their interest in eBook technology and their willingness to share their experiences. It was also important to address a broad range of campus types. Together, we hope to better understand and meet the needs of academic administrators, professors and students," said Dr. Michael Looney, senior director of education and government marketing Adobe. "eBook U gives educational authors, from faculty to campus administrators, the tools to discover the benefits of using interactive course materials and textbooks. eBooks are ideal for students: they have tremendous reading requirements, are very savvy with Web and digital content and they're mobile."

"Paired with our wireless network, the Adobe eBook U program will give us the opportunity to explore new and dynamic ways to give our students greater access to information," said Theodore R. Mitchell, president of Occidental College. "We believe Adobe's eBook U initiative will improve our ability to deliver up-to-date content to students, raising the possibility, for example, of eliminating cumbersome photocopied course readers. It's an exciting prospect."

The Adobe Acrobat(R) eBook Reader(R) offers users vivid, visually accurate representations of graphics-intensive eBooks, such as college textbooks and course materials. Adobe PDF-based eBooks viewed through the Acrobat eBook Reader offer a rich, high-fidelity experience that can display and when enabled by publishers, print electronic titles with color pictures, complex graphics and rich fonts. Additional key features of the Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader include the ability to highlight and make annotations within an eBook, two-page layout, electronic bookmarks, quick text search, access to the Web and an interactive dictionary. Additionally, if the publisher grants permission, users can lend and give their eBook selections between Acrobat eBook Readers.

The Adobe Content Server is one of the software tools being licensed to the eBook U campuses. It is an end-to-end software solution that enables publishers, online content distributors and resellers, including schools and universities, to secure and distribute Adobe PDF-based eBooks. Adobe's solution enables content providers to encrypt their Adobe PDF files for immediate online sales as eBooks. The software works easily with existing IT environments, allowing users to secure intellectual property and tightly control digital rights and distribution.