Digital Textbooks

Barnes & Noble Ed Moves FirstDay Access to VitalSource

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 09/13/19

Two major players in the curriculum segment have signed on to work with each other. The platform produced by VitalSource for delivering digital curriculum will be used by Barnes & Noble Education for its BNC FirstDay access.

FirstDay is a licensing model in which institutions contract with BNED to give students immediate access to their course materials through the learning management system by or before the first day of class. The schools negotiate for deeper discounts on the curriculum in return for guaranteeing that every student in the course, program or institution will be a customer.

Under the new arrangement, BNED will begin using VitalSource's software to host access to the class materials.

"In addition to allowing us to respond to our customers' needs, this model also drives increased penetration rates for BNED course materials sales," said BNED CEO Michael Huseby, in a statement. "Transitioning our platform to VitalSource's state-of-the-art technology allows us to accelerate and optimize BNC FirstDay implementations."

He added that the "long-term partnership" would also enable his company to focus on its "core strength — providing exceptional service and support to students, faculty, academic leaders and administration."