Verba Glossary: Connect
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Please find useful terms and definitions related to Verba Connect below.
A
Access Code: An access code is a unique string of characters provided to a student, which they enter into a publisher or provider website in order to access content. This content typically takes the form of courseware, which includes resources like practice questions, videos, and other types of interactive content that supplement the standard book title. In some cases, access codes may provide access to an eBook alone, although this is less common.
Add/Drop Period: The add/drop period of an institution is the time frame during which students can modify their course schedules. It typically occurs at the beginning of each semester or term and allows students to add or drop courses. After the add/drop period, students are locked into their registered courses. Within the context of the Verba Connect, the add/drop period allows students to freely switch courses and still have trial access to their respective course materials for their courses.
Adoption: An adoption is a selection of course materials chosen by an individual (usually the instructor or a department admin) for a particular course, section, and term. Example: "Professor Johnson has adopted Campbell Biology by Urry, Wasserman, etc in BIO 101, Sections 1-4, for the Fall 2022 Semester."
Adoption Platform Term Mapping: For schools utilizing both the Verba Collect and Verba Connect platforms, Adoption Platform Term Mapping enables a linking of IA Interest information between both systems. Both Has IA Interest and Confirmed IA interest on items adopted in Verba Collect will carry over into the chosen Connect catalog.
B
Batch Charges (File): Batch charges are reports that will be delivered to the school either via SFTP or can be downloaded from the Connect User Interface. These reports are automatically generated based on the schedule's invoice date.
Best Match (Filter): Available from the Explore & Create Quick Filters, selecting the "Best Matched" filter allows users to view adoptions that meet the minimum rental duration, pricing availability and distribution rights criteria.
Billing Policy (Group): A billing policy refers to the manner at which students are billed for an item adopted to multiple sections within a group in Verba Connect. When students are billed once per group, they will only be billed one time no matter how many sections within the group they are enrolled in. For once per enrollment, students will be billed for each section within that group.
Bundle: A bundle is a type of course material that includes two or more types of resources, typically taking the form of an eBook plus courseware.
C
Catalog: A catalog is a record of course material adoptions for a particular school, grouped by academic term. Catalogs are typically referred to by their academic term name, i.e. "Fall 2022". Users will interact with their catalogs in different ways, depending on the Verba Tool that is being utilized.
Catalog Activation: Catalog Activation is a process by which users of Verba Connect indicate that the current term is at a state where content is ready to be accessed by students. Once a catalog is activated, key events, such as Welcome Emails, will be sent based on scheduled dates. Note: Activation of a catalog does not restrict a user from adding new items or making further adjustments.
Catalog Items Export: Catalog Items Export is a report available from the Reports page in Verba Connect where users can receive a file containing all relevant information about the items created in a chosen catalog. This report can then be re-uploaded into a subsequent term's catalog, reducing the need for manual creation of those items in the future. The file is also editable, allowing for users to add, edit, or remove lines before uploading.
Census Date: Within Connect, this is the date that stores will be invoiced for all active licenses for a specific schedule
Charge/Refund File "Term" Mapping: This setting controls the name of the term on any SFTP charge/refund report generated from Verba Connect. This is important in situations where the catalog name in Connect does not match the institutions own nomenclature. For example, the catalog display name may be "Summer 2023" but the term is identified as "202330" in the schools own Student Information System. By default, in Verba Connect it will be the same as the catalog name. This setting is located under Current Catalog Settings.
Charges: Charges refer to a record(s) of students that need to be billed for materials utilized through a schools Inclusive Access program. A school can charge their students in a variety methods, including (but not limited to) direct to their student account or billed at registration. Connect charges can be delivered continuously, or at invoice date in a batch. See also: Continuous Charges (File) and Batch Charge (File).
Connect: Verba Connect is a digital discovery and management tool for Inclusive Access programs. Connect assists digital course materials managers with all aspects of the IA journey, including schedule and item setup, communications to students, student billing, reporting, and program analytics. Verba Connect also acts as a hub for integrations between the RMS, SIS, and LMS, ensuring that all content is delivered to the students on the first day of class.
Content Type: Content Type refers to the format or medium in which course materials are presented to students. In Verba Connect, Content Type is divided into three categories: etextbook, Courseware, and Bundle.
Content Access Method (CAM): CAM pertains to the manner in which students will access Inclusive Access content. In Verba Connect, there are two Content Access Methods: Access Codes or Single Sign On.
Continuation: Continuation refers to a situation where a student has paid for multi-term access to a course material resource, and the course material is being used again in a future class. For example, in Spring 2022, student Joe Smith was billed for multi-term access to Campbell Biology for Biology 101 and 102. In Fall 2022, Joe Smith takes BIO 102 and should not be billed a second time in the Fall for the materials. Verba Connect has a built in feature to help schools manage these scenarios so that students are billed properly. Continuation is usually referred to in the form of a "continuation student" and/or "continuation license", depending on context.
Continuous Charges (File): Continuous charges refer to daily charge files that are placed on a SFTP server based on a catalog's schedule settings. These daily files contain new charges and/or refunds based on changing enrollment or participation status.
Courseware: Educational material, other than textbooks, packaged together and distributed to faculty or students as additional resources to supplement the textbook content.
Custom Price: Sometimes referred to as "Institution Price", a Custom Price is a contracted price between the institution and the publisher for a digital asset that differs from the Digital List Price or National IA Price.
D
Delivery Method: Delivery method defines the manner in which students access their Inclusive or Equitable Access course materials. Delivery method breaks down into two primary categories: 1. From VitalSource, or 2. From Publisher. Items marked as delivered "From VitalSource" will be delivered to students through VST's own integration with the school's Learning Management System. On the other hand, Items marked as delivered "From Publisher" will be available to access from the publishers own integration.
Digital List Price: Digital List Price is the standard online retail price for the digital version of a title. Also see: National Inclusive Access Price and Custom Price.
E
Equitable Access: A business model aimed at higher ed institutions where all students pay the same, normalized price for all content adopted in a given term. Unlike Inclusive Access, EA covers the entirety of adoptions for a given semester, ensuring day one access to all of their content. EA programs are digital first, but also provide print books to students where a digital version is not available.
Explore and Create Page: The Explore and Create page in Verba Connect allows users to identify available IA pricing and create items based on RMS adoption data, matches within the VitalSource catalog, and/or manually.
Explore & Create (Filters): Explore & Create filters on the Explore & Create page in Verba Connect that allow the user to filter items by specific parameters, including Digital and Price availability, content type, IA Interest, etc.
F
Flexible Billing: Flexible billing describes either an invoice or credit memo to an institution that falls outside of the standard invoicing schedule. This is accomplished in Verba Connect, where IA users can easily handle all post-invoice billing changes, including late adds/drops, or late changes in opt status.
Future-Proof Partnership (FPP): Future Proof Partnership is a partnership between the institution and VitalSource that grants the institution three free years of Verba Compare and Collect in exchange for digital exclusivity with VitalSource. If you are interested in learning more about a future-proof contract for your institution, reach out to sales@vitalsource.com.
G
Group: A group is a collection of Inclusive Access sections within Connect that allows the institution to control schedule, billing policy, participation (opt in vs. out) and continuation parameters on a given item. Any one item can have multiple groups set up, each containing different sections and parameters.
H
Has IA Interest: When an item in Verba Connect is flagged with "Has IA Interest" on the Explore and Create page, this means that an instructor or department has expressed interest in Inclusive Access for an item adopted to their class within Verba Collect. In Collect, users can use this flag to message users and confirm participation to effectively grow their program.
I
Inclusive Access: A business model aimed at higher ed institutions that enables the delivery of accessible, affordable content to students on or before the first day of class through collaboration between the institution, campus store, publishers, VitalSource, and students. The goal of Inclusive Access is to help institutions reduce cost and improve student outcomes. https://get.vitalsource.com/inclusive-access. Also see: Equitable Access.
Invoice Date: This is the date that stores will be invoiced for all active licenses for a specific schedule.
Item: An item represents the course material adopted for a course participating in inclusive access. Also see: License
Item Creation Import: The item creation import can be used to create Connect items in bulk from either a prior term's adoptions or from scratch
Item Sales Tax: A setting that enables Verba Connect users to add sales tax to the student price of items in their IA catalog in states where this is required. This setting is located under Current Catalog Settings.
Items and Sections Report: The Item and Sections Report breaks down into two main categories, Item Detail and Section Detail. Item Detail focuses on item specific information such as pricing, delivery method, schedule, etc., while Section Detail lists all sections utilizing an item and any information pertinent to those sections, such as enrollment. The Item and Sections report is a powerful tool to get a current snapshot of your program in a given term.
L
Late Add: A late add is a student who enrolled in an Inclusive Access course after the scheduled invoice date. While these students will not automatically be opted in, Connect managers can choose to utilize the "Late Add" filter from the Students page to include these students into the program (if applicable). Also see: Flexible Billing
Late Drop: A late drop is a student who dropped out of an Inclusive Access course after the scheduled invoice date. While these students will not automatically be opted out, Connect managers can choose to utilize the "Late Drop" filter from the Students page to remove these students into the program (if applicable). Also see: Flexible Billing
Learning Management System (LMS). According to Wikipedia, an LMS is "a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials or learning and development programs." This encompasses our partners such as Blackboard, Canvas, Sakai, Moodle, Desire2Learn (D2L), etc.
License: A license reflects the manner in which Verba Connect tracks student's enrollment and utilization of individual course materials. Also see: Item
LMS Course Match: An LMS Course match is the assignment of an LMS Course ID to a course in Verba Connect. When a course is matched on the Courses Page to the same course in the LMS, this pairs IA or EA information between both systems. While this is required for VitalSource delivered materials, information for publisher delivered content will also be visible in the LMS when courses are matched.
Lock Participation: Lock Participation controls whether an institution allows students to make opt choices on individual course materials in an Inclusive Access program. This can be set on both the item group level or the catalog level.
N
Net Price: Net Price is the cost to the institution for an individual item(link here).
Non-Participating Publisher: A non-participating publisher refers to a publisher who does not have contractual terms with VitalSource to deliver some or all of their content. In these situations, these items can still be managed within the Verba Connect interface, but a 5% Technology Fee (calculated off of the net price) will be added to the overall Student Price.
O
Opt-In/Out Deadline:The opt-in/out deadline is the last date that students can opt in or out of participation in Inclusive or Equitable Access. Students can opt in or opt out as many times as they wish before the opt-in/out deadline, at which point their status will be finalized (minus edge case exceptions).
Opt Out Rate: Participation Rate describes the ratio of opted-out or non-participating licenses vs. the total number of possible licenses within a catalog. This is the inverse of the participation rate.
Opt Status: The opt status refers to whether or not a student has chosen to participate in Inclusive Access for a given item. For instance, students in an "opt out" IA program are opted-in by default, but can choose to opt out if they wish to procure the resource somewhere else. In an "opt in" program, they choose to "opt in" to a resource, and will be billed accordingly.
P
Participation Model: Participation model describes whether a student (by default) will have the choice to opt in or opt out of an Inclusive Access item. In some situations, some items may be locked such that students has access to the item, but cannot opt out. Also see: Locked Participation.
Participation Rate: Participation Rate describes the ratio of participating licenses vs. the total number of possible licenses within a catalog. This is the inverse of the opt-out rate.
Participation Status (Student): Participation Status on the student level refers to whether or not a student is opted in or opted of either: a. an individual item for IA, or b. the entire program for EA.
Participation Status (Group): Participation Status on the group level refers to the ability for users to control (by schedule) whether the student will be choosing to opt in or opt out of the material.
R
Refund: A refund is a reversal of fees charged to students for either specific Inclusive Access materials or the Equitable Access program fee. For clients that use batch charging, refunds can be generated after the invoice date, at the store's discretion. For schools that use continuous charges, refunds can also be generated before the invoice date based on changes to the student's enrollment or participation choice.
Rental Duration: Rental Duration describes how long a given student/customer has access to a digital course material. Common durations include: 90, 120, 180, 365, 1825 Days and Perpetual. These durations are commonly notated at the end of a VBID, ie. 9780060581824R180.
Rental Price: Rental Price describes the amount students/customers will pay for a specific Rental Duration.
Retail Management System (RMS): A retail management system is a software solution that helps businesses manage and optimize their retail operations. Retail management systems typically include a range of features and functionalities that help businesses track and manage inventory, process sales transactions, generate reports and analytics, manage customer relationships, and support other key aspects of retail operations. In the Verba context, RMS's integrate with our systems to push and pull data relevant to each tool, such as term data, adoptions, pricing, inventory, etc.
S
Schedule: A schedule in Verba Connect refers to a series of dates for a given time period where key events occur within a term/catalog. Each key event is linked to specific functionality within the application. These key events include: welcome email start dates to students, term start dates, opt-out deadlines, invoice dates, end-of-term dates, and if applicable, start charges/refunds dates, and end/charges refunds dates. The latter dates apply to schools that continuously charge students.
Schools can have multiple schedules per term in cases when courses do not follow the standard full-term schedule. For instance, classes that are part of an intersession, study abroad, or any kind of abbreviated timeline may have their own schedule with their own relative dates. Users can set up as many schedules as they like per term/catalog.
Schedule End Date: The Schedules End Date indicates the last of class for a given Schedule in Verba Connect. Schedules End Date can be entered from the Settings page under the Schedule Settings section. The date entered for this setting dictates the last date students can view assigned materials from their Launch Link sent to them via email. However, this setting does not impact directly impact student's ability to access their materials from other locations (BookShelf, LMS, etc)
The end date also controls the last day Connect users can change a given student's participation status in IA for a given schedule. After this day, participation is locked.
Schedules Start Date: The Schedules Start Date indicates the first day of class for a given Schedule in Verba Connect. Schedules Start Date can be entered from the Settings page under the Schedule Settings section. While not tied to any specific functionality within the Verba Connect system, entering Schedule Start Date date provides a useful reference for users with regards to timing vs. other dates in the schedule.
Statement Center page. Verba Connect also produces pending reports for each of these types so that the bookstore knows what to expect once they are generated. Default due dates for invoices are 15 days after the statement is generated.
Store Margin: Store margin is a term used to refer to the amount of profit that an institution makes on the sale of a product. It is calculated by subtracting the cost of the product from the price at which it is sold to the student.
Student Price: Student Price is the final price to students for an item based on the bookstore cost plus Store Margin that will be billed to their student account. In some cases, a tech fee or sales tax may be included in the student price, depending on the type of content or state in which course materials are sold.
Students Report: Thee Students Report is an exportable report from the Verba Connect interface that includes a comprehensive look at all students and their relevant license information for a selected catalog.
Student Type Settings: The Student Type Settings provide users with the flexibility to control student charges and/or experiences based on enrollment “type” (e.g. veteran, grad student, international, etc.). These settings can be found on the Settings page under the Student Type Settings tab. These settings are applied at the catalog level and will be carried forward to new catalogs so users do not have to set them up term-to-term.
SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP): SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a secure file transfer protocol that uses the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to transfer files between computers. It is typically used to securely transfer files over a network, such as over the internet. Unlike the regular File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which is not secure and sends data in plain text, SFTP encrypts the data being transferred, making it more secure and less susceptible to interception or tampering. SFTP also provides a number of other security features, such as authentication and access controls, to help protect the data being transferred.
T
Technology Fee: A technology fee is a 5% fee that is added to the Net Price of an item for any Non-Participation Publisher content. This fee also applies store owned content that is added an item within Verba Connect.
U
Unmatched SKU: An Unmatched SKU is a state that an item in Verba Connect exists in when it is delivered by VitalSource but not matched an any specific asset within the VitalSource Manage database.
V
Verba Software: Acquired by VitalSource in 2017, Verba Software found success in partnering with college campus bookstores to provide affordable, accessible course materials to students. The Verba solutions -- Collect, Connect, Compete and Compare -- allow clients to capture textbook adoptions, power inclusive access programs and offer competitive pricing for content.