VitalSource Terminology
Access Code: A single-use code provided to the reader that allows them to access any courseware that may be paired with an eTextbook.
Add/Drop: A temporary code provisioned for a student for "day-one" access to content. If the user drops the course, they will not be charged. If they stay in the class, the code will be removed, and a billable code will be provided to the student.
Asset: A single, unique piece of content in Manage. An asset is almost always a unique book, or what publishers call a specific “title” (like Intro to Economics or Algebra for Beginners).
Courseware: Educational material, other than textbooks, packaged together and distributed to faculty or students as additional resources to supplement the textbook content (sometimes referred to as Online Resources).
Copy/Print Restrictions (CPR): The limit on the amount of text a user can copy and paste from his or her eTextboook, as well as how many pages of the digital text can be printed at a time. This may be set per publisher, per institution. It is the responsibility of the institution to negotiate CPR settings with publishers. In the event that no specific CPR is set during onboarding, your asset will inherit the default CPR set by publishers.
Code Type: Within VitalSource Manage, customers are able to select code types depending on their needs. These include add-drop, pub sample, default (standard), and promotional. Note: Promotional code types will have a code type of "code-api."
Custom ISBN: The unique ISBN for the customer, often used as a billing ISBN.
Custom Price: The price of content that an institution has negotiated with publishers. Once confirmed by the publisher and the institution’s Success Manager, this price is entered into Manage by a member of the Publisher Success team.
Distribution Rights: Awarded by a publisher, distribution rights allow an institution to deliver content to its faculty and students. Distribution rights can also be granted to channel partners and resellers, allowing them to sell a publisher’s content.
Distributor: The entity that has been assigned rights by the content owner in Manage to distribute assets.
Digital List Price (DLP): Price from the publisher for a digital version of their book.
Equitable Access: Equitable Access (EA) gives students day-one access to the assigned learning materials for all courses for which they are enrolled for a flat price. Faculty choose the materials and students can opt out at the program level. This differs from Inclusive Access (IA) which is a course-by-course model that allows students to opt out at the course level.
EPUB: Current version of the EPUB publishing standard. EPUB is a set of specifications for digital content publishing that is the industry standard. EPUB defines a means of representing, packaging, and encoding structured and semantically enhanced web content (IDPF website); at VitalSource, another reflowable format.
Inclusive Access (IA): Concept of higher ed institutions providing course materials as part of tuition, and available to all students in a course on the first day of class. The model is intended to reduce cost and improve student outcomes. Students may Opt-Out if they prefer not to have the cost of course materials included in their tuition.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): Unique and standard identification for a text. One book may have multiple ISBNs based on various print formats (black and white, color, binding, extras). Related: See Custom ISBN.
License: Permits access to a book for a predetermined amount of time, with predetermined copying and printing restrictions.
Manage: VitalSource’s content and user management system, formerly known as Connect or p2. It powers content licensing and user account provisioning. Manage logins are also used for authenticating some other VitalSource administrative applications.
Metadata: A set of data that describes and gives information about products (in VitalSource’s application), such as title, author, edition, imprint, page count, etc.
National Distribution Sets: The collection of content that is readily available for customers to self-adopt within their business models.
Package: A group of products (single, rental, or demo) packaged together for single delivery in Manage. Formerly referred to as Product in Manage.
Partner Integrations: Partner Integration (PI) aims to create the easiest experience for getting users into a publisher's courseware platform through the VitalSource LTI tool.
- For more PI-related terminology, please visit our Partner Integration (PI) Glossary page.
Print List Price (PLP): The price of the print-bound text equivalent. The PLP is used to show discounting in our VitalSource stores.
Redemption Code: A unique 20-digit code. Entry of this code into Bookshelf or the VitalSource store awards the user the license for the book. A different redemption code is needed for each asset or product. Redemption codes can only be used once and may be manually created in Manage or generated automatically via an integration.
Rental: A single product distributed with a non-perpetual downloadable license. The availability of rentals and the price of rentals is determined by the publisher. Distribution rights assigned to a rental do not guarantee distribution rights to the single product.
Store Price: Price at which content will be sold in the VitalSource store.
Territorial Activation Control (TAC): This allows you to limit the user to redeeming codes within a specific region.
Vital Book ID (VBID): This is a unique sequence of letters and numbers used as the system identifier for a unique piece of content in the VitalSource systems.