What are the differences between lending models?
A lending model is a set of purchasing and borrowing terms for digital content, determined by the publisher.
Many titles in the OverDrive catalog are available in multiple lending models at different prices. You'll select which lending model (or models) you'd like to purchase while shopping in Marketplace. See this help article for tips on choosing a lending model.
If you've built a cart of titles, you can follow these steps to search for those titles across different lending models.
Comparing lending models
This table compares lending models based on how many users can borrow the title at a time and how expiration from your collection is determined.
Lending model | Number of users at a time | Expiration from collection |
---|---|---|
One Copy/One User (OC/OU) | One | Never |
Metered Access (MA) by time | One | After a set period of time |
Metered Access (MA) by checkout (one user) | One | After a set number of checkouts |
Metered Access (MA) by checkout (concurrent users) | Multiple (up to the number of allotted checkouts) | After a set number of checkouts |
Metered Access (MA) by earlier of checkouts or time | One | After a set period of time or number of checkouts (whichever comes first) |
Simultaneous Use (SU) | Unlimited | After a set period of time |
Cost Per Circ (CPC) | Unlimited (until monthly budget runs out) | Never (but can be manually or automatically revoked) |
Class Set | As many as designated | End of Class Set period |
On-Demand Class Set (ODCS) | Multiple (up to the number of copies owned) | End of lending period (once checked out) |
See the sections below for more information about each lending model.
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- Most similar to physical library books
- Can be borrowed by one user at a time
- Never expire from your digital collection
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Metered Access (MA) titles expire from your digital collection after a certain amount of time or number of checkouts. You'll receive an email when a Metered Access title is about to expire, so you can repurchase it if you'd like.
There are four types of MA titles:
MA: by time (one user)
- Expire from your digital collection after a certain amount of time (e.g., 12 months)
- Can be borrowed by one user at a time
MA: by checkout (one user)
- Expire from your digital collection after a certain number of checkouts (e.g., 26 checkouts)
Note: Renewals count toward the number of checkouts. - Can be borrowed by one user at a time
MA: by checkout (concurrent users)
- Expire from your digital collection after a certain number of checkouts (e.g., 100 checkouts)
Note: Renewals count toward the number of checkouts. - Can be borrowed by multiple users at the same time
- In search results, title details pages, and Marketplace reports, the number of copies owned is the same as the number of checkouts remaining
MA: by earlier of checkouts or time (one user)
- Expire from your digital collection after a certain amount of time (e.g., two years) or checkouts (e.g., 52 checkouts), whichever comes first
Note: Renewals count toward the number of checkouts. - Can be borrowed by one user at a time
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- Pay only when users borrow titles or get a pass to access a service
- Set a monthly target budget and user checkout limit to control spending
- Can be borrowed by an unlimited number of users at the same time (until your budget runs out)
- Can't be used for title assignments
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- Can be borrowed by an unlimited number of users at the same time
- Expire after a certain amount of time (except Project Gutenberg titles, which never expire)
- Purchased as "plans" (where you select a set number of titles from a publisher's catalog for a flat fee)
You'll receive an email when a Simultaneous Use plan is about to expire, so you can renew it if you'd like.
Note: Some Libby and Sora Extras are available as subscriptions, which work similarly to Simultaneous Use titles. These services can be accessed by an unlimited number of users until your subscription ends.
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Class Sets
- Available for schools and academic libraries
- Purchase the exact number of copies you need for a length of time (e.g., 3 months)
- Copies are automatically checked out to specified students on your selected start date
- Copies expire from your collection after your Class Set period ends
- Don't count toward user checkout limits
Many titles that are available as Class Sets are also available under the One Copy/One User lending model.
On-Demand Class Sets (ODCS)
- Available for schools only
- Similar to Class Sets, but don't need to be assigned to specific students
- Can be added to your general collection or used for content bundles or title assignments
- Copies expire from your collection once they're checked out and their lending period ends
- Don't count toward user checkout limits
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- Choosing a lending model based on features and budget
- How to add Project Gutenberg titles to your digital collection
- How to manage notifications about expiring titles
- How to see if titles are available in multiple lending models
- How to shop for titles in each lending model
- What are the differences between lending models?