IBM Online Book Collection Kit Ordering Information and Licensed Books Announced on April 1, 1997 SOFTWARE Announcement 297-090 Abstract Overview The method of delivering IBM Online Book Collection Kits through the 5636-PUB Library Offering is being evaluated to ensure customers receive product information in the timeliest way. The delivery of licensed books is also being evaluated. The online book collection kits were designed to periodically deliver IBM documentation on a subscription basis. However, since more product information is being delivered as part of the product shipment group, the frequency of updates for some of the collection kits has become irregular. Certain online book collection kits will be withdrawn from the 5636-PUB Library Offering in coming months. Other collection kits will be evaluated for future withdrawal. No new collection kits will be added to the 5636-PUB Library Offering. Not all online libraries are offered through the 5636-PUB Library Offering. Many are available only through the publication channels of PUBORDER and System Library Subscription Service (SLSS), and some are available as priced features. But everything delivered through the 5636-PUB Library Offering is already available through the publication channels. Collection kits will no longer be used to deliver IBM licensed documentation. Beginning first quarter 1997, the licensed files and CD Showcase (R) materials will be removed from these collections: o MVS (R) Collection Kit (SK2T-0710) o Networking Collection Kit (SK2T-6012) o VSE Collection Kit (SK2T-0060) o Transaction Processing and Data Collection Kit (SK2T-0730) The licensed files will ship to customers as part of the product shipment group. DESCRIPTION The availability of many online book collection kits through the 5636-PUB Library Offering was announced in Software Announcement 292-450, dated August 25, 1992. This delivery method allows customers to subscribe to collection kits through the software fulfillment channel. Subscriptions are billed at a predetermined annual fee, which is calculated by multiplying the PUBORDER and SLSS single-issue price by the number of updates expected for the upcoming year. Since more information is being integrated with the product code and online books are being delivered as priced features, the frequency of updates for some of the announced collection kits is becoming irregular. In order to preserve customer value, selected collection kits will be individually withdrawn from the 5636-PUB Library Offering in coming months. The specific kits targeted for initial withdrawal from 5636-PUB are those collections that IBM considers "value-add." These value-add collections provide optional, value-added online documentation related to many different products on various platforms. This documentation is not available separately as part of any product shipment group. The remaining collection kits that will be individually evaluated for future withdrawal from 5636-PUB are categorized as "entitled." Entitled publications deliver information related to various products with base materials (5XXX), one free copy (7XXX), and/or separately priced features (8XXX). Below is a list of all collection kits currently offered through 5636-PUB and their respective category: 5636-PUB Library Offering Value-Add Publication Description or Entitled Features Number Rainbow Value-Add 2031/5031 SK2T-2177 Messages and Value-Add 2033/5033 SK2T-2068 Codes Hardware Value-Add 2034/5034 SK2T-5843 MVS Entitled 2001/5001 SK2T-0710 Networking Entitled 2003/5003 SK2T-6012 VSE Entitled 2007/5007 SK2T-0060 AS/400 (R) V2R3 Entitled 2009/5009 SK2T-8250 ImagePlus (R) Entitled 2021/5021 SK2T-2131 TP&D Entitled 2023/5023 SK2T-0730 VM Entitled 2100/5100 SK2T-2067 AS/400 V3R0.5 Entitled 2108/5108 SK2T-2171 AS/400 V3R6 Entitled 2110/5110 SK2T-2839 AS/400 V3R1 Entitled 2118/5118 SK2T-2171 AS/400 V3R2 Entitled 2120/5120 SK2T-2171 Not all value-add online libraries are offered through the 5636-PUB Library Offering. Many are available only through the publication channels of PUBORDER and SLSS, and some are available as priced features with the product shipment group. Removal of these collections from the 5636-PUB Library Offering will provide a consistent means for customers to order all IBM value-add online library collections. The publication channels also afford the flexibility of swift pricing actions such as period discounts and discounted BOFs (bill of forms). And, as previously mentioned, honoring an established price predicated on an accurate forecast of expected updates has proven difficult for some kits whose updates have become irregular. SLSS subscriptions are invoiced on a per-order basis. No new collection kits will be added to the 5636-PUB Library Offering. Further notification will be provided as individual kits are withdrawn. Announcements will be distributed to all existing U.S. users recommending that they establish an SLSS subscription (SLSS FNO -- Form Number Only) (or add to an existing subscription) for each of the kit publication numbers they want to receive in lieu of their 5636-PUB subscription. The decision to withdraw entitled collections from the 5636-PUB Library Offering will follow similar logic. These kits are already delivered with various products in the U.S. as base materials (5XXX), one free copy (7XXX), and/or separately priced features (8XXX). Actions will be taken to ensure continuous delivery to customers currently subscribing through 5636-PUB. The suggested method to subscribe for additional quantities is again, SLSS FNO. Many of the same benefits described for value-add kits through the publication channels also apply to additional copies of entitled kits, namely, consistent ordering channel, possible discounting, and per-order invoicing. This announcement coincides with the IBM Information Development strategy to deliver entitled product information with the product code shipment. Many value-add collections will continue to be delivered on quarterly release schedules but will not be required as a function of the annual license charge pricing policy currently in effect for the 5636-PUB Library Offering. Developers may exercise discretion and latitude in formulating new releases based on the extent of product activity between update intervals. Removal of Licensed Books from Online Library Collections IBM Software Announcement 294-431, dated July 12, 1994, stated that IBM would begin to ship licensed files on CD-ROM collection kits. The licensed files would be encrypted with CD Showcase. Since that announcement, four collection kits have used CD Showcase to ship licensed documentation. Those collections are the MVS Collection Kit (SK2T-0710), the Networking Collection Kit (SK2T-6012), the VSE Collection Kit (SK2T-0060), and the Transaction Processing and Data Collection Kit (SK2T-0730). Beginning first quarter 1997, the licensed files and CD Showcase materials will be removed from these collections. IBM intends to remove all licensed files from the four collections by second quarter 1997. The long-term goal is to reduce the amount of information that needs to be licensed. For the short term, the licensed information will continue to be shipped to the customer, but in a manner that coincides with the IBM Information Development strategy to deliver entitled product information with the product code shipment. Some products may unlicense their previously licensed information; some may ship the licensed books on the same media as the code; others may choose to create a licensed product CD-ROM that contains the unencrypted licensed documentation for the product; some legacy products, however, may choose to ship the licensed books in hardcopy format only. For a summary of how licensed information will be delivered for products formerly supported by CD Showcase and pointers to where you can get more information about the delivery strategy for those products, see the S/390 (R) softcopy home page on the World Wide Web: http://www.s390.ibm.com/products/softcopy Trademarks CD Showcase, MVS, AS/400, ImagePlus, and S/390 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. .