UP ISSI opens ebookstore

The UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries (UP ISSI) scored another first in entrepreneurship promotion and small enterprise development by launching an ebookstore, an electronic commerce site where its small business case books, text and reference books, manuals, and other publications can be accessed and downloaded by interested readers.

UP ISSI’s books are co-published, in ink and paper format, with the Small Enterprises Research and Development Foundation (SERDEF).

The UP ISSI, which pioneered in small business promotion and advocacy in the Philippines, is the SERDEF’s closest government-organization partner.

“This is a good platform,” says Ian de Vera, Chair of  ISSI’s Knowledge Management, Information and Communications Technology Services Department of the ebookstore project. He explained that whereas before the books can only be obtained at the ISSI office in the UP Diliman campus during office hours, they can now buy the publications online any time wherever they are.   “They can also take advantage of reading the ebooks in the comfort of their homes and offices using an iPad or a Kindle,” de Vera adds.

The ebookstore makes available some of the bestsellers of the Institute and SERDEF like Introduction to Entrepreneurship, the first text and reference book on entrepreneurship written in the context of the Philippine business environment.  The store also sells the Dreamers, Doers, Risk Takers book series, featuring four volumes of success stories, including couples in business,micros that grew, UP entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs that have been assisted by UP ISSI-SERDEF through its training and extension services.  .

Also available are some publications out of print for a long time, including the Entrepreneurial Competency Training Workbook and Instructor’s Manual.

Downloadable in portable document format, the ebooks may be bought online through this link.  Buyers will have to register first, place an order via the virtual shopping cart, confirm their purchase and pay by PayPal.  Once they receive the link by email, they can download the book they purchased.

The ebookstore pursues the ISSI’s objective of bringing ISSI’s wealth of resources online and making the Institute the national repository of information and resources for entrepreneurship and enterprise innovation.

(Adapted from a story by Julie Cardillo at www.entrepreneurship.org)