the shrinking librarian

Mar 29

libraryjournal:

Penguin Lifts Library Ebook Purchase Embargo - The Digital Shift

Penguin Group today announced that it will be changing the terms on its library ebook lending program, and on Tuesday, April 2, will begin allowing libraries to purchase and lend ebook titles the day that hardcover editions are released, according to The Associated Press. Previously, Penguin had placed a six month embargo on new ebooks, requiring libraries to wait half a year before purchasing.

(gif via)

Penguin Lifts Library Ebook Purchase Embargo - The Digital Shift

Penguin Group today announced that it will be changing the terms on its library ebook lending program, and on Tuesday, April 2, will begin allowing libraries to purchase and lend ebook titles the day that hardcover editions are released, according to The Associated Press. Previously, Penguin had placed a six month embargo on new ebooks, requiring libraries to wait half a year before purchasing.

(gif via)

Mar 13

“Under the new Provincetown Public Press digital publishing imprint, a dozen or so writers and artists will learn this year how to create a digital book of their work and market it on the Internet, library officials announced Thursday.

Provincetown Public Press, a new digital book publishing operation of the public library, is offering writers and artists the ability to create and distribute a digital book on the Internet.

This might be a first in the country, library director Cheryl Napsha said Friday. “We haven’t seen it anywhere. There are some libraries that are starting to print physical books using high-end copiers. To the best of my knowledge, no one has gone digital.”

The library is starting the press as a public service, she said. It will be funded by a $3,000 donation.” Library as Publisher: A Massachusetts Public Library Will Soon Begin Publishing eBooks | LJ INFOdocket (via libraryjournal)

(via libraryjournal)

Feb 7

“What if you never had to endure the buyer’s remorse of abandoning a book and wishing you could get back the dollars you spent on a disappointing read? What if, instead, you only had to pay for the pages you actually read?

Total BooX, a publishing startup out of Tel Aviv, is attempting to give you the option. The company, set to launch later this month, offers users free access to all the ebooks in their digital warehouse (the collection currently exceeds 10,000) and charges proportionally. If you only read 10% of the book, you pay 10% of the list price.”

Should EBooks Be Pay-As-You-Go? (via bookriot)

Not sure how this will work with libraries, although the company is working with several systems in the U.S. But the Personal Shelves that readers can create might be a useful RA tool for librarians and ease “discoverability” of new titles.

(via willywaldo)

(via libraryjournal)

Jan 23

Library Patrons Want More E-books, But They Want to Keep Print Books, Too

booksyarnink:

In addition to use habits, Pew compiled a laundry list of items patrons want from their libraries:

The ability to borrow books (80%).

More e-books (83%).

IPS navigation for locating books (62%).

Access to reference librarians (80%).

Redbox-style kiosks for renting books in public spaces outside the library (63%).

Free access to Internet-connected computers (77%).

An online “ask a librarian” service (73%).

Access to library materials via apps (63%).

An area to try out new devices (69%).

Amazon-style recommendation engines based on past checkout history (64%).

Free literacy programs for young children (82%).

Yet when asked whether they would be willing to give up existing resources to make room for these things — to move some books to off-site storage centers to make sense for a device-testing center, for instance — only 20% of survey participants said they were in favor. Thirty-six percent said libraries should “definitely” not move books off-site.

Which sums up the whole problem, really.

—-

All of this makes me shake my head when I see the stories that have come out about “bookless libraries”.

(via libraryjournal)

Dec 18

“In Sweden the library treats e-books as a ‘service’ with titles available concurrently to any number of patrons, for free. In Sweden you never have to wait for an e-book to become ‘available’ which of course means you can borrow as many as you want, simultaneously.”

Swedes Think Different: A New Model for E-lending

It’s not all roses, though. Publishers and libraries have their differences, and there are a few groups exploring new options for ebooks.

Last week the Swedish media reported on a pilot project which sees Stockholm City library, Ordfront (one of the few mid-sized, independent publishing houses) and Publit (a technology company specialising in e-book and PoD publishing and distribution) join forces to trial a dual licensing model for e-books.
‘Dual licensing’ is a term borrowed from the Open Source movement and describes how a product can both be sold for profit and shared freely under different sets of terms. The pilot applies the concept to e-books in the following way: libraries help digitise publishers’ backlist and get decent lending terms in return.

In the pilot the library will pay for the digitisation of 25 e-books which are then made available to the library at a fixed price subscription for a period of eleven years. Furthermore the publisher agrees to make all their new e-book titles available to the library on release.

This looks to be a great way to get the back catalog into the hands of libraries without undue cost and hardship.

(via cathylibrary)

Back catalooooog!

(via thelifeguardlibrarian)

Dec 12

thelifeguardlibrarian:

Oooh, stay tuned:

OwnShelf is a cloud based solution to save and share ebook files across devices. Friends can browse each other’s shelves, and borrow one another’s books. Just like the bookshelf in your home, it is a way to show off and share your taste in books online. It is a friend to friend way to discover and read great books.

We are still in development and will have a Beta test soon. Talk to Rick about helping to test, or for any other reason via rick AT ownshelf dot.com

But I do wonder how this can happen without ruffling all the same feathers currently being ruffled between libraries and publishers?

Dec 11

(via fuckyeahreading)

Nov 17

Apple Now Owns the Page Turn

sharkyteeth:

“If you want to know just how broken the patent system is, just look at patent D670,713, filed by Apple and approved this week by the United States Patent Office.

This design patent, titled, “Display screen or portion thereof with animated graphical user interface,” gives Apple the exclusive rights to the page turn in an e-reader application.

Yes, that’s right. Apple now owns the page turn.”

Well then.

Oct 31

Why Do eBooks Ever Have Typos?

kindlekwickstart:

Now that we’ve dealt with the price gouging (sort of), I think its time we turned our attention to other issues.

“This should be one of the great advances of ebooks: that if the printer makes a mistake, everyone doesn’t have to live with it until they sell through a million copies or whatever.”

Sep 25

“It’s a rare thing in a free market when a customer is refused the ability to buy a company’s product and is told its money is “no good here.” Surprisingly, after centuries of enthusiastically supporting publishers’ products, libraries find themselves in just that position with purchasing ebooks from three of the largest publishers in the world. Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Penguin have been denying access to their ebooks for our nation’s 112,000 libraries and roughly 169 million public library users.” ALA President Maureen Sullivan (via libraryadvocates)

(via libraryjournal)

the shrinking librarian

A shy violet keeps a library & information science scrapbook.

Library Patrons Want More E-books, But They Want to Keep Print Books, Too

Apple Now Owns the Page Turn

Why Do eBooks Ever Have Typos?