The last holdout from the major trade publishers, Simon & Schuster, this morning announced the start of an ebook pilot (PDF file) with New York City public libraries.
On Day Two of the “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” conference, Jim Loter, director of information technology at Seattle Public Library, discussed his library’s digital content strategy and the ReadersFirst movement.
I’m writing this from the Monroe County (N.Y.) Library System’s Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, which is hosting “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” The technology conference is focusing on future issues like the library as publisher and ebook adoption.
Central to the purpose of ALA’s Digital Content and Libraries Working Group (DCWG) is communication. DCWG members and staff, along with ALA leadership, engage in a wide variety of outreach activities, whether presenting at conferences or meetings, representing ALA in forums, participating in workshops, or publishing articles and reports.
ALA Immediate Past President Molly Raphael had the opportunity to visit China last fall to speak to the library community there about some of the struggles that many American libraries face as they try to provide ebooks and digital content to the public. Her speaking tour included stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
For April, the Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries ebook price report turns back to the top 25 bestselling ebooks from Digital Book World. Overall, libraries fare better in this comparison, with 11 of the 25 titles available through OverDrive and 10 through 3M.
Penguin Group USA revealed today that, as of April 2, it will remove the six-month embargo on ebook titles licensed to libraries and instead offer new titles immediately after they are released in the consumer market.
Those dirty thieves pirating digital music are killing the whole music industry—or at least that is the reality that the music industry would have you believe. But can the music industry actually back up those claims with evidence?
Sometimes you just have to stop and marvel at the incredible pace of technological change. It helps if you are sitting down, because when the scope of the change finally hits you, things might go all wobbly for a second or two. Luckily I was sitting when I had that experience this weekend.
