Our Canadian librarian colleagues are telling the world: Big publishers are ripping us off, big time. If you’re one of the Big Five publishers, this is the conversation you do not want to have. You have a product—the ebook file representing a book—and you insist that it be treated like a book in some ways. … Continue reading Canada, oh Canada: Fighting back on ebook pricing
In part, that means that we’ve started to pay attention to the many, many midlist or indie presses that have started drastically boosting their output. We also have started (and it’s about time) to more closely track the many new players of an emerging ecosystem of publishing, not just here, but abroad. A case in … Continue reading Amazon Squeezes Publishers
Two issues came to the fore in the fall. Adobe Digital Editions experienced a privacy breach that led to unencrypted personal information being transmitted online. DCWG responded, and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) and ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) assisted with technical and policy advice. Adobe took quick action to address the … Continue reading ALA’s DCWG, Ebooks, and Directions
Among the Big Five, only Hachette Book Group does not offer public libraries the opportunity to license its ebooks through consortia. Hachette says it evaluates each consortium on a case-by-case basis “using criteria including number of libraries, size of population, and circulation numbers.” Some consortia have been approved. The other publishers say they license to … Continue reading Publishers, Distributors, and Consortia
Presumably the acquisition of OverDrive by Rakuten will strengthen OverDrive. How will that lead to a better experience for libraries as OverDrive customers and for their users? Steve Potash: The first and the most obvious win for our library and school partners is going to be more content. Because Kobo has been operating globally, we … Continue reading Newsmaker: Steve Potash
Any library can position itself to guide local authors toward becoming savvy and competent independent publishers. Ebooks and print-on-demand options leverage the strength of their platforms to reach larger audiences and make publishing possible within the library. Libraries can support the growth and autonomy of local writers by connecting them to relevant technology, tools, and … Continue reading Leading Self-Publishing Efforts in Communities
With the advent of the digital revolution and the opportunities and challenges that this disruption provides, the school librarian is one of the most prepared professionals to make momentous choices on behalf of students. These choices comprise a broad range of options that include hardware, software, age appropriateness, access, pricing models, collaboration with classroom teachers … Continue reading Digital Resources in School Libraries
People were increasingly looking for digital content for their e-readers and mobile devices. And they were turning to libraries, expecting that just as they had been able to borrow print books, they would also be able to borrow ebooks. Libraries were trying to keep ahead of this trend and began allocating more of their materials … Continue reading Ebooks: Getting There … But Not There Yet
But don’t just take Joe’s word for it. OCLC’s surveys on the “library brand” regularly turn up the same result. In fact, in Perceptions of Libraries 2010, OCLC found that in the previous five years libraries have become even “more strongly associated with books than they were before”—69% in 2005 vs. 75% in 2010. Or … Continue reading How Low Can Our Book Budgets Go?
Snow Fall. After several years of hypothetical discussion about the possibilities of transmedia, it took a sportswriter working for a newspaper to demonstrate the power of internet-based publishing. In a single blow, the New York Times reset the bar for interactive online narratives. Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek is a gripping story of … Continue reading The Unpackaged Book
Sadly, ebooks have not only failed to deliver on much of their promise, they have become a vast lost opportunity. They are becoming a weapon capable of considerable social damage; a Faustian technology that seduces with convenience, particularly for those who consume a great many books, but offers little else while extracting a corrosive toll … Continue reading Ebooks in 2013
