- Submitted by Jim Duncan, Colorado Library Consortium
Nook Press from Barnes and Nobels is the latest rebranding effort in the self-publishing world joining Amazon, Apple, CreateSpace, SmashWords and others.
Jim wonders “are any libraries reviewing, recommending, supporting or encouraging specific activity with any one of these?”
- Submitted by Jamie LaRue, Douglas County Libraries
Spring is in the air, but eBook prices for libraries still leave us cold. View the latest eBook price comparison from Douglas County Libraries.
Note:
- Submitted by Jamie LaRue, Douglas County Libraries
Library Renewal offers insight into “the reality of the public library ebook marketplace reflected in usage data from a selection of public libraries.”
“In order to serve our constituents with electronic content, libraries need to be able to understand how our collections are being used. This paper aims to present library-centered usage data to help libraries make decisions with regards to e-content, and to counter media and industry hype. Much has been written about the impact of major publisher changes on library lending, which are noted in the Sidebar. By looking at these events in the context of actual usage data, this report endeavors to demonstrate that a vendor-driven ebook model is neither extensible nor sustainable.”
Read the full article. As Jamie concludes: “The future of ebooks in libraries looks expensive.”
- Submitted by Christine Kreger, Colorado State Library
“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.”
Read more about this initiative from the Provincetown Public Library.
- Submitted by Jamie LaRue, Douglas County Libraries
Douglas County Libraries has released its latest price comparison report for books from the New York Times Bestseller lists.
“…note the stark contrast of our one title from Smashwords. (Jamie LaRue)”
- Submitted by Christine Kreger, Colorado State Library
The eBook puzzle is not just an issue in the United States.
“Dutch libraries cannot lend e-books as part of their services, the education and culture minister has concluded in a research report on the Copyright Law, digital services and the role of public libraries.”
According to this article, individual Dutch libraries can lend eBooks if they negotiate their own deals with individual authors and publishers.
- Submitted by Christine Kreger, Colorado State Library
“The document looks at federal disability laws and the August 2012 settlement between the National Federation of the Blind and Sacramento Public Library Authority regarding ebook readers.”
The purpose of the IMLS advisory “is to provide information to help ensure that electronic book readers, and other emerging technologies, are used in library settings in a manner that is permissible under Federal law.”
Read the full advisory (PDF)
- Submitted by Jim Duncan, Colorado Library Consortium
“It’s been a while since booksellers sued publishers but that’s what’s just happened as three independent bookstores have filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against the big six houses and Amazon charging that by signing agreements that call for the use of DRM on e-books sold through the Kindle, the online retailer and the publishers have combined to restrict the sale of e-books.”
Read more about this development.
- Submitted by Rochelle Logan, Douglas County Libraries
“Impelsys, a global leader in providing electronic content delivery solutions, today announced the commercial launch of a new title acquisitions system for libraries that enables library staff to order eBooks for their collections directly from participating publishers.”
Jamie La Rue (Douglas County Libraries) and Jimmy Thomas (Marmot Library Network) are both quoted in the article.
- Submitted by Rochelle Logan, Douglas County Libraries
The Digital Arizona Library Project (DAZL) is exploring a statewide e-book service for Arizona’s public libraries.
Colorado’s Carson Block prepared an environmental scan report (PDF) for DAZL.