Struggling to Satisfy Demand

Posted on April 1, 2013 by ckreger

- 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.”

Jamie LaRue Responds to “Giving Them What They Should Want”

Posted on March 31, 2013 by ckreger

- Submitted by Jamie LaRue, Douglas County Libraries

“Because the non-big six e-books we buy from publishers outside the big six vary in quality, and do not have the pre-existing demand of some of the major publisher’s titles, he suggested this somehow constitutes a return to the prescriptive purchases common at the dawn of librarianship.”

Read the original Publisher’s Weekly article Giving Them What They Should Want and Jamie’s full response.

Library as Publisher: A Massachusetts Public Library Will Soon Begin Publishing eBooks

Posted on March 24, 2013 by ckreger

- 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.

Impelsys Introduces eBook Ordering System for Libraries

Posted on February 15, 2013 by ckreger

- 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.

The Digital Arizona Library Project is Exploring a Statewide E-book Service

Posted on February 15, 2013 by ckreger

- 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.

ALA Releases “E-Book Business Model Scorecard”

Posted on January 30, 2013 by ckreger

- Submitted by Gene Hainer, State Library

“The report which was created by the ALA Digital Content & Libraries Working Group (DCWG), can be used by librarians to weigh ebook contract variables most important to their library.”

Read the full PDF report.

This report is a “follow up to the 2012 ALA report Ebook Business Models for Public Libraries…” (PDF).

ALA Applauds Macmillan Publishers’ Entry Into Library Market

Posted on January 28, 2013 by ckreger

- Submitted by Jamie LaRue and Rochelle Logan, Douglas County Libraries

“On the eve of its national Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, the American Library association (ALA) welcomed the announcement from Macmillan Publishers that it will enter the library e-book lending market by the end of March 2013.”

Self-Publishing: No Longer Just A Vanity Project

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Jim Duncan

- Submitted by Jim Duncan, State Library

“They used to call it the ‘vanity press,’ and the phrase itself spoke volumes. Self-published authors were considered not good enough to get a real publishing contract. They had to pay to see their book in print. But with the advent of e-books, self-publishing has exploded, and a handful of writers have had huge best-sellers.”

Key in the above paragraph: handful of writers. But keep reading the article… The closing paragraphs are telling:

“…because while self-publishing may be all the rage right now, the truth is that the ultimate goal for a lot of writers is a contract with a traditional publishing company. Sepinwall is already considering that possibility.

“‘It would put it in brick and mortar stores, it would put it in college bookstores, it would put it in other places, it would make it more widely available to people,’ he says. ‘It depends on what deal would be presented to me to make it worth giving up the rights to it, which I have right now.’”

Read the full article on NPR Books

Forbes: The Wrong War Over eBooks: Publishers Vs. Libraries

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Jim Duncan

- Submitted by Jim Duncan, State Library

“Libraries and big six publishers are at war over eBooks: how much they should cost, how they can be lent and who owns them. If you don’t use your public library and assume that this doesn’t affect you, you’re wrong.

“In a society where bookstores disappear every day while the number of books available to read has swelled exponentially, libraries will play an ever more crucial role. Even more than in the past, we will depend on libraries of the future to help discover and curate great books. Libraries are already transforming themselves around the country to create more symbiotic relationships with their communities, with book clubs and as work and meeting spaces for local citizens.”

Read the full article in Forbes, which is part one of a two-part series.

Note: Jamie LaRue is quoted in this article.

Evoke

Creating the Future for Library E-Content

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