Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Discover library ebooks. Borrow immediately. Read anywhere, anytime—all in three clicks or less. Introducing Library Simplified, or Readers First, a North America-wide project led by NYPL to employ technology and innovation in library policies to deliver a customized ebook experience for library patrons. Get a sneak peek at this exciting, open source tool.

In 2013, DCL won a grant to do a statewide ebook pilot project in Colorado. Partnering with the Spanish company Odilo, DCL designed the framework to offer ebooks throughout the state. With a combination of signed contracts with publishers, in-browser ebook readers, and the use of an Adobe Content Server, DCL has been able to encode DRM and circulate ebooks. Along with implementing a recommendation engine in the catalog and touchscreen displays in branches, they’re finding new ways to market and promote ebooks to its users.

Hear how Amigos has been building an ebook platform that enhances ebook services libraries already use or becomes a library’s only ebook service. Beginning with the DCL model, changes were made to include the number and types of libraries able to use the service, as well as the functionality. Get an update on the project, learn the issues Amigo confronted, and the changes that had to be made to make this a working service, as well as the development that is currently underway.

The rapid rise of the ebook has meant public libraries across Europe are scrabbling to keep up, and the road has been littered with catastrophes. Many are similar to the U.S., such as the reluctance of publishers to “sell” to public libraries and the difficulties of coping with DRM software, but some are different—as the multitude of languages and small publishers, or the problems of European copyright law, and the nonsense of the fact that “Public Lending Right” (the law that means authors get paid per book loaned) only applies to print books. There are a number of campaigns going on, from Shelf Free in the U.K. to EBLIDA’s “Legalise it!” to Sweden’s “Say Hello to Your New Librarian.” Leech provides an overview of e-lending in Europe from the point of view of a public librarian who’s been working with the Society of Chief Librarians in the U.K. to try and move the situation forward.