E-Content
Joelstuff
The following snippets are shared with permission from the 02/26/14 electronic issue of American Libraries Direct, American Libraries Association
Sharing ebooks on the Razor’s edge
James LaRue writes: “The Greater Western Library Alliance of 33 academic libraries may have hit on something by wielding the library equivalent of Occam’s Razor to shave its members’ collective ILL woes. Its product, the work of program developers at Texas Tech University and the University of Hawaii–Manoa, is called Occam’s Reader. It pilots an approach, in as straightforward a manner as possible, that allows universities to share their ebooks without giving away the store.”…
AL: E-Content, Feb. 25
Publishing has entered a new era
Brian O’Leary writes: “We are moving inexorably toward what I have called a ‘pre-book world’: a living manifestation of the development, refinement, and extension of a particular work. At various points, an object—a book or ebook—may be rendered, but it will be a subset of a conversation that includes content, comments, annotations, and sources. The internet has shifted traditional publishing from a gatekeeping role (deciding what will be published) to a truer form of curation (managing the communities and conversations that will inform a rendered component).”…
The Bookseller: FutureBook, Feb. 20
Epic! app offers children’s books
A new startup called Epic! brings a totally kid-friendly bookshelf and book reading experience to the iPad. Cofounded by online gaming veteran Suren Markosian and former YouTube exec Kevin Donahue, Epic is an all-you-can-read app aimed at kids aged 12 and under that provides access to some 2,000 titles for online and offline reading. The subscription service costs $9.99 per month….
TechCrunch, Feb. 24
GPO expands ebook program
The US Government Printing Office is expanding the agency’s ebook program through its Federal Depository Library Program to increase public access to information. The public now has free access to ebook titles using GPO’s Catalog of US Government Publications. The first release includes approximately 100 titles, and GPO will continue work with federal agencies to make new titles available each month….
US Government Printing Office, Feb. 25