Paul Biba has a weekly news compilation on eBooks, eLibraries, and ePublishing. As these topics swirl and morph at a rapid pace, it is a lot to keep up on in a timely fashion and Paul’s diligence on these fronts is most welcome!
Paul is the former Editor-in-Chief of TeleRead, the Internet’s first blog devoted to ebooks. He now runs a curated Twitter feed on these subjects. Check out his listing of those tweets for the week ending May 27, 2016. Pick and choose what is of most interest to you same as you do with our Weekly Review, which is a recap of CMLE blog posts for the week.
If you are interested in following the feed in real time, follow Paul on Twitter: @paulkbiba
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Caroline Methot), licensed under CC0 1.0
Wondering why I have not been giving you more updates on eBooks? I admit it, I have become overwhelmed and could only wonder how to do so in the best way. In the past, I relied on eBook guru Sue Polanka and her No Shelf Required site. However, just recently, when I visited her site, I was delighted to see that she has started publishing Paul Biba’s weekly news compilation on eBooks, eLibraries, and ePublishing. As these topics swirl and morph at a rapid pace, it is a lot to keep up on in a timely fashion and Paul’s diligence on these fronts is most welcome!
Paul is the former Editor-in-Chief of TeleRead, the Internet’s first blog devoted to ebooks. He now runs a curated Twitter feed on these subjects. Check out his listing of those tweets for the week ending January 24th. Pick and choose what is of most interest to you same as you do with our Weekly Review, which is a recap of CMLE blog posts for the week.
If you are interested in following the feed in real time, follow Paul on Twitter: @paulkbiba
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Matt Jones), licensed under CC0 1.0
Classic children’s books for FREE! What can be better? The Billion eBook Gift campaign’s intent is that, “every child has access to a choice of books to read regardless of the device they prefer to use.” This exciting campaign supports Reading is Fundamental (RIF), well recognized and supported by literacy supporters. Put simply, these are free books in the hands of caring adults and children ages 0-8 years old. A few of the 50 titles each child receives include Goldilocks, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood – all available in both English and Spanish. It’s as simple as an email address, name, and password and kids are on their way to free books! If you have additional questions, visit their FAQ page to get started.
American Libraries has been keeping track of “the Big Five publishers (Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Hachette Book Group) and the terms they offer to libraries for their ebooks.”
Their “updated matrix (PDF file) provides a complete list of the distributors that each publisher uses and fuller information about library consortium access, including specifics for public, academic, and school library access.”
Things to note:
Among the Big Five, only Hachette Book Group does not offer public libraries the opportunity to license its ebooks through consortia
The publishers are not as open to school library consortia.
Academic library consortia may license from Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Macmillan.
Simon & Schuster does not license to academic libraries at all.
You may have seen this news by now, but what is unclear is what does this really mean?
Lets consider the scale and reach of Rakuten Inc., one of the world’s largest Internet services companies. Rakuten has been on a buying spree in recent years to reduce reliance on its home market in Japan and push into the U.S. and other countries.
In October 2014 it bought U.S. discount store Ebates.com for about $1 billion.
Rakuten bought Kobo Inc, a Canadian eBook company in 2011 for $315 million, in “phase 1” of its eBook business as it allows consumers to buy eBooks.
Chat and calling app Viber is another of Rakuten’s most prominent acquisitions; bought for $900 million in 2014.
And now, of most interest to Minnesota libraries, Rakuten is purchasing OverDrive from Insight Venture Partners for $410 million and as part of “phase 2” of its eBook business. The acquisition of OverDrive, which currently offers eBook rental services to U.S. libraries and schools, is expected to be completed in April.
Since 2012, Rakuten (http://global.rakuten.com) has been ranked among the world’s “Top 20 Most Innovative Companies” in Forbes magazine.
Going forward, Kobo and OverDrive will work together to enhance their abilities to deliver world-class digital content and reading technology services.
Rakuten is also an investor in Pinterest and ride sharing service Lyft. There are many, many more companies Rakuten has acquired recently. Read the full post here.
It is unclear at this time what this acquisition will mean to Minnesota libraries and in some cases, schools too. Will current Overdrive contract terms stay the same? Stay tuned for the constantly evolving world of eBooks!
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/lw8nkjr, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Paul Biba has a weekly news compilation on eBooks, eLibraries, and ePublishing. As these topics swirl and morph at a rapid pace, it is a lot to keep up on in a timely fashion and Paul’s diligence on these fronts is most welcome!
