Tag Archives: ebooks

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Metro Libraries Embrace E-Book Sharing

Image by flickingerbrad. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by flickingerbrad. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

Recently, Minnesota made the news around a consortial lending model for  eBooks. Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA) is the state organization created to support cooperation and collaboration among the seven-county Twin Cities area libraries. And, 3M is right in MELSA’s backyard! What is exciting is that a  conversation happened between the two, and after a year of working together, 3M has developed CloudLink, a new feature for its eBook lending system for consortia!

Many consortial  arrangements involve member libraries contributing eBooks to a common pool that patrons from all libraries can use. In addition to this functionality, CloudLink also enables any patron from any MELSA library to check out eBooks from the private collections of any other MELSA library, provided there are no holds for the title. Unless a publisher has a policy that prohibits consortial lending, the CloudLink system will allow eBooks to be checked out by patrons from any library.

CMLE staff continue to work with others to monitor possibilities for regional or statewide sharing of eBooks. As you can imagine, the needs of academic, public, K-12 and special libraries can be quite different (yet overlapping in some areas). Existing consortial models are often not a “one size fits all”  and at this moment in time, I remain skeptical that a statewide model exists to serve all needs with one solution. But that is today, the wild west of eBooks is changing every day! Stay tuned……

Read the full Digital Shift article (Nov.5)

Also, read an infoDOCKET article on this subject (Sept.18)

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Assorted Updates About eBooks

Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

If you are looking for e-book updates, these snippets have been supplied through my membership in the American Libraries Association.  

The Big Six and library lending: An update 
Rob Maier writes: “In May 2013, when I started to track the Big Six and their library lending terms, there were many changes taking place in the publishing world. I assumed that I’d be issuing updates at least monthly. Instead, we entered a time of limited change until September 25, when Penguin resumed licensing its ebooks through OverDrive. Since OverDrive is the leading provider of ebooks to public libraries, the lack of access to Penguin titles has been frustrating to say the least.”…
AL: E-Content, Sept. 27; OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Sept. 25
Penguin drops side-loading requirement 
Matt Enis writes: “In a quick reversal of its position on Kindle lending, Penguin on September 26 loosened the terms of its renewed agreement with OverDrive. The publisher has agreed to allow library patrons to download ebook titles wirelessly via OverDrive’s ‘Get for Kindle’ function instead of, as initially announced, first downloading titles to a computer, and then side-loading those titles to their Kindle classic or Paperwhite using a USB cord.”…
Library Journal: The Digital Shift, Sept. 27
Scribd offers ebook subscription service 
Scribd announced October 2 it is offering its own subscription service for ebooks. The service will cost $8.99 a month for an unlimited amount of books and will have many HarperCollins titles. Scribd is a six-year-old document-sharing company. Laura Hazard Owen writes: “Overall, the service is a strong contender in this emerging space, and if you’re trying to choose between Scribd and Oyster, you’ll have to consider selection, design, and platform.” Nate Hoffelder notes a potential problem with content availability….
TeleRead, Oct. 1; GigaOM, Oct. 1; The Digital Reader, Oct. 1
OverDrive releases library circulation APIs 
Adam Sockel writes: “Last year we introduced the initial set of OverDrive APIs that enable approved vendors to deeply integrate OverDrive-hosted catalogs and nearly one million digital titles with their apps and platforms. These included the ability to access catalog metadata, see the availability of a title, and search the library’s collection. The all-new Circulation APIs are now available on the OverDrive Developer Portal.”…
OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Oct. 1
Source: American Libraries Direct, 10/2/2013
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Virtual Town Hall on Ebooks

Are you interested in the possibility of eBook lending?

Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

On October 23rd, American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling will be hosting an interactive, online session from 11:00-12:00 pm (CT) to enter an eBook library lending discussion.

Panelists include:

  • Barbara Stripling, ALA president;
  • Maureen Sullivan, ALA immediate past president;
  • Keith Michael Fiels, ALA executive director;
  • Sari Feldman, executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and DCWG co-chair;
  • Robert Wolven, associate university librarian of Columbia University and DCWG co-chair;
  • Alan S. Inouye, director of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy.

To learn more about this discussion and for registration materials click here.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Can Libraries Afford Ebooks Given Current Pricing Models?

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Image by Welkyn Software Solutions. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Welkyn Software Solutions. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

If you follow ebook news, you have no doubt heard of James LaRue, Executive Director of the Douglas County Libraries (Colorado). Patrons often want the New York Times list of bestsellers in ebook format. But, it is doubtful that they understand how dearly libraries are paying for some of these titles. Ebook prices are set by the publisher, and current distributor business models depend on pocketing more than half of the sale. In true form, Larue challenges librarians as to why they are willing to go along with this model. Prepare to be astounded by the following chart that compares the library pricing of an ebook as opposed to consumer pricing. What does this mean for the future of libraries if readers increasingly ask for ebook formats?

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

ALA Conference: CMLE Scholarship Recipient

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient David Wuolu, Collection Development Librarian, Clemens Library & Alcuin Library, College of St. Benedict’s/St. John’s University.

David Wuolu,
David Wuolu, Collection Development Librarian

Thanks to the CMLE scholarship, I was able to recently attend the 2013 American Library Association annual conference in Chicago, IL.  In fulfillment of my obligations for this funding, I am submitting this essay.

What were your favorite takeaways or new things learned?

I was hoping to learn more about best practices with ebooks for academic libraries.  There were several poster sessions which dealt with ebooks, and demand-driven acquisition experiences, and I was able to visit with the librarians who had implemented these programs.  I also attended the Collection Development of Academic Libraries meeting which included two vendors (JSTOR and EBL) and a librarian who shared their thoughts on the next significant ebook development, which included issues important to ebook suppliers such as preservation policy, discoverability, harnessing big data, evolution of lending models, as well as the ongoing issues important to librarians such as ILL, multi-user access, and DRM-free ebooks.   Interestingly, JSTOR indicated a little wiggle room on fair use, which is a change from their earlier stance on this topic.

Another session I attended was the Digital Preservation Interest Group.    Aside from learning how complicated digital preservation is, and how some institutions working with preservation of digital content, I did take away a model that has been developed by the Library of Congress, NDSA program, which is called the NDSA levels of preservation, a simple 1-page guide used to describe digital preservation (http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsa/activities/levels.html).

As a result of attending this event, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?

I learned more about ebooks, and more about digital preservation, both of which can be applied to my work.  The future is becoming increasingly digital, and increasingly clearer to me as a result of attending this meeting.  Still, there were a few interesting comments in the collection development meeting about an increase in print usage coinciding with ebooks, so I don’t think we’re done with print quite yet.