By Patrick Hogan | A few miles from the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado, Douglas County Libraries is blazing trails in e-books in libraries. As Director James LaRue described in a Public Libraries article, the library staff, while happy with OverDrive’s solution at the in the early days of e-books, now question the feasibility getting e-books only through an aggregator platform because of costs, licensing terms, and other factors.
ALA TechSource Blog
By Patrick Hogan | OverDrive, Inc. (www.overdrive.com) announced today it has acquired Australian eBook company Booki.sh (http://booki.sh). Booki.sh is the developer of a cloud-based platform for distributing, selling and reading popular eBooks from anywhere and on any device with a modern web browser. Booki.sh founders and principals Joseph Pearson, Virginia Murdoch and Peter Haasz will join OverDrive from their existing offices in Melbourne to expand the global distributor’s publishing, library and school initiatives.
By Marshall Breeding | Innovative Interfaces, one of the veteran companies of the library automation industry, has been one of the major hold-outs in the wave of private equity investments that has reshaped the library automation industry over the last six years. The company has remained under the sole ownership of its co-founder Jerry Kline. That position now changes as a pair of private equity firms, Huntsman Gay Global Capital and JMI Equity have made strategic investments in Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
By Kate Sheehan | I've been fortunate enough to attend two publishing conferences recently. Digital Book World and Tools of Change both focus on ebooks and the publishing industry, which, like libraries, is experiencing tupheaval as ebooks grow in popularity. As a side note, that growth may be slowing - The Book Industry Study Group and Bowker found that ebook sales for the end of 2011 (but pre-holidays) were growing, but not in the exponential pattern we've come to expect. Both Kelly Gallagher of RR Bowker and Len Vlahos of BISG were quick to point out that we don't know what this change in growth pattern means - it could be nothing, a temporary blip, or it could signal a shift in the ebook market.
By Jason Griffey | Way back at the first of February I posted a short blog entry about Storybundle, a new ebook distribution platform/model being spearheaded by Jason Chen (formerly of Gizmodo and Lifehacker). Over the next couple of weeks we traded a few emails, resulting in the following interview about his thoughts on how Storybundle will work and whether or not it might be something that Libraries should watch.
By Daniel A. Freeman | We just wrapped up Buffy Hamilton’s workshop Taking Embedded Librarianship to the Next Level. The readings, resources and slides for the event are listed below. Have further questions or comments? Whether you participated in the event or not, feel free to chime in via the comments area below!
By Patrick Hogan | Last week's O'Reilly Tools of Change (TOC) Conference hosted a publishing start-up showcase. Seeking a range of tools from 60 submissions, O'Reilly chose the following 11 companies to display at the showcase, including a library vendor. Amidst the variety was cluster of technology in self-publishing. As technology entrepreneurs zero in on publishing industry, writers look to be the big winners, no longer so dependent on the traditional path to getting published. Do you see tools your library could use?
By Patrick Hogan | Tuesday, at O'Reilly's Tools of Change Conference (TOC), Praveen Madan spoke about the Kepler 2020 project. The project's goal is reinvent the bookstore and build a future for Kepler's Book's, a Menlo Park bookstore with a 50-year history and deep roots in the Silicon Valley community. The project is sharing its story, strategy, and perhaps its software to create a new business model that other independent bookstores might follow. Staff and friends of public libraries may want to watch the project to inform their thinking about libraries.
By Patrick Hogan | O'Reilly Media is hosting the TOC Conference in New York City starting today and running through Wednesday. The conference brings together publishing and technology professionals to explore new strategies, platforms, and business models. ALA TechSource has selected a few presentations of interest to the library community to stream from our website. Follow the link for a description of the presentations and tune in tomorrow and Wednesday. All times are Eastern.