The New York Public Library has formed a partnership with a new educational media venture called The Floating University that will give library patrons access to a series of video lectures being offered as a freshman seminar at Yale, Harvard, and Bard colleges.
NYPL Patrons Get Access to Video Seminars Being Offered at Ivy League Schools
By on November 7, 2011
All 50 State Librarians Vote to Form Alliance With Internet Archive’s Open Library
By on November 4, 2011
All 50 state librarians have decided to throw their weight behind the Internet Archive’s Open Library lending program. The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) voted unanimously during a meeting held October 24-26 in Santa Fe, NM, to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Internet Archive (IA) that will essentially make the state librarian in each state a point person for the Open Library’s lending program.
Amazon Starts Lending Ebooks, but Head of ALA Says Libraries Still Offer Best Value
By on November 3, 2011
Amazon launched today its ebook lending library. Although the new service directly competes for at least one resource that public libraries provide, the executive director of the American Library Association is confident that it does not pose a threat.
Royal Society, Scientific American Make Historical Archives Available Online
By on November 1, 2011
The Royal Society’s historical journal archive, which includes Isaac Newton’s first published paper, and Scientific American’s archive back to 1845, which includes reports of Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, are now available online.
Library With Free Online College Textbooks Makes Debut
By on November 1, 2011
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has launched The Open Course Library, an online repository of ready-to-use digital course modules—including textbooks and syllabi—for 42 of the state’s highest enrolled courses. All program materials are freely shared with a Creative Commons license, and can be adapted and distributed.
Videos from Books in Browsers Conference Posted
By on October 31, 2011
O’Reilly Media has posted videos on its YouTube channel from the presentations made at the recent Books in Browsers Conference in San Francisco.
Major Medical Library Closing Its Doors to Patrons and Moving to Digital Model
By on October 27, 2011
The Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins University has seen the use of its physical building and materials steadily decline, so at the end of this year it is closing its doors to patrons and it will be supporting the community’s information needs almost completely online.
Douglas County Libraries Strikes New Deals With Publishers to Own Ebooks
By on October 27, 2011
Douglas County Libraries in Colorado is expanding its effort to own ebook content outright and manage the digital rights through the library’s own server. The latest publisher deals are with Gale and Lerner Digital.
Video Shows How to Download Ebooks to Sony’s Latest Ereader
By on October 26, 2011
A how-to-video from OverDrive shows how to download ebooks to Sony’s latest ereader.
Grant to Support Development of Stable Governance Structure for arXiv Scientific Repository
By on October 26, 2011
A $60,000 grant from the Simons Foundation to the arXiv scientific repository maintained by Cornell University Library will help the repository move toward a self-sustaining funding model.
