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iVerse, a digital comics distributor, is debuting a library version of its ComicsPlus app, the company announced at ALA, during the inaugural reception for the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Prize for Libraries. The app is the brainchild of Josh Elder, president and founder of the non-profit Reading with Pictures, who will serve as service manager. [...]
For ebooks, “true collection development is going to have to wait…until we have more access, if not all access to everything that’s being published,” Anne Silvers Lee, chief of the materials management division of the Free Library of Philadelphia, said during a Saturday panel discussion at the American Library Association’s annual conference in Anaheim this weekend.
In response to feedback from librarians and their patrons, digital content distributor OverDrive will soon roll out several “next generation” features that will make ebooks easier to access and catalog, and will make audiobooks easier to sample and download, according to Steve Potash, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland-based company. “We are going live with…one new partner and one new service to automate and reduce the time and cost for MARC records,” Potash explained during a June 14 meeting with LJ and SLJ staff.
Freegal has made it easier for library patrons to download their weekly allotment of MP3 files with the launch of new apps for Apple and Android devices, available for free at Apple’s iTunes store and at the the Google Play store. Similar to many ebook platforms, the app allows users to search for their library via zip code, and then enter their library card and PIN number to download music.
3M Library Systems will have representatives discussing new partnerships with INscribe Digital, Smashwords, The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group and the National Book Network (NBN) at next week’s Book Expo America conference in New York, the company announced on May 31. Together, these new partnerships will increase the ebook system’s total list of offerings by more than 100,000, effectively doubling its collection to more than 200,000 titles from more than 300 publishers.
Ebook distributor OverDrive has announced plans to introduce “OverDrive Read,” a new ebook platform that will enable readers to use standard web browsers to read ebooks on computers and mobile devices without installing any additional software or activating a dedicated device.
The American Library Association has partnered with mobile phone marketing and outreach provider Mobile Commons to launch a new text message alert and advocacy service for librarians. Each month, subscribers will receive an estimated 2 to 3 text message action alerts from ALA’s Office of Government Relations. The messages will give subscribers talking points on a specific, timely issue, and then offer the option of automatically making a toll-free call to the offices of their legislators.
When it comes to the latest technology, some schools are more equal than others.
OverDrive released its first “Big Data” report at the London Book Fair, a snapshot of the library ebook platform’s March traffic. In that single month, more than 5 million visitors viewed 146 million pages in 12.6 million visits to OverDrive’s digital catalog, the company reported. On average, more than 408,000 visitors each day viewed 11.6 [...]
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