Statewide programs for ebook “ownership” are emerging in California, Kansas, Arizona, and Massachusetts, aiming for direct deals with publishers in some cases, and long-term preservation of local content in others.
Swets Launches Open Access Payment Management Service
By on July 24, 2013
Global information services company Swets this month launched a new service to help academic libraries pay and manage article processing charges (APC) on an institutional scale. The move comes in response to a sharp increase in fee-based open access publishing in the United Kingdom.
AcademicPub Course Packs to Add Library Licensing
By on June 24, 2013
AcademicPub launched “Off The Shelf,” a new component of its Custom College Plus course pack publishing solution that will help institutions maximize the value of their existing licensing arrangements with journals, databases, and other content providers.
Uncommonly Open: The New Digital Commons Network
By on June 19, 2013
As the new portal to content produced and stored using bepress’s widely used Digital Commons publishing and institutional repository platform, the Digital Commons Network helps users search hundreds of thousands of open access articles and other content.
Springer Responds to Ebook Growth with Program for Colleges and Small Universities
By on June 13, 2013
In response to growing demand for ebook content, Springer has begun offering colleges and small universities complete collections of its ebook titles by copyright year. Pricing is based on the size of the institution, and the ebooks are sold DRM-free, under a perpetual-license model that allows unlimited simultaneous use, representatives from the publisher told LJ.
Hachette To Donate Audiobooks to National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
By on May 30, 2013
Hachette Book Group on May 29 announced plans to provide unabridged audiobook recordings for free to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress (LOC). Select backlist and new titles, including new releases, will be available through NLS’s Talking Books program by the end of 2013
OverDrive’s Big Library Read Boosts Checkouts, Sales
By on May 28, 2013
The Four Corners of the Sky, the 2009 Michael Malone novel promoted during OverDrive’s Big Library Read ebook initiative, was checked out almost 24,000 times from May 15 through May 23, according to preliminary data provided by OverDrive and publisher Sourcebooks. The title’s position on Amazon’s Sales Rank charts also rose dramatically during the promotion’s first nine days, moving up more than 50,000 spots from 67,198 to 16,798.
Califa Launches Enki, a Lending Platform for Direct Ebook Distribution
By on May 20, 2013
The Califa Library Group and Contra Costa County Library (CCCL) today officially announced the beta launch of Enki Library, a new ebook platform designed to host and lend library-managed ebooks using the Douglas County model. Named after the Sumerian god of mischief, creativity, and intelligence, Enki went live at CCCL and the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) on May 6, and will soon serve multiple libraries in California, beginning with members of the Bay Area Library and Information System (BALIS) consortium.
BiblioBoard Library Grows With New Modules, Subscription Service
By on May 20, 2013
This spring, BiblioLabs, the Charleston, SC–based developer of the free multimedia anthology production platform BiblioBoard Creator, began offering a subscription service that will allow users to download and view anthologies created by libraries and other third parties.
PLOS Launches New Labs Division to Develop Publishing and Software Prototypes
By on May 14, 2013
The Public Library of Science (PLOS) last week launched PLOS Labs, a new division that will develop software prototypes and coordinate open-source development projects aimed at generating “disruptive ideas and products for scientific communication.”
