No Shelf Required

Greetings loyal (and first time) readers.  I’ll be in Hong Kong for the next couple of weeks vacationing and visiting libraries.  I hope to share information from my visits here on the NSR blog.  So, for the next couple of weeks please enjoy the brief tangent from eBooks and excuse the lack of eBook posts from me.  Everybody needs a vacation, right!

If you find eBook news you want to share, please email me at sue.polanka@wright.edu

Pilot project successfully completed / Library users in the USA and Canada can order soft cover copies of Springer eBooks

Way to go Springer!  I loved this idea as a pilot, and love it even more now.  This is fantastic news for eBooks and end users.  I’ve never met an end user who didn’t want to push the print button on an eBook.  I wish you much success. sp [Read more →]

From Teleread.org

By Paul Biba

Still another digital deal being done. The more the merrier! From a press release I received from Kirtas:

Kirtas Technologies, the worldwide leader in bound-book digitization, and OCLC, a global online library service and research organization; have signed an agreement that will enable streamlined access to the ever-increasing numbers of digitized books to users of OCLC’s WorldCat and Kirtasbooks.com. [Read more →]

From teleread.org

By Paul Biba

Several new features were announced today on Google’s Inside Book Search:

Embeds and links - This new toolbar option allows you to embed a preview of a full view or partner book in any of your websites or blogs–all with a simple html snippet. … [Read more →]

I’ve bookmarked the following articles relating to eBooks on my delicious account.  These are displayed on the NSR homepage as well.

• Is Amazon Taking Over the Book Business?

• Librarians Fighting Google\’s Book Deal

• McGraw Hill announces digital initiative for elementary and secondary schools

• Free Acess to Over 3,000 e-Books for UK College Students

• Brigham Young Library Tests Kindle as ILL Option for Faculty - 6/10/2009 - Library Journal

Company Adds InfoTools, Highlighting, Notes, and Other Features to QuickView, Offers New Bookshelf Functionality

June 15, 2009 – Palo Alto, CA, USA – This week, ebrary®, a leading provider of digital content products and technologies, is shipping a number of powerful new features that make it quicker and easier to discover, use, and manage information online.  [Read more →]

Hotdog, someone has started a much needed plan to get eBooks part of the ILL program.  According to a 6/10/09 LJ article, BYU Library has a pilot program wth 3 Kindles.  They are  circulating these kindles with a variety of very new titles, too new for ILL.  Verbal permission was given from Amazon, nothing in writing.  Highly recommended to speak with Amazon before you delve into loaning out Kindles.  Check out the article for more details.

According to Jeff Bezos in a WIRED article, color eBooks are “multiple years” away.  The article continues with facts and figures on eBook readers and a comparison chart of four color E-reader displays -  E Ink, Kent Displays, Pixel Qi, and Qualcomm.

July 10, 2009 | 12:30pm - 4:00pm | Hyatt Regency Chicago
@ ALA Annual Conference

The Book Industry Study Group will host a program the Friday before the ALA Conference in Chicago.  You need not be registered for ALA to attend this program, but obviously it’s encouraged. The program, “The Changing Standards Landscape: Creative Solutions to Your Information Problems” will focus on standards, business models, and workflow issues with eBooks. [Read more →]

Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin: Rethinking the Reference Collection
ALA PUBLISHING
McCormick Place West W-179
Monday, July 13, 2009, 10:30 – 12:00

[Read more →]