I never thought I’d see the day!  Great news Amazon and OverDrive. News release from Kindle here. From a Publishers Weekly article:  Amazon announced this morning that Kindle owners will soon be able to borrow books from public libraries. Working with vendor OverDrive, which manages e-book lending for the vast majority of public libraries, the [...]

[Read more →]

Today I attended a discussion at Bowling Green State University on the future of academic reading.  It was a day long session involving a panel discussion of students and faculty, along with Amy Pawlowski, the Web Applications Manager at the Cleveland Public Library and myself as respondents. The panelists were mostly upper-class and graduate students, [...]

[Read more →]

From an OverDrive press release:  Libraries and schools worldwide were at the forefront of the eBook boom in 2010, as patrons and students downloaded millions of digital books for iPhone®, Android™, Sony® Reader, NOOK™, and personal computers. More than one million new users signed on to access free eBooks, audiobooks, and more from ‘Virtual Branch’ [...]

[Read more →]

OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) has released apps for iPhone® and Android™ that enable users to download library eBooks and audiobooks directly to their devices for the first time. The free apps include a “Get Books” feature that guides users to their local library’s digital catalog of best-selling and new release titles, allowing them to easily browse, check [...]

[Read more →]

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with Ken Petri, the Director of the Web Accessibility Center at The Ohio State University, about the accessibility of eBooks and eBook readers.  Ken is incredibly knowledgeable on the topic and offered a great deal of information during the interview.  It’s about 25 minutes in length, so I [...]

[Read more →]

Received this email from Ingram today:  Ingram’s VitalSource launches Bookshelf® application for  iPad™, iPhone®, and iPod Touch®—now offers three ways to access content LA VERGNE, TN – Vital Source Technologies, Inc., the leading e-textbook solution provider for publishers, academic institutions and students today announced the availability of the VitalSource Bookshelf application for Apple’s iPad™, iPhone®, [...]

[Read more →]

Last years law suit against 4 Universities piloting the Kindle reader as a eTextbook solution has done a lot to guarantee the accessibility of textbooks to all students. Ingram Content Group, working with the American Foundation for the Blind consulting group (AFB Consulting), announced a new disability release for their eTextbook platform – VitalSource.  The [...]

[Read more →]

Wow, great news for those of us with Apple devices.  OverDrive announced today the availability of their free app – OverDrive Media Console for iPhone – in the iTunes store.  Users can now download audiobooks (from their local library or a retail site) via wireless network directly to their Apple device.  I am very excited [...]

[Read more →]

Just received a press release from EB and Paragon Software Group announcing the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia 2010 app for the iPhone and iPod touch.  Congratulations! While not the full Encyclopaedia Britannica,  the app contains  “a version of one of the world’s most trusted encyclopedias with accompanying images and maps, fast article search and look-up functions, [...]

[Read more →]

Congratulations to Lisa Carlucci Thomas, Digital Services Librarian at Southern Connecticut State University (formerly at Yale), for being honored as an LJ 2010 Mover and Shaker.  Lisa was tagged “Digital Diva” in her award, following her study on “Mobile Access to eBooks at Yale.”  Lisa’s study indicated that of the devices tested (SONY Reader PRS-500, [...]

[Read more →]