(8 Jun 2022) The cost of digital content has of course been much in the library news for a decade, and longer. Ten years ago bestselling titles might often not be available in digital form to libraries, with some larger publishers not opening their catalogs. Titles that were available could, however, often be licensed perpetually at…
(13 May 2022) Readers have to wait over a year to borrow electronic books from public libraries as demand surged during their prolonged closure during the fifth Covid-19 wave, according to the Ombudsman yesterday. Overall use of seven e-book collections in public libraries rose significantly by more than 250 percent, from about 960,000 times in…
(10 Feb 2022) Today sees the publication of the NISO Recommended Practice, E-Book Bibliographic Metadata Requirements in the Sale, Publication, Discovery, Delivery, and Preservation Supply Chain (NISO RP-29-2022). This document, prepared by the E-Book Metadata Working Group and approved by the NISO Information Creation & Curation Topic Committee, incorporates feedback received from publishers, retailers, libraries, service providers, preservation agencies, and…
(18 Jan 2022) States that want to give libraries a better deal on e-books are watching a publishers’ suit against Maryland, the first state to set terms for how digital books are distributed for public borrowing. Library associations, including the American Library Association and several state groups, have been pushing for state laws to…
(18 Nov 2021) A Democratic senator launched an investigation into how publishers license ebooks to libraries on Thursday, calling on nine major ebook aggregators to provide details on the licensing agreements they make with libraries. “Many libraries face financial and practical challenges in making e-books available to their patrons, which jeopardizes their ability to…
(15 Sep 2021) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. Adopted by all 193 UN Member States in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, these 17 Goals frame a 15-year plan to transform…
(30 Aug 2021) An open version (CC BY-NC 4.0) of Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Knowledge, edited by Merrilee Proffitt (OCLC Research) is now available for free download via the OCLC website. The book was first published by ALA Editions in 2018. The vision statement of the Wikimedia Foundation states, “Imagine a world in which every single…
(30 Jun 2021) A new Open Access pilot scheme from Cambridge University Press will turn conventional publishing models on their head by making academic monographs that sell the most copies available online for free. The initiative, called Flip it Open, will see selected books published and sold as normal, primarily through library collections for universities. But…
(16 Jun 2021) For many years, IFLA has monitored the emergence of issues around copyright and digital lending, in particular the ability of libraries to purchase and lend eBooks under reasonable licensing terms, as well as to give access to their collections remotely. While digital tools have created new practical possibilities to support education, research…
(24 Mar 2021) Jisc, the not for profit for research and education, is launching a toolkit that will help new university presses to find sustainable ways to publish open access. Funder policies surrounding open access have led to a revival in university presses in the UK and overseas. A 2017 report found that in the past five years,…