Related

AHC Library enables students to access digital course reserves from any device, TLC Migrates to Oracle Cloud, and ProQuest Launches a new text and data mining visualization interface.

Library distributor Baker & Taylor announced on October 28 that it would be returning to the academic market as a full-service vendor.

On October 12, a group of partners from different corners of the book world launched Book the Vote, a website devoted to combating disinformation and increasing voter turnout this election season. Penguin Random House (PRH), together with freedom of expression nonprofit PEN America, voter participation nonprofit When We All Vote, and literary apparel company Out of Print (owned by PRH), brings a variety of content—videos from PRH authors, relevant titles for all ages, voter registration information, and resources to increase voter engagement and general understanding of civic topics.

With most museums still closed, digital exhibits offer opportunities to consider outbreaks past and present from a safe distance.

On July 27, the Internet Archive (IA) responded to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House by filing a brief in the U.S. Southern District of New York that denies all charges of willful infringement.

ValChoice, an independent data analytics company focused on the U.S. insurance industry, is offering public and academic libraries permanent, unlimited access to online calculators, insurance company ratings, tutorials and “how-to” videos, worksheets, and other tools designed to help users understand how insurance—such as car and home insurance—is priced, and how to decide on policies based on their age, deductibles, coverage limits, and other factors.

In partnership with 10 state libraries, BiblioLabs has announced that more than 4,000 digital comics, graphic novels, and children’s materials will be available for free, unlimited simultaneous use through August 31. In addition, the library partners will be participating in a new Virtual Library Comic Convention scheduled to be held on July 30.

Online meetings have become ubiquitous for many of us. Once our library started offering Virtual Meeting Rooms to the public via Zoom, we immediately began fielding questions on how to best structure online events. Since how an event is structured has such a large impact on its success, we wanted to share some best practices we’ve learned.

The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers not only resulted in protests throughout the country, it also forced many non-Black Americans to finally grapple with the realization that Black lives are systemically devalued. To help readers learn to recognize and combat systemic racism, several institutions and organizations are making resources readily available.

As the coronavirus makes internet access even more crucial for schooling, many jobs, and applying for unemployment, library staff have been working on creative solutions to bring access to thousands who would otherwise be without, moving beyond Wi-Fi in parking lots and cultivating external partnerships.

As public libraries do more and more in times of crisis to fill gaps in our social safety net, it is time to rethink how publishers and content providers relate and do business with public libraries and their customers. How can those relationships be retooled and reimagined to provide outcomes that are more beneficial for all?

Well organized and easy to search, it features a great breadth and depth of content from highly regarded contributors; high schoolers and general consumers of science information will be comfortable using this database.

This outstanding one-stop gateway is invaluable, enabling users to find books, journals, videos, audios, dissertations, and more without having to switch platforms. Despite the overwhelming amount of content, this offering is intuitive.

With most library buildings temporarily closed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, some libraries are combining the need for meeting space with the shift to digital service delivery.

Demand for popular ebooks, digital audiobooks, comics, music, and streaming video has spiked as library branches close and patrons are asked to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Macmillan yesterday announced that it would discontinue its embargo period, which had prohibited libraries from purchasing ebook licenses for newly published titles for eight weeks.

Nearly four months after Macmillan enacted its 60-day embargo on library ebooks, the state of digital collections is still a subject of intense interest in the field. This played out at the Public Library Association (PLA) conference, held in Nashville, TN, on 25–29, when the panel “Building the Case for #eBooksForAll” saw attendance of close to 300 conferencegoers.

The Panorama Project—a library and publishing industry initiative that aims to quantify the impact that libraries have on book discovery, author brand development, and publisher sales—in February released its 2019 annual report and previewed two initiatives for 2020.

Public libraries are using new vendor solutions to enhance local schools’ ebook and audiobook collections, creating a new generation of library users.

An international team of Medievalists has released a free android and iOS app of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, featuring the digitized Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript and an authentic 45-minute dramatic reading of the General Prologue.

In a candid and occasionally contentious “Ask Me Anything” session on Saturday, January 25 at the 2020 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Macmillan CEO John Sargent discussed the publisher’s two-month embargo period for library ebooks, which went into effect on November 1.

Global investment firm KKR on December 24 announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire ebook provider OverDrive from Japanese online retailer Rakuten.

Kevin Sayar, previously at ProQuest, was named the new CEO of streaming video platform Kanopy in October. LJ caught up with him at the Charleston Library Conference to hear his thoughts on early days at Kanopy.

The Internet Archive (IA) on November 6 announced that its longtime not-for-profit partner, Better World Libraries, had acquired Better World Books. When libraries and other organizations weed or deaccession titles and donate to Better World Books, selected titles will now be directed into IA’s massive book digitization program.

From more intuitive searching to digital circulation of formerly print-only reference materials and to more materials on marginalized populations, trends in reference reflect library users’ changing needs and expectations.

Digitizing, organizing, and contextualizing primary sources from libraries and archives presents unique challenges and rich opportunities.

On November 1, Macmillan enacted its eight-week embargo period for new library ebook licenses. Many libraries have responded by announcing boycotts, as library organizations continue outreach and advocacy efforts.

Dated October 15, ALA’s report to Congress summarizes challenges facing the library field with regard to ebooks, streaming content, the pricing of digital academic journal subscriptions, anti-competitive behavior in digital textbook publishing, and the publishing industry’s capture and use of student data.

The American Library Association and Public Library Association last month launched a public outreach campaign to mobilize opposition to Macmillan’s new eight-week embargo period for library ebook purchases. The campaign has gained traction online, with an eBooksForAll.org petition demanding the cancellation of the embargo garnering more than 103,000 signatures at press time.

John Rothman, director of the New York Times’ corporate archives and creator of the New York Times Information Bank, an early electronic news repository, died on September 26 of a stroke at the age of 95.

The publishing and book retailing ecosystem is changing rapidly, but public libraries continue to offer substantial opportunities to promote authors and books, and it is vital that publishers recognize libraries as important partners, a panel of library leaders said to an audience of publishing executives during Baker & Taylor’s Publisher Summit 2019, held September 24 in White Plains, NY.

Multnomah County Library, OR, (MCL) launched a partnership with Portland State University’s Ooligan Press to publish and distribute print copies of ebooks written by local authors and selected during MCL’s annual Library Writers Project.

Many libraries have established formal or informal policies to ensure the accessibility of licensed and library-created digital content, but libraries also report uncertainty regarding the responsibilities for auditing and enforcing such policies, according to the “LYRASIS 2019 Accessibility Survey Report.”

I join those from the library community urging a reconsideration of Macmillan’s recent decision to limit libraries to one copy of new ebooks for the first two months of publication. This one size fits all embargo is, at best, an insensitive blockade. Libraries are key engines of book culture, and willing collaborators in the process of finding a path to access.

Last month, the Panorama Project announced that Guy LeCharles Gonzalez would be taking over as Project Lead. The initiative aims to quantify the impact that libraries have on the publishing ecosystem—specifically the digital publishing ecosystem—and Gonzalez brings a new perspective to the project shaped by his 25 year career in the library and publishing fields.

Following a year-long test with its Tor imprint, Macmillan today announced a two-month embargo on sales of new ebook titles to libraries across all of its imprints.

Within the past month, Hachette Book Group replaced its perpetual licensing model for libraries with a two-year ebook and digital audiobook lending model. Simon & Schuster eliminated perpetual licensing on digital audiobooks and replaced it with two-year licensing, announced per-circ pricing for select ebook titles, and made additional changes to its library ebook model. And audiobook provider Blackstone Publishing announced a new 90-day embargo on sales to libraries.

Vendors at this year’s American Library Association annual conference in Washington, DC launched new products, debuted significant updates, and announced winners of grants and awards. Here are a few items that LJ had an opportunity to learn about in person.

Establishing what archivists hope will become a recurring, comprehensive training program, the Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive hosted the first Biennial Audio-Visual Archival Summer School, May 13–26, in collaboration with the International Federation of Film Archives and the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations.

McGraw-Hill and Cengage on May 1 announced an all-stock merger. Paul Gazzollo, senior VP and global general manager of Gale Publishing, a Cengage company, told LJ that libraries can expect "business as usual at Gale"

The Internet Archive is seeking partners for its Open Libraries project. Recent contributors include Trent University, ON, which donated more than 250,000 books last year during the renovation of its Bata Library, and longtime project partner Boston Public Library (BPL), which donated its sound archives for digitization in 2017.

What's better than free? Our resident InfoDocket guru curates 2018's best gratis reference sites and apps.