Tag Archives: eBooks

Collection of Recent Links: EBooks & Publishers

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The relationship between publishers and libraries on the issue of DRM and eBooks is of particular interest to me. My final paper in my Publishing class was on this very topic, with the issues varied and complex – licensing, pricing & ownership; access, availability & usability; DRM format and the many ways to add restrictions; privacy & confidentiality of user data; consortiums; and, preserving digital content (My reference list was 4 1/2 pages long!). The publishing industry is in such a state of flux right now with daily announcements from the library and publishing camps – its been fascinating to follow.

DRM
Retail DRM Is an Apple. Library DRM Is an Orange. from The Digital Shift
Publishers Starting to Reject e-Book DRM from ReadWriteWeb
Macmillan’s Tor Abandons DRM, Other Publishers Must Follow from Forbes
Note to Publishers: Your Addiction to DRM is Killing You by Matthew Ingram
Something Is Rotten In The State Of E-Book Publishing from FastCompany

Price Fixing
Don’t Believe the eBook Monopoly Ploy from Warren Adler/HuffingtonPost.com
Allegations of EBook Price Fixing Hit Canada from The Globe and Mail
Antitrust Primer for the Publishing Price Fixing Lawsuit from Dear Author

Other
The Sorry State of Digital Books from PCMAG.COM
Why Break/Abandon DRM from Corante: Copyfight

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Mixed Links on Visual/Digital Resources & Services

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The Pottermore Shop is open for purchase of Harry Potter eBooks. Unfortunately it looks like the eBooks are not available in Canada yet but the digital audio books are. The eBooks are DRM free. For more details see this announcement from Publisher’s Weekly. Checkouts from OverDrive start Thursday (?US only).
 
I ran across the Ogilvy Notes from SXSW 2012. These graphics are pretty cool and visually summarize a wide range of topics such as Digital Debauchery with Anthony Bourdain, Surviving Technology and Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think. Communication using visual imagery always seems to have more of an impact and is very effective for technology related topics.
 
Continuing with the visual imagery theme, here is a post investigating the 20 Great Ways Libraries are Using Pinterest.
 
 
The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory Digital Archive goes live with help from Google (PCMage article).  Also, from earlier this month the Albert Einstein Archives Online is now available.
 
A post from SU Information Space commenting on why LIS students should care about the Digital Public Library of America project.
 
A new Timeline tool is now available for everyone that pulls in media from different sources such as YouTube, Twitter, flickr, etc. Here is a post from Mashable highlighting this new tool.
 
Did you know there are over 100 different tools and resources available about infographics and data visualization? Here is the list.
 
 

GTA Technology Tips & Tricks: Commentary on Intellectual Freedom and the Amazon and Overdrive Deal with Libraries

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This week my Tip &Tricks email is a bit different but still relates to technology. Intellectual freedom and privacy are fundamental values in our profession and according to Sarah Houghton (Librarian in Black) the new Amazon/Overdrive deal with libraries pushes the boundaries of these values.
 
I encourage you all to watch the video at the link below/attached and then forward on. I have also included links to less biased commentary – the announcement from Overdrive and a Library Journal article.
 
Fair warning…there is some swearing. Librarian in Black is really pissed!