Good ideas bubble up at the strangest times...too bad we can't blog in the shower!
(10 Posts)
The Department of Justice is suing Apple and a handful of big-name publishers over an e-book pricing scheme. According to PCMag.com, the companies conspired in a price fixing strategy to “restore competition to the [e-book] marketplace.” The article states that Amazon has had a monopoly over e-book sales for some time.
Barbara Genco, Collection Management Editor for Library Journal and Ivy Library Consultant, spoke last week in New York at the O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference — an annual event where publishers, editors, authors, marketing professionals, librarians and booksellers faced with new publishing technologies can come together to learn about advancements, discover opportunities and share new strategies.
If Amazon didn't stir up enough anger among small businesses with its recent endorsement of the online sales tax bill, the Internet superstore unofficially declared war on brick and mortar retailers over the weekend.
We reflected this morning on the popularity of e-readers as gifts for children and teens this holiday season as well as the growing availability of e-books at libraries. But a Sunday article in The New York Times has since caught our attention, reporting that a significant number of parents, many who use e-readers themselves, have drawn a line for their young children—they insist on sticking to hard copies.
The iPad, the new Amazon Fire and the new NOOK Color tablets are all the rage for technophiles with dollars to spare. They run lively kid-friendly Apps, are full color, have responsive touch screens and are WiFi enabled. Educators love them and tout their adoption as tools for enhancing the learning for kids with ADD, Autism spectrum and more. Some parents have embraced them as more ‘educational’ replacements for the now familiar DVD-player-in-the-SUV strategy for long trips “over the river and through the woods.”
We’ve said it over and over again: public libraries may be under pressure to keep up with technology, but the digital age has only brought more traffic through their doors.
In March, we reflected HarperCollins’ new e-book policy for libraries. The publisher capped circulations at 26 to howls of protest from librarians. HarperCollins hasn’t lifted or adjusted its restriction, yet the demand for free e-books continues to increase. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, e-reader ownership is multiplying. One study found the number of Americans who own e-readers jumped from 6 to 12 percent between November 2010 and May 2011. The American Library Association estimates 66 percent of libraries nationwide currently lend e-books to customers. And the demand is growing exponentially!
Some thoughts on last week's piece in the New York Times, "Publisher Limits Shelf Life for Library E-Books":
From ReadWriteWeb: Will Your Local Library Lend E-Books? (Or Can They?)
I asked the reference librarian, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
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