During the just concluded ALA 2011 Conference in New Orleans the ALA OITP (Office of Information Technology Policy) eBook Task Force talked with senior HarperCollins staff*** about a number of important issues. The discussion came about after the HarperCollins team suggested that both groups get together during the OITP eBook Task Force Business Meeting. What follows is a report about what was discussed during the meeting. It was written by Peter Brantley and shared with INFOdocket. Brantley is a member of the OITP task force. He’s also the Director of the Bookserver Project for the Internet Archive and a former executive director of the Digital...

Here’s a handy list of storytelling applications for iOS, Android and other mobile platforms. Note-taking and writing apps were covered already, but storytelling is not only about creating stories, but also sharing them. What’s even more important, technology allows to tell stories instantly – you can think of them, create and share on one device and in one go. The greatest thing about such instant stories is that they are catching the mood and emotions you would find extremely difficult to restore afterwards. Every time you reach for your smartphone, think of it as a way to tell engaging stories and...

Thanks to all the loyal readers of TeleRead.com. We are going to pick two of you to each win a $25 gift card to the Kobo.com store! No purchase or registration necessary! Two winners will be chosen on Friday, July 8, 2011. With a revolutionary new touch screen experience, Kobo makes eReading easier than ever andmakes it even more accessible to people around the world. Created for readers by readers, the beautiful new design provides the ultimate in reading comfort and is the most portable eReader– thin and light, it travels easily anywhere. Kobo has a catalog of over 2.3 million books,...

That's the title of an article at Chris Walters' Booksprung blog.  Here's a snippet: I finally updated my installation of Calibre the other day and started playing around with the built-in plugin manager under Preferences, and I found out that the Kindle Collections Manager plugin has a secret power: it can let you add a new font to your Kindle without requiring any sort of hack or jailbreak. If you want a different font but don’t want to mess with all the other risks/delights that come with hacking your Kindle, this is a nice clean alternative. To use it, you’ll need the most...

From the press release: German online retailer Libri.de expands its offering of international eBooks increasing its catalog up to 450,000 eBooks available in its shop. Next to German bestselling titles international customers can now find and download eBooks in English, French, Spanish and other languages in the online stores of http://www.libri.de and 1,000 affiliated brick and mortar book stores. Libri.de is strengthening the growing market of foreign language books also in its eBook category by offering international bestselling downloads from top authors such as Dan Brown, Simon Beckett or Donna Leon as well as classics. Students and professionals benefit from a wide range of professional and technical eBooks by...

From the press release: Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, is inviting customers to experience what the critics and millions of customers are raving about: the company’s award-winning, bestselling line of NOOK reading devices. Beginning July 1, bring any eReader into a Barnes & Noble bookstore to compare and upgrade to a NOOK device and receive an instant NOOK Book collection -- 30 free digital titles valued at $315. The limited-time NOOK upgrade program is offered with purchase of any popular NOOK device including the All-New NOOK and NOOK Color Reader’s Tablet™. Beginning Friday, while supplies last, customers...

That's the title of an article in The Bookseller this morning: E-books are set to "blow apart" cover design, with designers looking to create "identity packages" that can work for both print and digital editions, The Bookseller Cover Design Conference 2011 was told. Marketing strategist Damian Horner, chairing the recent event held at the British Library, said publishers' current approach—of replicating a book's printed cover online with review quotes and design flourishes—does not work in the digital sales environment. Horner recommended that publishers should instead consider a cover's digital impact, dropping text entirely in favour of a distinctive "icon" that can transfer to social...

Today is the day that the new in-app payment rules are supposed to go into effect.  According to the rules app makers have to remove any in-appp purchase buttons that link to external stores.   Thus Amazon's and B&N's "buy" buttons should be removed and all purchases should be routed through Apples own store, which will take a 30% cut. No info or comments from either big ebook player yet.  I wonder what's going to happen....

All the reviews of the new webOS-powered TouchPad that I've seen have been pretty mediocre - bemoaning the tablet's weight, buggy software and lack of applications.  However, TechRepublic has a different take, so I thought I'd report it here: Hewlett-Packard has finally delivered its webOS tablet, the TouchPad. While it may not be an entertainment powerhouse like the iPad, there’s a lot to like for business professionals. On one hand, the HP TouchPad faces an uphill battle in the tablet market because the Apple iPad has been such a hit with the public and continues to gain momentum. On the other hand,...

Holly at the Unofficial Blog Kindle says: Stephen Peters, a longtime popular culture writer, has a book called Kindle Culture that I think is worth reading.  It is a quick read, and has a lighthearted, easygoing writing style.  It is interesting to read how the Kindle has changed lives.  I was particularly intrigued with the story about how one woman was able to read for the first time in 10 years.  The Kindle has done wonders for people with print disabilities, and is much more cost effective than standard assistive technology.  I can attest that as a visually impaired Kindle user, the font...

On Sunday I met with Matt Barnes, Vice President of Marketing, for ebrary. Matt and I discussed ebrary’s new patron driven acquisition model, searching ebrary content through the ProQuest interface, and the results of an ebrary mobility study on the need for downloadable ebooks.  Matt shares a few of the results, which are not yet published.   For more information on ebrary, visit www.ebrary.com or contact sales@ebrary.comMatt’s interview and over 40 others are available on the NSR interviews page....

Looking forward to the webcast I’m giving next Thursday (June 30th; sign-up info) on digital book-making tools. There’s quite a land grab happening right now, as software manufacturers—new and old—try to become the tool of choice for authors, small publishers, and illustrators. I still haven’t finalized exactly which software I’ll be talking about, but now seemed like a good time to share a selection of my research notes....