Testing a new platform for “Books for all”: By Elizabeth Wood Sometimes it’s important to step back and remember that Worldreader is about reading. We are not ‘the e-reader NGO’, nor ‘the Kindle guys’. We are simply ‘the folks who are transforming reading.’ Our core mission is to enable folks all over the developing world to read.  We do that by using new technology to deliver thousands of books to those who previously had few to no books. For the past two years, we have been doing this using 3G enabled e-readers (the amazing Amazon Kindle) in schools in Ghana and Kenya.  We have...

The name makes me think of uranium and radiation, the proprietary DRM issue remains, and Apple isn’t a supporter. But the Readium initiative, announced this morning, is a still big step forward for the International Digital Publishing Forum, the main e-book industry trade group. A demo reader mixes ePub 3 e-book format, XML, HTML5 standards and the WebKit rendering engine used in many Web browsers. Aided by this “reference implementation, developers will more easily be able to create ePub reading software with “support for video, audio, interactivity, vertical writing and other global language capabilities, improved accessibility, MathML, and styling and layout enhancements” (link added). Demos already exist as extensions for Chromium...

From the press release: Berlin, 13 February 2012, www.corporate.txtr.com – Foyles, Britain’s world renowned bookseller, launches a brand new eBook service together with eReading apps on Android and iOS, under the name‘Foyles powered by txtr’. txtr is a leading eReading solutions provider on numerous branded smartphones, tablets and PCs. Through its partnership with Foyles, txtr adds more focus on the UK eBook market in 2012. The eBook shop is operated jointly by the marketing and merchandising teams of txtr and Foyles. Sam Husain, Foyles’ Chief Executive, comments: “At Foyles we are very excited by the developments in reading and bookselling afforded by...

he international policy of Amazon is mysterious. They ship Kindle Touch to over 170 countries, but they don’t want to sell it to their major markets. They also sell Kindle books to 170 countries, but they successfully prevent authors from those countries to publish in their own language. I self-published via Amazon’s KDP a few books. Two of them in Polish. Tonight an email arrived from KDP, saying that one of the books has been removed: As part of our efforts to provide the best experience possible for customers in the Kindle store, we are taking this opportunity to notify you that your...

So, Penguin has now dropped out of the Overdrive library service. Yikes! It strikes me that all of these 'legacy' publishers who are panicking because Amazon or Apple or Google or Indie Everyman are going to crush them to bits are taking an entirely wrong approach here. What if, instead of clinging to the way things were done before, they actually innovated? What if, instead of locking things down ever further and driving people away from their goods, they opened things up and brought them in? I think an ebook rental service, run in conjunction with the existing Overdrive architecture, would...

Why did Penguin terminate their contract with OverDrive? Here’s what we’ve learned from an INFOdocket source. We are told that publisher contracts with OverDrive allow them to store and serve library end users ebooks. That’s it. OverDrive does NOT have permission to first authorize the lending of an ebook to a library end user and then forward the request for actual distribution and tracking of the title to Amazon.com or ANY other retailer. Similarly, in most situations*, publishers do not permit retailers to lend ebooks directly to end users. Finally, in November and again yesterday we noted an LJ article (November 23, 2011) that...

With yet another publisher announcing today that it’s dropping out of the library eBook market, I decided to put up a new sign in our library in a few different spots to raise public awareness.  The sign lists which publishers won’t do eBook business with libraries and provides contact information for the publishers in question.  I’ve posted about the issue on our library blog and pushed it out on our Twitter account and Facebook page.  And here’s a direct link to a downloadable copy of my sign on Google Docs. It’s not fancy, but feel free to take it, modify it, use...

New Features Auto-adding: Add an option to check for duplicates when auto adding. Content server: Export a second record via mDNS that points to the full OPDS feed in addition to the one pointing to the Stanza feed. The new record is of type _calibre._tcp. Allow specifying a set of categories that are not partitioned even if they contain a large number of items in the Tag Browser. Preference is available under Look & Feel->Tag Browser Allow setting a URL prefix for the content server that run embedded in the calibre GUI as well. Allow output of identifiers data in CSV/XML/BiBTeX catalogs Driver for Motorola Droid...

UPDATE: Penguin Group Terminating Its Contract with OverDrive (by Michael Kelley, LJ) “In a stunning development, Penguin Group has extricated itself from its contract with OverDrive, the primary supplier of ebooks to public libraries. ‘Looking ahead, we are continuing to talk about our future plans for ebook and digital audiobook availability for library lending with a number of partners providing these services,’ said Erica Glass, in a prepared statement. Penguin is negotiating a “continuance agreement” with OverDrive, which will allow libraries that have Penguin ebooks in their catalog to continue to have access to those titles.” From an E-Mail to OverDrive Partners Starting tomorrow (February 10, 2012),...

From the description on the British App Store: The draft score of Handel's oratorio "Messiah" is one of the greatest musical treasures in the British Library.  Handel established and developed the English oratorio as a musical genre, and "Messiah" is its best known and best loved example.  As only fragmentary sketches survive, this manuscript is the source for Handel's first known ideas for the work; it also includes many of his alterations for later performances.  It illuminates his working methods and includes performance directions.  It's detailed dating reveals the composer's characteristic speed of composition: the work was begun on 22 Augurst...

From The Bookseller: Nearly a quarter of all books sold on Hive since October have been digital, Gardners has revealed. The book wholesaler launched the consumer-facing site in June, linking with 350 independent booksellers and giving them the much called-for ability to compete with larger, chain retailers in selling e-books. In September, the company announced it would be the first UK platform with the capability to sell Google e-books and now Hive says nearly 25% of all sales through Hive have been digital. However, the company would not give exact sales figures and Google declined to give an update on its digital book...

The video was recorded during the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) Fall 2011 Membership Meeting. Title: “Preservation Status of e-Resources: A Potential Crisis in Electronic Journal Preservation” Direct to Video (59 minutes) Direct to Slides (.ppt) Presenters: Oya Y. Rieger Associate University Librarian Digital Scholarship Services Cornell University Robert Wolven Associate University Librarian Bibliographic Services and Collection Development Columbia University E-journals have replaced the majority of titles formerly produced in paper format. Academic libraries are increasingly dependent on commercially produced, born-digital content that is purchased or licensed. The purpose of this presentation is to share the findings of a 2CUL study that assesses the role of LOCKSS and PORTICO in preserving each institution’s...