HaithiTrust is a coalition of university libraries that have pooled their resources in order to enable faculty and students to access copies of scanned books. Access used to be restricted...Continue reading
Category: Libraries
Library of Congress Expands Its Collection of Open Access eBooks
The Library of Congress published a post this past week highlighting their growing collection of open access ebooks. We are excited to share that anyone anywhere can now access a...Continue reading
PRH “Discounts” Library eBook Prices, But the New Prices Are Virtually Identical to the Old
I’m sure you read this past week that Penguin Random House is discounting its library ebook prices, but did you notice that none of the coverage actually mentions how much...Continue reading
Macmillan Reverts Library eBook Licensing Terms in Response to COVID-19
The US trade publisher Macmillan just announced a pricing change in response to the current epidemic. Macmillan sent librarians an email today, informing them that Macmillan’s contract terms will revert...Continue reading
Getting to the Bottom of the “Amazon Said Libraries Hurt eBook Sales” Rumor
Who wants to help me chase down a rumor and see if there’s nay truth to it? For the last 8 months or so everyone in publishing (except for me)...Continue reading
Library Extension Turns Amazon.com Into a Branch of Your Local Library
A reader has tipped me to a Chrome extension which lets users browse Amazon.com and see if a book or ebook is available at their local library. It’s called Library...Continue reading
Rakuten Sells Overdrive to Private Investment Firm
I do not know why they chose to announce this on Christmas eve, but yesterday Rakuten announced that it was selling Overdrive to KKR. KKR, a leading global investment firm, today...Continue reading
Macmillan Can’t Adapt to the Market, So It’s Forcing Customers to Adapt to it
Macmillan CEO John Sargent is back in the news this week with yet another attempt at defending Macmillan’s new policy of windowing library ebooks. This time, he’s shown us just...Continue reading
Libraries are Boycotting Macmillan eBooks
While some libraries are telling patrons that Macmillan’s new restrictions are why its ebooks are not available, others are simply opting not to buy any Macmillan ebooks at all. The...Continue reading
Libraries Aren’t Pulling Any Punches When Explaining Publisher-Imposed Delays to Patrons
Macmillan’s new restrictions on library ebook sales went into effect on Friday, and OverDrive was ready. Library patrons who reserve an ebook through the OverDrive Libby app are now being...Continue reading
John Sargent’s Math Just Doesn’t Add Up
Today is the 30th of October. In two days Macmillan will enact its new policy embargoing ebook sales to libraries, a policy which is so unpopular that John Sargent has...Continue reading
Sometimes Amazon is More Evil Than the Major Publishers
When it comes to ebooks, it is easy for a digital and indie author proponent to take the side of Amazon against the major publishers. After all, the former wants...Continue reading
The Whole “Library eBooks Kill Retail eBook Sales” Idea Makes No Sense
I was working on a blog post this morning on Scholastic ebooks being in OverDrive when I got to thinking about the current uproar over library ebooks. It seems a...Continue reading
Feedbook, Aldiko Bought in Bankruptcy Sale for 230,000 Euros
Here’s a painful story to write about what was once a very interesting ebook startup. The French Canadian ebook distributor De Marque announced on Wednesday that it had acquired the...Continue reading
Biblioteca: Amazon Is To Blame for Library eBook Woes
It is a truism in today’s publishing industry that every problem can be blamed on Amazon. It doesn’t matter if Amazon is not even remotely connected to the issue or...Continue reading
