The library ebook lending market is getting increasingly competitive, and diverse. At this year’s ALA Conference in New Orleans, major new ebook lending schemes, product improvements and new business models have been announced by a variety of players. 3M officially unveiled their comprehensive new ebook lending service offering, and is in the middle of a battle over whether libraries that have been OverDrive customers are contractually allowed to move their already-purchased ebook collections to 3M or other vendors. (Permission is required from the publishers in any event. The Kansas Digital Library Consortium is the system testing this provision, and they […]
Libraries
Briefs: EBSCO and H.W. Wilson to Merge; Mirasol Reader is Dead; and More
EBSCO and H.W. Wilson have merged in a deal that combines the two publishing companies’ operations with the intended goal of improving services for libraries. Wilson president and ceo Harry Regan said in a statement: “EBSCO and H.W. Wilson have been engaged as business partners for a number of years and are now officially operating as one. The result will be a broader and deeper range of products and services for the library reference community with significantly added value. Both companies have had separate, distinctive histories, but have always shared a common commitment for the highest order of customer satisfaction.” […]
3M to Challenge OverDrive In Library eBook Market
3M has announced the ebook library initiative they have quietly been putting together for months, preparing for an official unveiling at ALA in late June, with a beta program in place at 10 libraries by late July or early August and targeting a rollout to “early adopters” in October or November. Library Systems Digital Business Development Leader Tom Mercer says “for people willing to sell ebooks to libraries, we think we bring a lot of value and a good alternative to OverDrive.” All of the beta participants already are OverDrive customers; Mercer says they are “targeting people that are unsatisfied […]
More on Kindle’s Library Lending Program
here are lots of questions about OverDrive’s new, forthcoming ebook lending program with Kindle, and the provider gave at least some answers on their blog. Basically, they will be making available the titles already in the OverDrive catalog in a format that can be read on the Kindle platform as well. (“Your existing collection of downloadable eBooks will be available to Kindle customers.”) So this is not an initiative that, at least for now, expands the selection of ebook titles available to library patrons. Amazon spokesperson Kinley Campbell confirmed to us separately that the program is currently designed to supplement […]
Amazon Will Finally Work with OverDrive to Let Library Patrons “Borrow” Kindle Books
Library ebook lending looks ready to receive a significant lift as Amazon announced this morning that they will finally work with Overdrive to enable Kindle ebooks for library patrons. The program launches at an unspecified date “later this year.” They say the initiative will work on all Kindle devices as well as of their free ereading apps. (Up until now, Amazon’s Kindle files have been incompatible with Overdrive’s system, which relies on EPUB and Adobe Content Server–neither of which is supported by Amazon.) If a library user creates annotations or bookmarks in a borrowed ebook, those will be preserved by […]
HarperCollins to Cap eBook Loan Licenses
As has been widely reported, HarperCollins announced Friday that for new titles released on or after March 7, library ebook vendors will be able to circulate these titles a maximum of 26 times before the license expires and libraries will need to buy a new license. The news first emerged in a letter from OverDrive CEO Steve Potash to member libraries, which at that point said the distributor was “required to accept and accommodate new terms for eBook lending as established by certain publishers.” The letter further noted that the new limits apply to “all eBook vendors or distributors offering […]