Friday, August 28, 2009
Libraries, are you feeling the love?
As was reported earlier, Sony and Overdrive have partnered to promote library e-book collections. Sony seems to be embracing the library world as its competitive edge. Why would one want to buy a Kindle and then have to buy content when you can buy a Sony and borrow much content for free?
It’s unlikely that Amazon will be interested in integrating the Kindle with library e-book collections, since the purpose of the Kindle is to act as a mobile storefront.
It’s been interesting to read blog comments related to the announcement. There’s a lot of love out there for libraries, and, it seems, a lot of potential customers who are interested in the remote use of library e-collections.
A large part of the integration of Sony and Overdrive is the “Library Finder” feature linked from the Sony Ebook Store. I’m rather disappointed in the execution of the service. Instead of being able to search for a title and see which libraries have it, which you can do from the Overdrive site, you first have to search for a local library and then search for a title.
I’m hoping for a Sony integration partner on the academic market side. There are academic e-book vendors who support the epub format who would be a natural fit for Sony integration. In the library where I work we’re planning to circulate Sony Readers to support our EBook Library collection.
The Sony press conference was held at New York Public Library. I’m still trying to figure out if the partnership with NYPL goes beyond the use of the Overdrive collection. If any NSR readers have some insight please post a comment.
Overdrive and Sony to cross-market
From an Overdrive press release:
(Cleveland, OH) - August 12, 2009 - OverDrive (www.overdrive.com), the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and audiobooks to libraries, announced today a joint marketing agreement with Sony Electronics, Inc., developer of the Sony Reader Digital Book (www.sony.com/reader). OverDrive and Sony will cross-market OverDrive’s library network and the Reader, the leading eBook device that is compatible with industry standard eBook formats offered by libraries. (more…)
OCLC announce agreements in Europe to extend coverage in WorldCat
(August 25, 2009). OCLC today announced four new agreements have been signed with European national libraries and affiliated institutions which significantly increase the coverage of records in WorldCat and the visibility of libraries in WorldCat.org within the Europe and Middle East regions. These latest agreements in Denmark, Switzerland, Slovenia and Israel show that libraries from around the globe are responding very positively to the opportunity that WorldCat offers to streamline workflows and increase visibility in WorldCat.org, a global destination web site for libraries, which surfaces to a worldwide community the collections they hold and the services they deliver.
Digital Textbooks: 3 Reasons Students Aren’t Ready
Josh Catone at Mashable suggests 3 Reasons Students Aren’t Ready for Digital Textbooks. And from his observations it seems that digital textbooks have some major hurdles to overcome before they’re ready for mass adoption such as:
- Cost Savings Must be Greater
- A Standard Format is Needed
- Questions of Ownership
Sony’s E-Reader vs. Kindle
Jared Newman at PCWorld takes a look at the two hottest e-book readers on the market right now with Sony’s E-Reader vs. Kindle: 5 Reasons Amazon Should Worry. The article discusses five features that may make Sony’s E-Reader the device of choice for e-book fans including:
- More Choice
- Touch
- It’s Cheaper
- Open Format
- Cool Features
Top 10 Most Usable Content Management Systems
Glen Stansberry at Nettuts+ writes about the Top 10 Most Usable Content Management Systems. The author lists each CMS along with a discussion of its best and most “usable” features. Based on my own experience, I heartily agree with the first two list entries as I have found both WordPress and Drupal to be particularly user-friendly as well as powerful content management systems.
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