ProQuest is on a roll. After acquiring ebrary in 2011, it has now signed an agreement to acquire Ebook Library (EBL). The ebrary acquisition was timed to occur on the eve of the ALA midwinter meeting, and this has been duplicated with the EBL acquisition. EBL offers around 300,000 ebooks from more than 500 publishers. Kari Paulson, EBL's President, will be coming with the … [Read more...] about ProQuest Will Acquire eBook Library
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Kobo Appoints Former Apple Sales Director to Oversee European Expansion
More Kobo news today. The company has appointed Jean-Marc Dupuis as the new Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. According to the press release, Dupuis was instrumental in Apple's doubling its revenue in Europe. He will be based in Paris. Kobo says that it now has 20% of the global e-reader market with users in 190 countries and localized e-reading services in … [Read more...] about Kobo Appoints Former Apple Sales Director to Oversee European Expansion
University Libraries in Nova Scotia Test eBook Lending Plan
A consortium of 10 academic libraries in Nova Scotia, Novanet, has negotiated a deal with publishers to allow the sharing of ebooks among libraries as freely as they share print books. The libraries are Atlantic School of Theology, Cape Breton University, Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Nova Scotia Community College, … [Read more...] about University Libraries in Nova Scotia Test eBook Lending Plan
PDF Is Still Alive for eBooks
One of the oldest formats, PDF, is not so common any more since Amazon, Nook, and Kobo all use either their own formats or EPUB. To see if it's still alive at all, I poked around the major public domain sites and found the following: Project Gutenberg: I can't find any ebooks in PDF format on their site. There may be some, but a random search of 30, or so, books doesn't show … [Read more...] about PDF Is Still Alive for eBooks
Ingram Content Group Adds Random House to MyiLibrary eBook Platform
Ingram will now offer Random House US titles to libraries via its MyiLibrary platform. More that 36,000 titles will be added beginning in February and will be from both the frontlist and the backlist. According to the press release, imprints will include Beacon Press, National Geographic Books, North Atlantic Books, Quirk Books, Smithsonian Books, Soho Press, Wizards of the … [Read more...] about Ingram Content Group Adds Random House to MyiLibrary eBook Platform
Libraries: More Important Than Ever for Discovery
A workshop on libraries and ebooks was held with Skip Dye, VP, Library and Academic Sales, Random House; George Coe, President, Library & Education, Baker-Taylor; Barbara Genco, Manager, Special Projects, Library Journal; Stephanie Anderson, Head of Readers Advisory, Darien Library; and Heather McCormack, Collection Development Manager, 3M Cloud Library. Genco showed … [Read more...] about Libraries: More Important Than Ever for Discovery
The Evolving Author-Publisher Relationship
This was a workshop with Carolyn Pittis, SVP, Publishing of HarperCollins, Nina von Molkte, SVP, Director of Digital Publishing Development, Random House and Jennifer Weltz, VP, Jean Naggar Literary Agency. One major point made by the agent was that some authors are learning how to use and manipulate social media and those who do are treated better by publishers when it … [Read more...] about The Evolving Author-Publisher Relationship
Digital Book World: Looking Back/Looking Forward
This was a seminar with  Chantal Restivo-Alessi, Chief Digital Officer, HarperCollins Publishers, Simon Lipskar, President, Writers House, Michael Cader of Publishers Lunch, and Rebecca Smart CEO, Osprey Group. Concentrating on what to expect in the coming year, all the participants agreed that 2012 was "Act 1" in the reorganization of the publishing industry. How many more … [Read more...] about Digital Book World: Looking Back/Looking Forward
Getting in the Game: Kobo’s Efforts to Help Indies Around the World Reach the eBook Marketplace
Michael Tamblyn, Chief Content Officer, Kobo Inc. discussed Kobo's role in the indie environment. Kobo had a fantastic December as it doubled content sales and device sales were up 150%. After Google left indies, Kobo jumped in with the ABA.  Google had asked retailers to compete online, which is very hard to do, and booksellers are not set up to do this. Kobo felt that they … [Read more...] about Getting in the Game: Kobo’s Efforts to Help Indies Around the World Reach the eBook Marketplace
Digital Book World: The Author’s View of the Industry
The results of this survey were presented by Phil Sexton, the Publisher and Community Leader for Writer's Digest. The company surveyed 5,000 writers, half of whom have self-published books. Authors were divided into self-published, traditional, and hybrid authors. Hybrids are those that have both self-published and used traditional publishers. In looking at the social media … [Read more...] about Digital Book World: The Author’s View of the Industry