E-Books – Page 9 – DigitalKoans

Open Monograph Press, Release 1.0

The Public Knowledge Project has released the Open Monograph Press, Release 1.0.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

OMP is designed to assist university presses, learned societies, and scholar-publishers interested in publishing scholarly books in print-on-demand and multiple electronic formats, whether on an open access or purchase basis. OMP is intended to:

Handle edited volumes, with different authors for each chapter;

Involve editors, authors, reviewers, designers, indexers, and others in book production;

See submission through multiple rounds of both internal and external reviews;

Utilize industry standard ONIX for bookseller metadata requirements (e.g., Amazon);

Create document libraries for submissions, recording contracts, permissions, etc.;

Handle thumbnail covers in Catalog, as well as Spotlight features; and

Enable Series Editors to see books through review to publication.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap |

"Beyond TEI: Returning the Text to the Reader"

Christian Wittern has published "Beyond TEI: Returning the Text to the Reader" in the latest issue of the Journal of the Text Encoding Initiative.

Here's an excerpt:

Much research and effort has been invested in creating a versatile format for digital texts and the TEI is now widely used in many communities. Much less consolidated thought has been spend to publish and distribute digital texts in ways that are most useful to scholars. To remedy this situation, this paper proposes new, additional publication forms for digital texts through distributed version control systems. This will allow publication and maintainence of several different versions of a text. In some respects, this will be similar to publishing a college or paperback edition of the text established in a critical edition. In addition to this, the user of a text published through such a system can subscribe to later changes or corrections of an edition. The architectural model proposed in this paper tries to contribute to a fundamental protocol that could form the base for applications serving the long-term needs of research and scholarship.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap |

eBook Use and Acceptance in an Undergraduate Institution

Springer has released eBook Use and Acceptance in an Undergraduate Institution.

Here's an excerpt :

The survey finds high use of eBooks at Wellesley College, with 70% of the respondents indicating they have used eBooks. Other recent international surveys of eBook use have shown 52-64% of students or faculty responding that they have used eBooks (Figure 10). Within the general U.S. population 21% of adults reported having used eBooks in 2011. Some eBook use by Wellesley students and faculty may be non-academic, leisure reading, but half of Wellesley's eBook users report having used eBooks from the Wellesley College Library's collection.

| Digital Scholarship | Digital Scholarship Publications Overview | Sitemap |

The Thinkpiece "Libraries, eLending, and the Future of Public Access to Digital Content"

IFLA has released The Thinkpiece "Libraries, eLending, and the Future of Public Access to Digital Content".

Here's an excerpt:

In October 2012 IFLA therefore commissioned an independent consultant, Civic Agenda, to prepare a 'thinkpiece' to inform discussion at a meeting of experts from the library and publishing sector. This meeting took place over three days at IFLA Headquarters in The Hague in November 2012. The thinkpiece was the starting point for discussions on desirable characteristics for public access models for library digital content, library user expectations' regarding eBooks, and the relationship between libraries and publishers in the eBook age. During the meeting participants focused on the role of copyright, licensing and legislation in access to digital content like eBooks, as well as reviewing advocacy campaigns and the potential for IFLA as an advocate for library access to eBooks.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 ( paperback and PDF file; over 3,800 entries) | Digital Scholarship |

"The Authors Guild v. Hathitrust: A Way Forward for Digital Access to Neglected Works in Libraries"

James Aaron has self-archived "The Authors Guild v. Hathitrust: A Way Forward for Digital Access to Neglected Works in Libraries" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

This Comment begins by describing the HathiTrust Orphan Works Project and what it renames the neglected works problem. Next, it examines the legality of the project under current copyright law, focusing mainly on fair use under section 107, and concludes that it is unclear whether the project violates copyright law. Finally it analyzes whether this result fits the policy goals of copyright, and because it does not, proposes both legislative and judicial changes to copyright law to make it clear that in the proper circumstances, nonprofit, educational uses of neglected works do not violate copyright law.

| Google Books Bibliography (XHTML website; over 320 entries) | Digital Scholarship |

EBook Business Models: A Scorecard for Public Libraries

ALA's Digital Content and Libraries Working Group has released EBook Business Models: A Scorecard for Public Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

The Digital Content & Libraries Working Group (DCWG) began documenting and describing attributes of various licensing arrangements libraries may have with publishers in the August 2012 report Ebook Business Models for Public Libraries. Now we are pleased to share The Ebook Business Model Scorecard, which more fully examines the variables often seen in ebook license agreements or contracts. At the same time, the variables, when considered as a whole, can help libraries conceptualize licenses holistically instead of fixating on one aspect of a contract in isolation.

| Google Books Bibliography (XHTML website; over 320 entries) | Digital Scholarship |

"Who’s Tracking Your Reading Habits? An E-Book Buyer’s Guide to Privacy, 2012 Edition"

The EFF has released "Who's Tracking Your Reading Habits? An E-Book Buyer's Guide to Privacy, 2012 Edition."

Here's an excerpt:

As we've done since 2009, again we've taken some of the most popular e-book platforms and combed through their privacy policies for answers to common privacy questions that users deserve to know. In many cases, these answers were frustratingly vague and long-winded. In nearly all cases, reading e-books means giving up more privacy than browsing through a physical bookstore or library, or reading a paper book in your own home. Here, we've examined the policies of Google Books, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo, Sony, Overdrive, Indiebound, Internet Archive, and Adobe Content Server for answers to the following questions:

Can they keep track of searches for books?

Can they monitor what you're reading and how you're reading it after purchase and link that information back to you? Can they do that when the e-book is obtained elsewhere?

What compatibility does the device have with books not purchased from an associated eBook store?

Do they keep a record of book purchases? Can they track book purchases or acquisitions made from other sources?

With whom can they share the information collected in non-aggregated form?

Do they have mechanisms for customers to access, correct, or delete the information?

Can they share information outside the company without the customer's consent?

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

Authors Guild et al. v. Google: "Brief of Amici Curiae Academic Authors in Support of Defendant-Appellant and Reversal"

Pamela Samuelson and David R. Hansen have self-archived "Brief of Amici Curiae Academic Authors in Support of Defendant-Appellant and Reversal" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

Summary of argument: Class certification was improperly granted below because the District Court failed to conduct a rigorous analysis of the adequacy of representation factor, as Rule 23(a)(4) requires. The three individual plaintiffs who claim to be class representatives are not academics and do not share the commitment to broad access to knowledge that predominates among academics. . . .

Academic authors desire broad public access to their works such as that which the Google Books project provides. Although the District Court held that the plaintiffs had inadequately represented the interests of academic authors in relation to the proposed settlement, it failed to recognize that pursuit of this litigation would be even more adverse to the interests of academic authors than the proposed settlement was. . . .

In short, a "win" in this case for the class representatives would be a "loss" for academic authors. It is precisely this kind of conflict that courts have long recognized should prevent class certification due to inadequate representation. The District Court failed to adequately address this fundamental conflict in its certification order, though it was well aware of the conflict through submissions and objections received from the settlement fairness hearing through to the hearings on the most recent class certification motions. Because of that failure, the order certifying the class should be reversed

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

DOAB User Needs Analysis—Final Report

The Directory of Open Access Books has released the DOAB User Needs Analysis—Final Report.

Here's an excerpt:

This final evaluation and recommendation report is based on the user experiences, needs, and expectations as they emerged from the qualitative components (survey, workshop and online discussion platform) that were used to conduct the DOAB User Needs Analysis. This final public report, intended for the wider academic and publishing community, aims to advise in the establishment of procedures, criteria and standards concerning the set-up and functioning of the DOAB platform and service and to devise guidelines and recommendations for admissions to DOAB and for its further development, sustainability and implementation.

| Digital Scholarship |

Books at JSTOR Launches

JSTOR has launched Books at JSTOR.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

JSTOR is pleased to announce the launch of its new books program, Books at JSTOR, which brings scholarly monographs from leading university presses and other academic publishers to the JSTOR platform. Books are deeply integrated with the 1,600 current and archival journals on JSTOR. All content is cross-searchable, and books are linked with millions of book reviews and from hundreds of thousands of book citations within the journal literature.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

Digital Copyright: Google Asks Court to Reverse Class Certification Decision in The Authors Guild et al. v. Google Inc.

In a brief, Google has asked the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the class certification decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in The Authors Guild et al. v. Google Inc. case.

Here's the brief.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Copyright: Authors Guild Appeals HathiTrust Ruling

The Authors Guild is appealing the Authors Guild, Inc. et al. v. HathiTrust et al. ruling.

Here's an excerpt from the "LCA Issues Statement on Authors Guild's Appeal of HathiTrust Decision":

We are deeply disappointed by the Authors Guild's decision to appeal Judge Baer's landmark opinion acknowledging the legality, and the extraordinary social value, of the HathiTrust Digital Library. Libraries have a moral and a legal obligation to provide the broadest possible access to knowledge for all of our users, and the HathiTrust and its partners have assembled an invaluable digital resource that will ensure for the first time that library print collections can be made available on equitable terms to our print-disabled users. The database also facilitates preservation and cutting-edge scholarship, all with no harm to authors or publishers. As we predicted, Judge Baer did not look kindly on the Guild's shortsighted and ill-conceived lawsuit, saying, "I cannot imagine a definition of fair use that . . . would require that I terminate this invaluable contribution to the progress of science and cultivation of the arts that at the same time effectuates the ideals espoused by the ADA." If there is an upside to this misguided appeal, it is that the Second Circuit will now have the opportunity to affirm that powerful insight.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

E-books: Developments and Policy Considerations

The OECD has released E-books: Developments and Policy Considerations.

Here's an excerpt:

The essential distinction between permanent and effective ownership of a physical book, and conditional rights of access to the e-book, has, so far, been somewhat obscured by marketing strategies and use of visual images, which tend to present e-books as a superior, but also substitutable, version of the print book product. Given the virtual reality of "traditional books" presented by e-Book platforms, buyers of e-books are likely to confuse their rights (i.e. after purchase) with the property rights model for print books. Users may be surprised to find that they are prevented from doing certain things7 with their e-book, within their private/ personal sphere.

| Reviews of Digital Scholarship Publications | Digital Scholarship |

What Open Access Book Has Had over 11 Million File Requests?

What open access book has had over 11 million file requests? Answer: the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography. As of the end of 2011, it had over 11.9 million file requests.

The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography presents selected English-language articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. The bibliography covers a wide range of topics, such as digital copyright, digital libraries, digital preservation, digital repositories, e-books, e-journals, license agreements, metadata, and open access.

Since initial publication, the digital versions of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography have been freely available. On July 13, 2004, the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography was put under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography was published by the University of Houston Libraries from 10/25/1996 to 10/17/2006 (versions 1 to 64).

Digital Scholarship began publishing the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography with version 65 of the bibliography (11/02/2006).

Over the years, the bibliography has been made available in a variety of formats: HTML, Microsoft Word, paperback, PDF, and XHTML. Currently, 80 HTML/XHTML versions and three paperback/PDF versions have been published (Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2008 Annual Edition, Digital Scholarship 2009, and Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010).

The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography is archived at Digital Scholarship and the Internet Archive. The University of Houston Libraries have an incomplete archive that contains versions 60, 61, and 62.

| Digital Scholarship Overview | Digital Scholarship |

OAPEN-UK HSS Researcher Survey Results

The OAPEN-UK project has released the OAPEN-UK HSS Researcher Survey Results.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Here are some of the highlights:

Only 50% of researchers are aware of OA and only 30% familiar with it.

Around 50% of researchers think it is ok to make a profit from OA publishing as long as that profit goes back into supporting the discipline or making more OA content available — 20% think you can make a profit and use it however you like and 20% think that you can make a profit but only to cover costs.

Almost 80% would prefer the most restrictive Creative Comms licence, but what is interesting is that the responses show that researchers are more concerned about protecting their work than it being used commercially.

60% had read a monograph in the last couple of days â 39% had bought it and 33% had got it via the library

Early career academics are more willing to consider self-publishing than later career researchers.

| Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

"Libraries, Scholars, and Publishers in Digital Journal and Monograph Publishing"

Rowland Lorimer has published "Libraries, Scholars, and Publishers in Digital Journal and Monograph Publishing" in the latest issue of Scholarly and Research Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

In the 1970s, research libraries developed data systems and expertise that, in the 1990s, led to new services such as institutional repositories and journal hosting and, in the 2000s, led to forays into monograph publishing. In contrast, also beginning in the 1970s, university presses found themselves being cast out of their traditional role as providers of research publishing services that created the public record of knowledge and into the marketplace. Continued development of information and communication technology (ICT) in library operations and in research activity stimulated entrepreneurship and scholar/library partnerships with scholar-controlled digital journal publishing. Again in contrast, the market orientation of university presses, combined with a lack of appreciation in the library community for the value added by professional publishers, hampered the extension of collaboration into three-way partnerships among scholars, libraries, and publishing professionals. Recognition of the roles of all parties holds the greatest promise for the evolution of digital scholarly publishing.

| Transforming Scholarly Publishing through Open Access: A Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

"Brief of Digital Humanities and Law Scholars as Amici Curiae in Authors Guild v. Google"

Matthew L. Jockers, Matthew Sag, and Jason Schultz have self-archived "Brief of Digital Humanities and Law Scholars as Amici Curiae in Authors Guild v. Google" in SSRN.

Here's an excerpt:

The brief argues that, just as copyright law has long recognized the distinction between protection for an author's original expression (e.g., the narrative prose describing the plot) and the public's right to access the facts and ideas contained within that expression (e.g., a list of characters or the places they visit), the law must also recognize the distinction between copying books for expressive purposes (e.g., reading) and nonexpressive purposes, such as extracting metadata and conducting macroanalyses. We amici urge the court to follow established precedent with respect to Internet search engines, software reverse engineering, and plagiarism detection software and to hold that the digitization of books for text-mining purposes is a form of incidental or intermediate copying to be regarded as fair use as long as the end product is also nonexpressive or otherwise non-infringing.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

E-Books And Libraries: An Economic Perspective

ALA has released E-Books And Libraries: An Economic Perspective.

Here's an excerpt:

This paper provides a preliminary economic analysis of how publishers provide digital content to libraries, focusing mainly on the value that libraries place on access to e-books and how that is affected by the various restrictions that publishers place on access and use. However, because publishers are just starting to adapt to the new environment, and appear uncertain as to how to adapt, we consider not only the behavior of publishers that we currently observe in the marketplace but also possible "models" of the library-publisher relationship that may come into existence in the future.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog | Digital Scholarship |

Google and Publishers Settle Seven-Year-Old Copyright Lawsuit over Google Library Project

Google and the Association of American Publishers have settled the copyright lawsuit over Google Library Project. The related Authors Guild lawsuit has not been settled.

Here's an excerpt from the Google press release:

The agreement settles a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Google on October 19, 2005 by five AAP member publishers. As the settlement is between the parties to the litigation, the court is not required to approve its terms.

The settlement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright-holders. US publishers can choose to make available or choose to remove their books and journals digitized by Google for its Library Project. Those deciding not to remove their works will have the option to receive a digital copy for their use.

Apart from the settlement, US publishers can continue to make individual agreements with Google for use of their other digitally-scanned works. . . .

Google Books allows users to browse up to 20% of books and then purchase digital versions through Google Play. Under the agreement, books scanned by Google in the Library Project can now be included by publishers.

DOJ Settlement with Sacramento Public Library about Alleged ADA Violations in Its E-Reader Loan Program

The Justice Department and the National Federation of the Blind have reached a settlement with the Sacramento Public Library about alleged ADA violations in its e-reader loan program.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Justice Department announced today that it and the National Federation of the Blind have reached a settlement with the Sacramento Public Library Authority in Sacramento, Calif., to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agreement resolves allegations that the library violated the ADA by using inaccessible Barnes & Noble NOOK electronic reader devices in a patron lending program.

Under the settlement agreement, the library will not acquire any additional e-readers for patron use that exclude persons who are blind or others with disabilities who need accessible features such as text-to-speech functions or the ability to access menus through audio or tactile options. The library has also agreed to acquire at least 18 e-readers that are accessible to persons with disabilities. The settlement agreement also requires the library to train its staff on the requirements of the ADA.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

Ebook Acquisition and Lending Briefing: Public, Academic and Research Libraries

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals has released Ebook Acquisition and Lending Briefing: Public, Academic and Research Libraries .

Here's an excerpt:

This paper presents some of the legal, strategic and technical problems that arise from the addition of scholarly and trade ebooks to library collections, together with possible solutions. Some of the most common business models are briefly set out. The latest data on ebook usage is also included.

Also of interest: ALA's recent Ebook Business Models for Public Libraries.

| Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 | Digital Scholarship |

"It Was Never a Universal Library: Three Years of the Google Book Settlement"

Walt Crawford has published "It Was Never a Universal Library: Three Years of the Google Book Settlement" in Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large.

Here's an excerpt:

Remember the Google Books settlement? It was going to settle a four-year-old pair of lawsuits (four years old then, eight years old now) against Google (by the Association of American Publishers, AAP, and the Authors Guild, AG) asserting that Google was infringing on copyright through its two-line snippets from in-copyright books scanned in the Google Library Project—and by the scanning itself. Later, a third group representing media photographers also sued Google for the same actions. . . .

This is a long set of notes and comments (cites & insights). It strikes me that the topic and complexity deserve that length—but note that I'm offering much briefer excerpts and comments on most items than I normally would in this sort of roundup.

After two sets of general notes and overviews (one before the settlement was rejected, one after) I'm breaking the discussion down by topics rather than chronologically.

| Google Books Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Libraries, Patrons, and E-books

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released Libraries, Patrons, and E-books .

Here's an excerpt:

Some 12% of Americans ages 16 and older who read e-books say they have borrowed an e-book from a library in the past year. . . .

But most in the broader public, not just e-book readers, are generally not aware they can borrow e-books from libraries. We asked all those ages 16 and older if they know whether they can borrow e-books from their library and 62% said they did not know if their library offered that service. Some 22% say they know that their library does lend out e-books, and 14% say they know their library does not lend out e-books.

| Digital Scholarship's Digital/Print Books | Digital Scholarship |

Digital Book Publishing in the AAUP Community Survey Report: Spring 2012

The Association of American University Presses has released Digital Book Publishing in the AAUP Community Survey Report: Spring 2012

Here's an excerpt:

In addition to gathering data about e-book revenue, digital marketing and discovery strategies, and format and channel availability, we also asked respondents to share their opinions about major concerns or hurdles they are facing, and to tell us more about their presses' e-book goals.

| Digital Scholarship |

EPUB for Archival Preservation

The Koninklijke Bibliotheek has released EPUB for Archival Preservation.

Here's an excerpt:

Over the last few years, the EPUB format has become increasingly popular in the consumer market. A number of publishers have indicated their wish to use EPUB for supplying their electronic publications to the KB. In response to this, the KB's Departments of Collection and Collection Care requested an initial study to investigate the suitability of the format for archival preservation. The main questions were:

What are the main characteristics of EPUB?

What functionality does EPUB provide, and is this sufficient for representing e.g. content with sophisticated layout and typography requirements?

How well is the EPUB supported by software tools that are used in (pre-)ingest workflows?

How suitable is EPUB for archival preservation? What are the main risks?

| Digital Curation Bibliography: Preservation and Stewardship of Scholarly Works | Digital Scholarship |