eBook Updates, pricing and trends

Based on an annual study from Follett and School Library Journal, we can see that the percent of school libraries offering eBooks has plateaued, although the size of the collections continues to grow:

Perhaps this is due to the disparity in pricing and availability, which while better than a few years ago, is still an issue for libraries.  Based on work pioneered at Douglas County Public Library, we looked at comparable prices for this year’s Abe Lincoln award nominees:

The above chart basically shows that a librarian could buy roughly 20 (21) hardcovers OR 40 paperbacks OR 18 ebooks for the same money ($320 to $325). That amount is roughly double the cost that an individual would spend on Amazon ($172) to buy the same eBooks or, again, roughly double the cost of buying one paperback copy ($161) of each title.  Prices are as of June 2016.  Perhaps we will see some movement in the future as more consolidations occur.  This past spring, Follett purchased Baker & Taylor and last year, OverDrive announced it was being acquired.

Do you have an interesting way to promote eBooks?  Let us know.  Interested in etextbooks use of digital content in schools? Check out this joint report from ASCD and OverDrive, published in April 2016.

More Digital Content Than Ever

is being archived for subscription databases and available from universities for free.

Gale, and TheGreenInterview.com, to enhance the content of GREENR, Gale’s electronic resource offering new content in the area of sustainable development, the environment, energy and natural resources. 

According to ResourceShelf:  "TheGreenInterview.com will be providing Gale with video interviews covering a range of issues connected to our planet, humans on Earth, damage to our ecosystem, alternative development ideas, sustainability and more. Transcripts and audio (MP3) files of the video content and biographies of the interviewees in each video segment will also be available."  This is a welcome addition because up to now I have not been particularly impressed with the currency of articles in the GREENR database.  

In addition to Library of Congress National Jukebox  (historical recordings from the Library of Congress, mentioned in a previous post)  we also have access to Digital Images of Yale’s Cultural Collections. Yale is the first Ivy League university to make its collections accessible to the public, and already more than 250,000 images are available: Discover Yale Digital Commons.

"As works in these collections become digitized, the museums and libraries will make those images that are in the public domain freely accessible. In a departure from established convention, no license will be required for the transmission of the images and no limitations will be imposed on their use. The result is that scholars, artists, students, and citizens the world over will be able to use these collections for study, publication, teaching and inspiration."

Open access and freely accessible in the public domain appears to respect the idea that information "wants to be free".  


At the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University has a call to librarians and other academics to come up with ideas for how to create The Digital Public Library of America.  They welcome submissions and ideas and expect this project to become a reality in a couple of years. Librarian Linda Straube shared this video of  John Palfrey on YouTube sharing the concepts of the steering committee of DPLA "Beta Sprint". See also the DPLA Wiki which shares readings on how a repository of human knowledge might be created for use across cultures.