Recent Comments
- Amazon’s book city #1, Alexandria, VA, may cut library hours: Time for a digital-era national endowment to help ease U.S. libraries’ financial woes? | The Travelin' Librarian { [...] Read the full article @ LibraryCity.org. [...] }
- Promising DPLA debut—but please don’t confuse special-collection items, exhibits and APIs with a full-fledged ‘public library’ demo | The Travelin' Librarian { [...] Read the full article @ librarycity.org. [...] }
- Tom Peters { Excellent review of the nascent D(P)LA e-resource. I agree with all your major points. Tis a pity that the usual suspects (Twain, Fitzgerald, Cather, et... } – Apr 19, 11:28 AM
- Online la Digital Public Library of America, che vuole superare Google e Wikipedia | Tropico del Libro { [...] di questo ambizioso progetto. Non sono mancate, in questo senso, le polemiche di chi ha vivamente esortato i creatori della DPLA a preoccuparsi anche... }
- David Rothman { Thanks for such a prompt and classy reply, Dan---you're indeed giving #dpla its due! I truly truly hope that the DPLA succeeds, and meanwhile the... } – Mar 31, 11:58 AM
- Dan Cohen { Thanks for the great and helpful post, David. To be clear on #2, I'm very interested (as I know others are within DPLA) and plan... } – Mar 31, 10:40 AM
- David Rothman { Hi, Don. Nice to see such enthusiasm from a veteran school librarian. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, agree with your priorities, and will have more to... } – Mar 26, 4:57 AM
- Don Smith { If I might, I would like to propose a statement of purpose for the National Digital Library. Often times during my forty year career as... } – Mar 25, 8:54 PM
- David Rothman { Hey, Ralph, here's a belated but heartfelt reply to one of your points. Around here we love both libraries and librarians and are interested in... } – Mar 13, 9:58 AM
- Some news from LibraryLand | not so quiet { [...] this opinion piece, David Rothman makes a case for folks in the Warren Buffet and Bill Gates income bracket to support [...] }
- Bibliotecas públicas sin libros en EE.UU. ¿A la de tres? | Bibliotecas 2029 { [...] comunicada, tuvo una contestación pública demoledora. No sólo los profesionales de todo el país se escandalizaron por este proyecto sino que los propios usuarios... }
- A National Digital Library Endowment { [...] An interesting concept from blogger David Rothman, founder of TeleRead. He suggests that those who have signed The Giving Pledge (though he doesn’t mention... }
- David Rothman { Hi, Robert. Some quick replies… 1. I envision a variety of business models in use, but if nothing else, libraries could buy multiple e-copies (or... } – Feb 20, 2:05 PM
- Robert Nagle { Generally, a great proposal, but here are some practical issues which pop up in my mind. First, if everything is centralized, when I put a... } – Feb 20, 12:56 PM
- ATG Article of the Week: Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer | Against-the-Grain.com { [...] Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer, is an thought provoking article by David Rothman posted in TeleRead a few... }
- Reading about eReading this week 2/18/2013 « Allegany County Library System Director's Notes { [...] A national digital library endowment: How America’s billionaires could be modern Carnegies for rea... [...] }
- Reading about eReading this week 1/28/2013 « Allegany County Library System Director's Notes { [...] Dwarf-sized public e-libraries vs. abundance: Listen to veteran publishing guru Brian O’Leary and ... [...] }
- David Rothman { You're welcome, Anthony. Keep us posted if you can Amy-ize your new Fire without installing a full-strength version of Android. David } – Jan 19, 5:46 PM
- Anthony { Thanks Dave! } – Jan 19, 4:47 PM
- David Rothman { Hi, Anthony. Some possibilities: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/where-to-get-more-help-with-your-kindle.html Happy Kindling, David } – Jan 19, 4:00 AM
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Recent Posts
- On Jillian the Tiger Cub, a national digital library endowment, and the power of the American ego
- E-book usability news: Adjustable line spacing now on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and perhaps other Fire HDs—although I still can’t narrow the spaces sufficiently
- Voice Dream e-reading app: Stellar for text to speech—and promising as a general reader
- Amazon’s book city #1 avoids cuts in library hours but still might reduce its library book budget—already below the U.S. per-capita average
- Cut in Alexandria, VA, library hours not needed, says city staff memo. Also: Councilman Justin Wilson endorses LibraryCity’s national digital library endowment plan
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- Harvard's Robert Darnton
- Library Journal
- LISNews
- Mike Shatzkin
- NDPL discussion forum
- Save Our Rockford Library
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- TeleRead
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Tag Archives: Rockford
Amazon – IPG battle shows need for libraries to buy OverDrive and control their own destinies
More than 4,400 e-books—from the Independent Publishers Group—have vanished from the Amazon site. Why? Pressured by Wall Street, Amazon wants to jack up its profits at IPG’s expense while still keeping e-book prices low enough to entice people to buy Kindles. If Amazon succeeds with IPG, then Jeff Bezos and friends will move on to [...]
LibraryCity
Also tagged Amazon, digital divide, Digital Public Library of America, DPLA, Illinois, Independent Publishers Group. IPG, Jeff Bezos, librarianship, libraries, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Occupy Wall Street, OverDrive, OWS, poverty, Robert Rubin, Rockford library, Rockford Library system, Wall Street
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Penguin ditches OverDrive’s public library side: Another reason for libraries to take over the distributor and gain more clout
Of interest from TeleRead: Penguin continues its anti-ebook-library crusade—restricts downloads to usb-only. One of the giants of the book trade has unwittingly reinforced LibraryCity‘s argument that public libraries or a nonprofit should buy the OverDrive distribution service. Penguin said it would stop selling new books to OverDrive‘s library side. In another OverDrive-related development, former librarian Andrew [...]
Smug about OverDrive? A whopping 39 percent of U.S. public libraries don’t offer downloadable e-books. Does D.C. care? E-textbooks are no substitute, Mr. President
Hundreds and hundreds of visitors have read LibraryCity‘s proposal for the sale of OverDrive to public libraries or a related nonprofit. The idea drew favorable reaction from Thad McIlroy, a prominent publishing consultant, and it even made an ALA newsletter and Reddit. Still not convinced of the possibilities? Well, consider that 39 percent of U.S. public libraries [...]
ALA, eBooks, LibraryCity
Also tagged librarians, librarianship, OverDrive, Rockford library, Thad McIlroy
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An e-smart family literacy approach for Rockford, Illinois? Back to the future?
Could children be better readers if we went “back to the future,” even in the era of e-books and calls for massive budget calls? I’ll share thoughts. But first let’s hear from Andy Strong, a children’s librarian at the library in Rockford, Illinois, during the 1990s: “When the library cut its hours, it drastically reduced storytime [...]
LibraryCity, Uncategorized
Also tagged Andrew Strong, Andy Strong, Digital Public Library of America, DPLA, elementary schools, family literacy, IL, Illinois, k-12, librarians, librarianship, LibraryCity, LibraryCity.org, public librarians, public libraries, Register Star, Rockford library, Rockford public library, teachers
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Prominent publishing expert Thad McIlroy intrigued by LibraryCity’s OverDrive proposal: “Time to put the ‘public’ back in ‘Public Libraries’”
“Yes, it’s time to put the ‘public’ back in ‘Public Libraries.” So says Thad McIlroy, a prominent publishing consultant, about LibraryCity’s proposal for OverDrive to sell itself to America’s public libraries directly or to a nonprofit serving their interests. McIlroy has worked for clients ranging from Apple and Adobe to Thompson Learning (now Cengage) and [...]
Should OverDrive sell itself to America’s public libraries? Any foundation angels care to help?
Update: See positive reaction from Thad McIlroy, a prominent publishing consultant. OverDrive—the leading supplier of popular e-books for America’s public libraries—should sell itself to its library customers or at least think about it if they are willing and able to buy. In Rockford, Illinois, a much-needed controversy rages about the local library system’s spending almost [...]
eBooks, LibraryCity
Also tagged Adobe, ALA, CEO, COSLA, e-book, ebook, ebooks, IL, Illinois, librarians, librarianship, literacy, literacy in the United States, literacy initiative, Loree Potash, OverDrive, Steve Potash
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Coming: More ideas on mitigating Rockford’s e-book mess and other cities’
Update: The follow-up was Should OverDrive sell itself to America’s public libraries? I’m not done yet. Rockford, Illinois, is a depressing but oh-so-useful example of America’s e-book crisis—and of the risk that it could pit the well-off and the cash-strapped against each other. Later today or tomorrow I’ll offer detailed ideas far beyond yesterday’s. On [...]
E-book strategies for Rockford, Illinois: LibraryCity’s guest column in local daily
The Rockford (Illinois) Register Star, the local daily, has just published LibraryCity’s guest column: How to Make Rockford an E-Book Leader. Rockford’s library planners are right that e-books deserve a higher percentage of their budget than now. But the city should take care to digitize properly before going on a major e-book spree. How about [...]
eBooks, LibraryCity
Also tagged digital divide, Digital Public Library of America, DPLA, e-book, e-books, IL, Illinois, librarianship, libraries, OverDrive, poverty
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Low-income people vs. e-books? Illinois controversy shows why the Harvard-based e-library initiative must not downplay nonelite’s needs
Welcome, Rockford visitors! Also check out Novel helped young thief turn into judge. – D.R. The e-book debate in Rockford, Illinois, was bound to happen somewhere. And, as a way of spotlighting the need for a national digital library system for all Americans, not just the affluent, I’m glad it did. The local NAACP and [...]