Alexandria 2.0

Article from Wired.com regarding the creation of "Alexandria 2.0", that is, the Internet Archive project. Brewster Kahle explains how he copies rare and out of print books for preservation.

Lead paragraph:

Here’s the problem with libraries. They catch on fire really easily. As such, they were the prized targets of the invading hordes of antiquity – the model collections of knowledge of their times, whose only fault was their inherent flammability. They were one-man, one-torch jobs. But the hordes didn’t prize the library only for how powerfully it burned. Back in those days, if you wanted to kill a culture, you killed its library. All it took was one chucklehead with a flaming stick to annihilate thousands of years of accumulated knowledge. And it happened often. (cont)

Libraries and digital futures

Libraries face a digital future
Lessons from overseas suggest there is more to digital libraries than e-books
Gill Hitchcock
Guardian Professional,
Monday 14 November 2011
03.00 EST

and

Future librariesChange, options and how to get there
Learning from the Future Libraries Programme Phase 1
Local Government Group and Museums Libraries & Archives

The article and the report are from a UK library perspective, but raise interesting questions reguarding libraries and digital formats.

eReader news

Some news today about eReaders

• OverDrive and Amazon launch Kindle® compatibility with Library eBooks
• Public and school libraries to reach millions of new readers with industry-leading eBook reader
• One in 6 Americans owns an eReader
• Full data - Harris Interactive
• Amazon announces 11,000 ebooks available from public libraries
• Amazon press release

Federal Rules eBooks Release

The Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School will offer a free downloadable version of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence. The eBooks are compatible with IPad, IPhones, Nook and other software device that supports .epub files.

UNT Digital Collections

I know I've mentioned these before - but the University of North Texas Libraries have some pretty good digital collections. One of these collections consists of reports from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which otherwise can be difficult to find. There are reports dating back to the 1970's.

To see all of the offerings, go to their collection home page at http://digital.library.unt.edu/.

Friday Fun

The secret is revealed! J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website will be a platform for selling all seven Harry Potter books in ebook format. Read all about it in this Ars Technica article.

The National Academies Press Makes All PDF Books Free to Download

Below is an abbreviation of the full press release that can be found at this link:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=06022011

"As of today all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press will be downloadable to anyone free of charge. This includes a current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by the Press. The mission of the National Academies Press (NAP) -- publisher for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council -- is to disseminate the institutions' content as widely as possible while maintaining financial sustainability. To that end, NAP began offering free content online in 1994. Before today’s announcement, all PDFs were free to download in developing countries, and 65 percent of them were available for free to any user."

"Based on the performance of NAP’s current free PDFs, projections suggest that this change will enhance dissemination of PDF reports from about 700,000 downloads per year to more than 3 million by 2013."

"Printed books will continue to be available for purchase through the NAP website and traditional channels. The free PDFs are available exclusively from the NAP’s website, http://www.nap.edu/, and remain subject to copyright laws. PDF versions exist for the vast majority of NAP books. Exceptions include some books that were published before the advent of PDFs; books from the Joseph Henry Press imprint; and in cases where contractually prohibited, such as reference books in the Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals series."