E-books in Libraries: A Briefing Document developed in preparation for a Workshop on E-Lending in Libraries
This briefing document was developed with helpful inputs from industry
stakeholders and other practitioners in preparation for the “E-Books in
Libraries” workshop, hosted on February 24, 2012, by the Berkman Center
for Internet & Society with the generous support of the Charles H.
Revson Foundation.
The “E-Books in Libraries” workshop was convened as part of a broader
effort to explore current issues associated with digital publishing
business models and access to digitally-published materials in
libraries. Workshop attendees, including representatives from leading
publishers, libraries, academia, and other industry experts, were
invited to identify key challenges, share experiences, and prioritize
areas for action. This document, which contains some updates reflecting
new developments following the February workshop (up to June 2012), is
intended to build on and continue that discussion with a broader
audience, and encourage the development of next steps and concrete
solutions.
Beginning with a brief overview of the history and the current state of
the e-book publishing market, the document traces the structure of the
licensing practices and business models used by distributors to make
e-books available in libraries, and identifies select challenges facing
libraries and publishers. Where possible, we have made an effort to
incorporate stakeholder perspectives and real-world examples to connect
analysis to the actual questions, issues, and challenges that arise in
practice. The document concludes with a number of informative resources – including news articles, whitepapers, stakeholder and trade association reports, and other online sources – that might inform future
conversations, investigations, pilot projects, and best practices in
this space.
The topics presented in this briefing come at an important moment for
the publishing industry, and in particular the e-book market, both of
which have been rapidly evolving over the last several years. These
changes are, in turn, affecting the models used by publishers’
horizontal and vertical business partners, such as libraries and
distributors. While we have endeavored to provide accurate information
within this document, the dynamic flux of the industry can make it
difficult to accurately capture a comprehensive snapshot of its current
state. For instance, during the course of our initial research we found
that some information published as recently as September 2011 had
already become outdated; other salient information is not made publicly
available for competitive reasons. Please note that we consider this to
be a working document, which we hope to develop further as information
changes and the issues evolve.
In light of these limitations, we welcome feedback and suggestions.
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