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CONTENTS: Electronic books | E-book technology | Eprints software available
The eLibrary - Open Ebooks Directory claims to be a "directory of most ebooks, sold in the Internet". The site includes book reviews and offers potential reviewers to submit their own comments and reviews.
Ebooks readers can:
Ebooks authors and publishers can:
As at February 2007 the total number of ebooks in the directory is 6,637. 14/02/07
According to a new report from IDC, demand for digital books will build quickly over the next several years. From US$9 million in 2000, US consumer digital book revenue may leap to US$ 414 million in 2004. According to Malcolm Maclachlan, senior analyst for IDC's eMedia program, "Book publishing is the next big media industry to go digital. Publishers are signing alliances with technology providers, and well-known authors are throwing their weight behind promotions offering their works in digital form."
The report concludes that publishing companies have very strong incentives to jump-start the market for digital books, such as lower distribution costs and the ability to offer a wider variety of content to reach more readers. It suggests that various electronic distributions strategies are likely to be used, including publishing as downloads, print-on-demand, and online reading. "Electronic Publishing Forecast and Analysis, 2000-2004: Digital Books and Print on Demand" is available for purchase from IDG. 16/01/01
URL: http://www.idc.com/
Gerry McKiernan a librarian at the Iowa State University has established a new registry of "Innovative E-Journal Features and Functionalities". Entitled _EJI_ (pronounced "edgy") the registry is available online and is subdivided into the following categories: accelerated publication, citation management, collective e-journals, indexing, issue-in-progress, manuscript submission and tracking systems, open peer review, overlay e-journals, personalised e-journals, reactive e-journals, virtual e-journals, virtual filing cabinets.
Gerry is keen to learn about "other e-journals that have these features and functionalities", along with details of other 'innovative' or 'cutting-edge' e-journal features and functionalities as well as the e-journals that exhibit these. 15/12/00
URL: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/EJI.htm
Email: Gerry McKiernan mailto:gerrymck@iastate.edu
The On-Line Books Page is a directory of books that can be freely read on the Net. It includes: an index of 20,000 on-line books on the Internet, searchable under new listings, authors, titles, subjects, serials. The page also provides a news and features section and pointers to significant directories and archives of on-line texts. Founded in 1993 by John Mark Ockerbloom at Carnegie Mellon University, he is now a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania but remains the editor of the pages, and accepts suggestions for new listings. 28/11/00
Beginning in January 2001, Purdue University Press will begin to accept monographs for publication in its new e-only monograph imprint, Digital-I books. Facing the ever-increasing need to produce titles for smaller market segments in Academe, the Digital-I imprint will provide an outlet for scholarly information that does not presently exist.
Each project will undergo the same rigorous acceptance routine that regular scholarly monographs now face, including approval by the Press’s editorial board. However, unlike traditionally published books, the Digital-I imprint will take full advantage of the new e-book software and programs now being developed by organizations like Microsoft, Ebrary, and other e-book vendors.
Purdue University Press, was founded in 1960 as a department of the Libraries at Purdue University and Specialises in the areas of business, technology, and health, the Press publishes between 30-35 traditional books annually. 10/11/00
An article on XML.com entitled: "Opening the E-Book", explores developing e-book technologies, provides an overview of the Open E-book specifications, and provides some starting points from which readers can develop their own ideas. 24/10/00
URL: Opening the E-Book http://xml.com/pub/2000/10/18/ebooks/index.html?wwwrrr_20001016.txt
URL: XML.com http://xml.com/
eBookAd is an ezine about eBooks and features news about hardware and software and lists of eBooks and vendors. Also includes basic information on the eBook market and standards. 01/09/00
With the release of Microsoft Reader and the sale of ebooks online by Barnes and Noble has the electronic book come of age? The special typefaces for reading on LCD screens are better than standard screen reading if a little colour indeterminate (may be my laptop). Other eBook systems are also starting to attract the interest of publishers. Netlibrary has a lot of major publishers signed up to distribute eBooks through libraries, although in their case a book can only be signed out to one user at a time. The readers and some books are free in both cases. B&N have special offers. Netlibrary is not available for retail sales although they have a subsidiary that sells ebooks but only for PDAs. 25/08/00
URL: http://www.bn.com for the reader and books
URL: http://www.netlibrary.com
The DAISY Consortium is establishing the International Standard for the production, exchange, and use of the next generation of "Digital Talking Books". The DAISY Consortium is made up of organisations world-wide serving persons who are blind or print disabled.
Microsoft has joined the DAISY consortium and will provide technical and financial support. 25/07/00
A new search engine designed to search for e-books is available at the SearcheBooks.com site. 03/07/00
Adobe, PricewaterhouseCoopers and InterTrust have joined forces to build end-to-end ebook publishing and delivery solutions based on Acrobat (PDF) and DigiHub (digital rights management) technologies. 13/06/00
URL: Adobe http://www.adobe.com/
URL: e-book pages http://www.adobe.com/epaper/main.html
Microsoft has licensed technology from Swedish company Labyrinten Data and isSound, that will enable text-to-audio synchronisation of eBooks created for the Microsoft Reader format.
The technology will give publishers the option of including additional information within their ebooks to enable synchronised audio narration. This will enable consumers to freely switch between the audio and text versions of an ebook so, for example, they can choose to read the text of one chapter and then listen to another chapter being read aloud.
Microsoft Reader currently ships with the Pocket PC and is scheduled to be available for other platforms later this summer. The text-to-audio synchronisation will not be included in the initial release, but is "planned for incorporation in a subsequent version". 09/06/00
URL: Labyrinten http://www.labyrinten.se/
URL: Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/
eBookAd provides a comprehensive resource for all types of information about electronic books. The site, aimed at authors, readers and publishers, includes information which ranges from reviews of ebooks to comparisons of ebook reader technologies. 06/06/00
US company Bookface reports that it "is developing proprietary technology for the secure viewing of online books". Bookface technology will first be applied to their own site, and will be "targeted towards providing a new marketing and distribution channel for the US trade book market ... the branded web destination will be launched in the Summer of 2000". 06/06/00
The eBook Directory Update Newsletter, published monthly, includes information and reviews on the latest free eBooks and eBook related resources online. The eBook Directory is an extensive directory of ebooks and texts online, including he following categories: business, self improvement, marketing, computers, literature, novels.
To subscribe to the newsletter send a blank message to the email address below. 31/03/00
URL: subscribing mailto:ebooklist-subscribe@onelist.com
URL: eBook Directory http://www.ebookdirectory.com/
The e-zine Salon.com has an interesting feature on the impact of e-books on publishers in the wake of the Stephen King e-novella release from Simon & Schuster. 28/03/00
URL: http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/03/29/ebooks/index.html
BookLocker.com has set itself up as online publisher of ebooks. Encouraging authors to submit manuscripts, the company provides electronic conversion facilities and the resultant ebook is "published" and marketed online by BookLocker from their web site. Potential purchasers can preview excerpts of the publication along with an author's biography. Authors can check on sales directly from the web site.
Distribution agreements are also offered to authors who already have an ebook designed. Copyright is protected using a system called BookLock which locks books to the unique id of the computer system that first opens the ebook. Sample ebooks along with ebook design guidelines are available from the BookLocker.com web site. There is also a free monthly news service and discussion forum operated from the site.
The Open eBook Authoring Group have completed a draft recommendation for the Open eBook 1.0 Specification, which defines the format that content takes when it is converted from print to electronic form. The Group, consisting of publishers, software and hardware vendors, have based their recommendations on the HTML and XML specifications. The Group hope that provision of a single formatting standard will accelerate the availability of electronic content by allowing publishers to convert their content to a single universal format that will work on all devices that are compliant with the Open eBook standard.
The US Commerce Department's National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) provided guidance to various members of the group. Further information on the Open eBook initiative and the specification are available on the web.
URL: Open eBook http://www.openebook.org/
We have been sent a list of three Globe and Mail articles from the November 30, 2000 edition of Canada's national print and online newspaper. The first link features RightsMarket, while the latter two articles discuss the market and business opportunities for the e-publishing industry, with particular emphasis on Canada. 08/12/00
URL: Publish or Perish Says Software Firm (RightsMarket) http://news.globetechnology.com/archive/gam/News/20001130/TWPUBLS.html
URL: Publishers Struggle with e-Book Bind (Future of e-Books) http://news.globetechnology.com/archive/gam/News/20001130/TWPUBL.html
URL: Content Makers Need New Models (Business Models for Selling Electronic Content) http://news.globetechnology.com/archive/gam/News/20001130/TWMODE.html
Franklin Electronic Publishers, has announced that the EBM-911-504, a special developer edition of the company's eBookMan reader and multimedia content player, is now available to developers. Franklin made its Software Developers' Kit (SDK) for eBookMan publicly available to developers on November 13, 2000, and the release of these special developer units is intended to make third-party applications for eBookMan available before full retail launch, scheduled for around March 2001.
Three retail versions of eBookMan readers are planned (all with 240 x 200 pixel LCD screens) beginning at an 8MB model with a suggested retail of US $129.95. 16/01/01
URL: http://www.franklin.com/devzone/
URL: Franklin Electronic Publishers http://www.franklin.com/
RoamingReader.com is a new service claiming to deliver e-books to WAP-enabled mobile devices. The site claims to provide a "free library of over a thousand classic works of literature" - to use the service point a WAP browser to the URL below. 01/12/00
URL: WAP link to RoamingReader http://wap.roamingreader.com/
URL: RoamingReader.com http://www.roamingreader.com/
TumbleBooks, a division of children's books publisher Tumbleweed Press Ltd, have launched a new children's electronic bookformat. Called TumbleBooks, the format integrates traditional print reading with animation, music, narration and computer interactivity. TumbleBooks are viewed on-line and off-line in a free downloadable application called TumbleReader via a variety of devices and media: including computers, handheld devices, television and the Internet.
There are presently ten TumbleBooks showcased and available for free downloading at the URL below - four of which are pre-loaded on the TumbleReader - with an additional 50 under development. 01/12/00
The latest e-book was one of the attractions at the recent Paris Book Fair. Produced by Cytale, the book weighs 880grms, has a battery life of 5 hours, and can hold up to 100 books (standard size 30 books). Books can be downloaded at retailers or over the telephone, and stored on PMCIA card. The system keeps track of the books bought, and if lost, they can be replaced free of charge.
The book is on sale in major retail chains, and some supermarkets. If the reader gets fed up with books, then the device also offers games and Internet access. The e-book looks like a book and comes bound in leather or cloth. 05/05/00
Microsoft have announced that more than 30 book publishers (representing 800 titles) are participating in the launch programme for its ebook Reader launch scheduled for later this summer. The launch publishers' ebooks will be offered for sale in barnesandnoble.com proposed eBookstore for Microsoft Reader titles.
The production launch program offered publishers an opportunity to test the functionality of the reader software and also the conversion and production tools. 09/06/00
URL: barnesandnoble.com http://www.bn.com/
URL: Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/
Versaware has launched eBookCity.com, an electronic publishing portal designed to promote the use of its Versabook e-book format. The site will feature a section called MyLibrary which will enable individuals to build, search and organise personal digital libraries, which can be maintained on the site and accessed at anytime.
The "personal libraries" can be used to store e-books encoded in the proprietary Versabook format. Both free books, obtained at the Free Bookstore, and Versabooks, which can be purchased at the eBookstore, can be placed in the MyLibrary section and can be viewed online or downloaded to a PC for viewing offline.
URL: Versaware http://www.versaware.com/
URL: eBookCity.com http://www.ebookcity.com/
The Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader (formerly called the Glassbook Reader) is an Acrobat-based product - providing an electronic book reader of "e-books" published using the PDF file format. The software is available for download from the web. 01/12/00
URL: http://bookstore.glassbook.com/store/
URL: download page http://bookstore.glassbook.com/store/getreader.asp
Adobe Systems have pre-released two new technologies, PDF Merchant, and Web Buy (a feature within Acrobat Reader), to its partners for testing and product integration. According to the company, the technologies will enable publishers, distributors and retailers to make electronic content available for distribution and sale over the Internet.
Adobe is working with a number of mainstream Internet book merchants and publishers, to test and implement the software. The announcement is seen as an attempt to provide PDF with the capabilities to address the developing ebook market. Acrobat Reader with Web Buy is expected to be available towards the end of 1999 with PDF Merchant expected early in 2000. The pre-release of the Acrobat Reader with Web Buy and a demo of the "buying experience", including downloadable electronic content, is available at the Adobe web site.
URL: http://www.adobe.com
The operational release of the Eprints archive-creating software is now available for download. We have published the note we received from Stevan Harnad Professor of Cognitive Science, Southampton University, UK, verbatim and, unusually for us, included embedded links to maintain the flow.
According to it's developers, the eprints.org software:
- will create Eprints Archives that are interoperable and compliant with the current Open Archives protocol;
- is free, uses only free software, and can be installed and maintained easily;
- is modular, and written to be easily upgraded with each upgrade of the Open Archives protocol.
All Eprint Archives created with the eprints.org software are fully interoperable, and can be registered as Open Archive Data Providers (http://www.openarchives.org/sfc/sfc_archives.htm).
This means that their contents can then in turn all be harvested, jointly indexed, and jointly searched with all the other Eprint Archives through Open Archive Service Providers such as: http://arc.cs.odu.edu. All Eprints can also be citation-interlinked (http://opcit.eprints.org) so that the research literature can be navigated by citation. It will also be possible to monitor research impact in powerful new ways, once the eprints are up there: (http://cogsci.soton.ac.uk/harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad00.citation.htm).
The Eprints software was expressly designed so that universities and research institutions worldwide can now immediately create their own Open Archives, in which their researchers in all disciplines can (immediately) self-archive their research - both pre-refereeing preprints and refereed postprints:
http://cogsci.soton.ac.uk/harnad/Tp/1-Anomalous-Picture/sld001.htm
http://cogsci.soton.ac.uk/harnad/Tp/2-Resolving-the-Anomaly/sld001.htmAs soon as universities create their own Eprint Archives and their researchers self-archive their papers in them, the world's refereed research literature will be freed from all its current needless access-barriers and impact-barriers. 19/12/00
URL: download http://www.eprints.org/
URL: Open Archives protocol http://www.openarchives.org/
Email: Stevan Harnad mailto:harnad@cogsci.soton.ac.uk
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