Libraries Boycott Lending Model
I’ve been reading and following what has become a huge controversy with e-books between Libraries and Harper Collins. Harper Collins decided to limit its e-books to 26 downloads and then at which time Libraries would have to renew the license. This just stirred a huge controversy because libraries did not limit their books on the shelf in the past. But then this does bring up a good question, should the downloads be unlimited? Well as a publisher I can tell you I can’t argue with the position of the libraries. Perhaps the solution to this is to find out what the average life span of a book is in a library and base the license on that number rather then just looking at it as a lifetime license. Again you do have to consider the libraries position, they sited a book, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which had been checked out 65 times and was still on the shelf and able to be checked out.
Here is a short exert from the article and a youtube video done by librarians:
By Michael Kelley Mar 7, 2011 | Published in Library Journal
Some library consortia have decided to forgo the purchase of HarperCollins ebook titles effective today in the wake of the publisher’s decision to set a license limit of 26 checkouts per title and also amid concerns about what may be next. In addition, an American Library Association task force is convening this week in Washington to begin addressing the question of equitable access to electronic content.
Joan Kuklinski, the executive director of the Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing consortium (C/W Mars) which serves 155 libraries, decided last week to suspend, effective today, the purchase of any new HarperCollins titles for the digital catalog, calling the publisher’s policy “counter-intuitive” to the consortium’s “strong policy of resource sharing.” LINK TO REST OF ARTICLE..
YouTube Made by Librarians Explaining their Position
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je90XRRrruM
