Blog Source Update!

Yay - This is a special day, because  my "Librarian in Black" site has got an update!  I have stopped eating my dinner to bring you the news!

Her article concerns changes that Overdrive, a vendor for e-books, is making.  Since my library currently offers Overdrive, this directly affects me.  She is not a happy camper about the changes, and I have to say, I agree.  Here are the 3 changes in a nutshell:

1. They are now going to limit the number of times a Harper Collins ebook can be checked out to  lifetime of 26 times per copy, as opposed to unlimited times. !!!!  As she points out - this will require more work on our part to keep track of this, AND, it's just plain unfair.  Why would we want to pay for titles that can only be used 26 times?
2. Overdrive is concerned about the vast geographical location of users of their product through one library. Just as libraries that belong to Evergreen are automatically members of all members libraries, this is the type of situation it seems Overdrive is trying to address.    They want libraries to provide better authentication of users based on their geographical location.  Consortiums that cover a wide range of area may be at a disadvantage here.  This is not real clear to me the implications, but it does seem that it may be a loophole for downsizing their consortiums.
3. The final change that the Overdrive letter addresses does directly affect consortium purchases:  they are saying that their publishers want to make sure that each library has the proper number of copies of digital as well as print and audio versions.  In other words,  they do not want libraries to keep purchasing digital copies at the expense of adding any print/audio copies.    Apparently, the publishers want to make sure their hard copy markets are still strong.  However, this also implies that the vendor may be requiring consortiums to purchase more or less of a product, rather than allowing the consortium to make their own selections.

Yes, this was definitely a good blog because this is totally new to me!  I will be sure and discuss this with our Collection Management head to see how this will affect us!  

This was a most busy week for this class!  Whew - I am a bit tired from all the reading and typing, but all in all it was quite interesting.  I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!  I will be working! 

P.S.  I am well aware that that running water keeps playing in the background no matter which blog entry you are reading!  My apologies to your bladder, but I will take it down as soon as it is graded!  Shall I put the sound of popcorn popping, or a crackling fire?  Wouldn't it be awesome if there could be a scent embeded just like a sound?  I guess that could be both good and bad! ;-)