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 will also serve as the means by which music publishers will release their major titles electronically as the book publishers
are doing today.Gemstar also plans to launch a massive consumer awareness campaign later this year for establishing electronic reading devices as a staple consumer product. Gemstar is a major player in the consumer electronics and entertainment industries - developing proprietary solutions to make technology more user friendly. They recently merged with US TV Guide Inc. and developed the Video Plus™ system for VCRs so have a good feel for both the consumer market and the publishing industry.
The Rocket eBook is a 22-oz.(0.62 Kg) , paper-back sized, hand-held electronic reading device with a 4.5" x 3.0" LCD back-lit touch-sensitive screen capable of holding up to 55,000 pages of text and graphics with a battery life of up to 40 hours of continuous usage. |
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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Jan. 14, 2000 netLibrary, the world’s premier provider of electronic books over the Internet, today announced new eBook sales and distribution agreements with five of the nation’s leading libraries and library service organizations. The agreements will make thousands of netLibrary eBooks available to participating libraries across the nation, offering students, researchers, and other readers anytime/anywhere access to full-text electronic resources. Agreements have been signed with the Bibliographic Center for Research (BCR), Cleveland Public Library, the MINITEX Library Information Network, Nylink, and Wisconsin Library Services.
In addition to round-the-clock access to an extensive collection of eBooks, users of netLibrary resources also can search volumes of material by author, subject, title, keyword, phrase, or idea. A search for a phrase or keyword not only will pull up eBooks with the requested information, but also will take users directly to the page where the information appears. “These agreements are taking libraries across America into the twenty-first century,” said netLibrary Executive Vice President of Sales Rich Rosy. “netLibrary and libraries across the country are now putting eBooks at their fingertips, delivering instant, easy, around-the-clock access to a world of knowledge.” Participating OrganizationsThe five leading libraries and library service organizations that have signed agreements with netLibrary recently are:Bibliographic Center for Research (BCR) is a nonprofit, multi-state library cooperative that has provided cost-effective library and information services to the library community since 1935. Today BCR serves member libraries throughout its seven member states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. In all, BCR services reach more than 1,550 libraries. MINITEX Library Information Network is a publicly supported network of all types of libraries in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Established in 1969, MINITEX is a program of the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office located at the University of Minnesota. MINITEX and South Dakota State Library have agreed to acquire a collection of as many as 1,500 electronic books and offer them as a shared resource in both states. Wisconsin Library Services is a not-for-profit organization of 550 public, school, academic, and special libraries in Wisconsin. The agreement is for an initial collection of 600 eBooks to serve a consortium of Wisconsin academic and technical college libraries. Plans are underway to enhance the collection and extend access to public and school libraries in the WILS community. Nylink is a not-for-profit organization providing services to more than 7,000 libraries throughout New York State and beyond. The agreement will make eBooks available throughout this network. Cleveland Public Library: one of the nation’s major urban library systems, with 28 branches. The agreement with netLibrary will make thousands of eBooks available to all patrons of the Cleveland system. "We are excited to be able to offer eBooks for the first time," said MINITEX Director Bill DeJohn. "Many of our participating libraries and their patrons are in remote, rural locales. eBooks, being available around the clock and anywhere there is a computer with Net access, enable libraries to better serve these constituents. I think it will be especially helpful to distance learning students throughout both states." |
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Gemstar’s products are, on the other hand now established, while Everybook is more expensive at about $1,600 (Rocket book is $199) and won’t ship until mid year. The prospects of such devices being used in, and on loan from, libraries in the next few years will raise many fresh challenges for librarians. |
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