Andrew Albanese on Current Library Digital Content Ecosystem

In “OverDrive CEO: Publishers, Librarians Still Searching for Fair E-book Lending Models,” PW’s Andrew Albanese reviews OverDrive CEO Steve Potash’s blog post on the company’s advocacy for new license models. The piece becomes a wider look at the current state of library digital content and some developments that will shape our practice in the future, including the start of Library Futures and its advocacy for greater library digital content access, Fight for the Future’s Who Can Get Your Book campaign aimed at expending equity and access, Amazon talking with DPLA about sharing its exclusive content, and the publisher lawsuit against the Internet Archive’s Open Library. The piece is well-worth a read. It does contain a quote from yours truly, but look at it anyway.

It is certainly sharping up to be another interesting year. RF is pleased that new groups are joining it in advocacy for enhanced library digital content but concerned that our efforts not get fragmented. We encourage all the stake-holders to work together as much as possible so that efforts are coordinated rather than duplicated. It’s a lot to keep up with. We at RF will try to keep readers informed as events transpire.

In the meantime, as we have commented on some of these issues before, here is our summary:

Amazon talking with DPLA: if Amazon adopts DPLA’s models that allow for options at point-of-license, and thereby sets an example for other large publishers, this development could be even more important than the sharing of content though even the sharing is alone is important. Amazon, please also find a way to work with libraries internationally!

Publisher Lawsuit against the Internet Archive: Drop it and negotiate. Librarians, Controlled Digital Lending is worth having, and voicing support for the IA is good.