A new partnership promotes Sony Reader for borrowing eBooks in public libraries

The eBook format is is moving forward quickly - more online stores, more devices, more readers. And now it's penetrating a place that until lately was almost exclusively associated only with physical books - the library.

Sony, developer of the Sony Reader Digital Book, has partnered up with OverDrive, the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and audiobooks to libraries, to offer readers an easier way to borrow e-books from the library. How does it work exactly? Here are some more details from their joint press release:

Thousands of libraries in the OverDrive network (http://search.overdrive.com) offer eBooks compatible with the Sony Reader. Users simply browse or search their library website, check out their selected eBook with a valid library card, and download to a PC. Once downloaded, the eBook may then be transferred to the Sony Reader via free Adobe Digital Editions software.

...In addition to reaching new and existing patrons via the Sony and OverDrive network websites, OverDrive will train librarians on how to help patrons use the Sony Reader with their download service. OverDrive provides download services for more than 9,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide with support for PC, Mac^®, and Sony^® Reader, as well as the largest collection of iPod^®-compatible audiobooks for libraries.

This collaboration looks like a win-win model and will definitely help to move forward the integration of the eBook format into libraries. I think it's an important step also in terms of keeping libraries updated and relevant in the digital age. Now we'll have to wait and see if this collaboration will be an exclusive one or we'll see future similar collaborations with Amazon and other providers of popular e-book reading devices.

If you want to check if your public library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit http://search.overdrive.com.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promotin sustainble reading!

Kindle and Sony Reader - big hits on the holiday season

Following yesterday's post on Amazon's successful holiday season and eco-friendly it is to buy online, we also tried to check out how e-books were doing this month.

We didn't find much data on e-books, but we did find an interesting article on the New York Times that reported on good sales for Amazon's Kindle. Maybe too good - there are no sales figures but we do know that the $359 Kindle, it is out of stock and unavailable until February. Actually, PC Magazine reported already on December 1st that "Amazon now lists the Kindle's shipping date as 11 to 13 weeks".

Apparently it's the "fault" of Oprah Winfrey, who praised the Kindle on her show in October, and got many people to buy it. I guess Amazon didn't take Oprah into consideration and hence left with not enough Kindle devices for the holiday season.

The NYT reports that "the shortage is providing an opening for Sony, which embarked on an intense publicity campaign for its Reader device during the gift-buying season. The stepped-up competition may represent a coming of age for the entire idea of reading longer texts on a portable digital device."

Steve Haber, president of Sony's digital reading division, is quoted in the article saying that the sales of Reader 700, a $400 device, "had tripled this holiday season over last, in part because the device is now available in the Target, Borders and Sam's Club chains." He also said Sony had sold more than 300,000 devices since the debut of the original Reader in 2006.

How is it compared with the Kindle? it's hard to tell. Estimates mentioned in the article are anywhere between 260,000-1,000,000 units, and that's before Winfrey's endorsement.

Still, to put things in propotion we have to remember that e-books are still small fraction of the market. According to the artilce and other sources publishers like HarperCollins, Random House and Simon & Schuster say that the sales of e-books for any device constitute less than 1 percent of total book sales.

More related links:

Happy Holidays for Sony Reader by Craig Morgan Teicher - Publishers Weekly, December 22

No Happy Holidays For Publishing (Host Scott Simon speaks to Charlotte Abbott, contributing editor for Publishers Weekly) - NPR, December 20

E-books vs. paper books - Eco-Libris resource page

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net