The Story of the Digital Book

A new 10-minute video, ‘The Story of the Digital Book’, takes you behind the scenes, following the journey of one book from the shelf to the screen.

It shows how the UC Libraries work with partner organisations to scan books and make them findable online. It also demonstrates several ways you can use these newly digital books, and explains how they are preserved for the long term.

The video was produced by the California Digital Library's mass digitisation team.
http://www.cdlib.org/services/collections/massdig/massdig_video.html

SOURCE: Peter Scott's Library Blog, 23 September 2010

Digital publishing

From Library Link of the day came this piece about the changes happening in digital publishing vs traditional publishing :

'Vanity' Press Goes Digital by Geoffrey A. Fowler and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in Wall Street Journal, Media and Marketing, June 3 2010

"... digital self-publishing is creating a powerful new niche in books that's threatening the traditional industry. Once derided as "vanity" titles by the publishing establishment, self-published books suddenly are able to thrive by circumventing the establishment. "

The article has a useful sidebar describing the "stars" of self-publishing : Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Lulu, Smashwords, FastPencil, Scribd, and Author Solutions.

Digitization, e-books and children's literacy

The Kids Are Alright! Why Digitization and E-books are Good for Literacy by Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC)

http://publishingperspectives.com/?p=14607