Smashwords: Pressuring the Old Line Publishers
May 21, 2014
I am not sure if you think much about the commercial database publishers like ProQuest, Ebsco, and Chemical Abstracts. You are not alone. Traditional research databases are in a crunch. The reason? Libraries have to make difficult decisions about what to lease, buy, and license. I assume that these commercial sources of information will consolidate and eventually be available only to those who have quite a bit of money. These outfits are ill suited for the new world of mobile access.
Not surprisingly the financial plight of libraries has created opportunities for outfits with fresher business models. “Self Published Ebook Site Smashwords Expands to More Libraries in Deal with Overdrive” describes an interesting twist on information access. According to the write up:
Digital self-publishing site Smashwords is making its ebooks available to more libraries through a partnership with Overdrive, the country’s largest digital library distributor. Through the partnership, Overdrive library clients — the company works with about 28,000 libraries and schools worldwide — will be able to purchase about 200,000 ebooks by 88,000 Smashwords authors and lend them out to their patrons.
My question is, “How can one find ebooks?” Is there another opportunity available? If so, it may be another, more sprightly organization that creates a comprehensive catalog of these materials. Finding “gray” content is tough, and I struggle with the search services available from Slideshare, Scribed, and similar services.
I am not sure that Baker & Taylor or 3M are likely to fill the gap. Will a commercial database publisher take action? Two or three years ago I outlined the opportunity for an EBooks in Print to a hoity toity database outfit. Those folks were concerned about pumping up their library-dependent revenue. Is it too late? Probably.
Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2014
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
