Join Henry Bankhead, Sarah Houghton-Jan, Mark Coker, Eli Neiburger and me on Monday April 11 noon (Pacific) / 3pm (Eastern) for an informative discussion on ebooks and library lending. If you have questions in advance, that's always helpful for preparation. http://infopeople.org/training/webinar/ebooks

Infopeople Webinar

Monday, April 11, 2011
Start Time: Pacific - Noon, Mountain - 1:00 PM, Central - 2:00 PM, Eastern - 3:00 PM
Speaker: Henry Bankhead, Sarah Houghton-Jan, Mark Coker, Eli Neiburger, and Mary Minow

Webinar Presenters: Henry Bankhead, Sarah Houghton-Jan, Mark Coker, Eli Neiburger, and Mary Minow

• Is there true ownership of eBooks for libraries?
• Can libraries exist without ownership of eBooks?
• What is the best access model for eBooks?
• Is there a right of first sale that applies to eBooks?

The recent decision by HarperCollins to switch to a licensing model for eBooks has the public library world in an uproar and has spawned numerous boycotts of HarperCollins by public libraries. Instead of allowing libraries to “purchase” one digital copy and lend it sequentially to an unlimited number of library users, HarperCollins has instead opted to only license each of their eBooks for 26 uses. After the 26 circulations are used up, the library must purchase an additional license.

This change has primarily affected Overdrive users, the lion’s share of the public library eBook market, but will apply to all distributors of HarperCollins eBook content. More important, this shift exposes the questionable nature of ownership in the library and consumer eBook landscape.

Our panel will include:

• Henry Bankhead, panel moderator
• Sarah Houghton-Jan
• Mark Coker
• Eli Neiburger
• Mary Minow

Henry Bankhead is the Library Manager for Adult Services at the Los Gatos Public Library. He enjoys reading science fiction, reviewing literary fiction and coming up with good solutions to difficult problems. He is interested in e-books, open source and providing excellent customer service.

Sarah Houghton-Jan is the Assistant Director for the San Rafael Public Library. Sarah writes daily for her award-winning blog about library technology, Librarian In Black. She is the co-author of the eBook User’s Bill of Rights.

Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an eBook distributor that supplies content to the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and the Diesel eBook Store.

Eli Neiburger is Associate Director for IT & Production at the Ann Arbor District Library, Library Renewal Board member, and LJ/SLJ EBook Summit contributor of the famed “ Libraries are Screwed” presentation.

Mary Minow is an attorney, consultant, and former librarian and library trustee and editor of the Stanford Copyright & Fair Use site (fairuse.stanford.edu).

Please join us for a lively one-hour webinar panel discussion of the role of eBooks, the public library, lending limits, ownership, the right of first use and digital copyright.

Webinars are free of charge and registration is only done on the day of the event on the WebEx server. No passwords are required.

Do you require an accommodation? Closed captioning will be provided upon request. For this service, please notify ipweb@infopeople.org at least 3 days before the webinar.