Google Tag Manager

Search Library Soup

Loading
Showing posts with label e-Book Publisher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e-Book Publisher. Show all posts

Friday, August 17, 2012

Beginning September 1, Delhi Book Fair to focus on e-books


NEW DELHI: Beginning on September 1, the latest edition of the Delhi Book Fair will focus on e-books. The nine-day long fair will be held at Pragati Maidan. 

"E-books are catching on as a trend. We have got OverDrive, one of the largest international digital distributors of e-books as a participant in the fair this time. We will also have a two-day seminar on e-books and demonstrations for publishers," says Shakti Malik, treasurer, Federation of Indian Publishers and the director of the Delhi Book Fair. 

Audio books, which got a small, dedicated space in the International Book Fair earlier this year, won't get a similar attention at the Delhi Book Fair. "E-books is a hotter trend now and audio books are yet to catch on in India. We might consider that later," says Malik. 

A delegation of 20 Chinese businessmen is expected to visit for negotiations on translations. "It is surprising, but they are interested in a lot of technical books about computers and the like from India," says Malik. 

Close to 300 publishers are expected to participate this year. Visitors can avail the 11 air-conditioned mini-buses that will ferry them to the exhibition halls from the gates at the sprawling venue. Students carrying an identity card will get a 50% discount on the entry ticket. 

The festival is a collaborative project between the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Federation of Indian Publishers.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Fostering reading habits in youth


WEB LINKS

In an attempt to bring students closer to the world of books, INDIAreads Online Library launched ‘Literathon’, a nationwide initiative to foster greater interaction between students and the literary world.

Its inauguration recently took place at the Conference Hall, Delhi University in association with Delhi School of Economics. The event kick-started with launch of ‘Poor Little Rich Slum’, a book by Rashmi Bansal and international management consultant Dr Deepak Gandhi. 

There was also a book reading session by Member of Planning Commission Dr Syeda Hameed and Gunjan Veda who read from their new non fiction-  ‘Beautiful Country: Stories from Another India’.  

The event was a sincere endeavour to provide students and faculty with an opportunity to get acquainted with books and interact with renowned authors. Literathon comprises a host of activities including book launches, talks, interactive sessions, book readings, book bazaars, creative writing workshops and online and on-the-spot competitions.

Gunjan Veda, CEO of INDIAreads says, “The initiative has been conceptualised to make not just books but even their writers more accessible. Literathon is a celebration of books and we are hopeful that we spread this celebration in every state of India.”

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Endpaper: When the book is a book



PRADEEP SEBASTIAN
On the fortunes of the book: Jean-Claude Carriere (left) and Umberto Eco. Photos: S.S. Kumar and T. Singaravelou
The HinduOn the fortunes of the book: Jean-Claude Carriere (left) and Umberto Eco. Photos: S.S. Kumar and T. Singaravelou

Dips into a long, rambling conversation on the nature of the book by two artists: Umberto Eco and Jean Claude Carriere .
Umberto Eco and Jean Claude Carriere carried on a long, rambling conversation on the nature of the book over several sessions at their two homes. The conversation was ‘curated’ by editor Jean Philippe Tonnac and became a book. They called it This Is Not The End Of The Book; (and the semi colon is very much part of the title).
Disappointingly, there’s very little here, bibliographically speaking, about the printed book. And even less about the digital book, though the jacket blurb opens with how difficult it is these days to get away from discussions on whether the printed book will survive the digital revolution.
Unfamiliar with e-readers
The scriptwriter and the author surprisingly seem unfamiliar with newer e-readers; references to e-readers feel antiquated for a fairly recent conversation on the nature of the book: Eco speaks of how impractical it is to take the computer to read in bed. No one brings up the Kindle or the iPad.
We are living for the first time in an era, Eco says, where there are “so many beautiful, light-filled bookshops to wander in...” Their conversation turns interesting when they speak of book hunting in forgotten antiquarian bookshops, the times spent in old libraries, and the architectural beauty of the printed book. When they speak of the book in various cultures, the book as an idea, it is less interesting — and that’s most of the book. Though Carriere rambles more and Eco is more precise, Carriere is the more interesting for his wide ranging, multicultural references. Eco dully stays Euro-centric, referencing Greek-Latin and Spanish book history, while Carriere talks of Persian manuscripts, Sufi poets, the Mahabharata, the dance of Shiva and ancient African libraries (like the great ancient library in Timbuktu).
The argument of both these wonderful book artists is that “the book represents a sort of unsurpassable perfection in the realm of the imagination.” In a leisurely style, using personal stories, the two men meditate on the “good and bad fortunes of the book”. A perspective of the book that emerges is that it isn’t valuable in itself as an object because not all books are good or great or masterpieces. So why save what is mediocre or trashy? So, the book as an object isn’t meant to be sacred, and is not to be made a fetish. For Eco the book becomes a way of storing cultural information that one does not need to be burdened with; the book is ‘a fridge’.
Eco scores when he predicts that whatever forms the future book will take, it will have to look and feel like the traditional printed book. “The book is like the spoon. Once invented, it cannot be improved.” Electronic media formats are notoriously ephemeral, observe both writers. Eco recalls once hunting for an early version of Foucault’s Pendulum, which he had on floppy discs, but he couldn’t find them probably because they were thrown out. If it had been a typed manuscript, he points out, he would have found it somewhere in the house. After years of resisting having a film library of his own, Carriere gave in when the DVD came and began making his film collection and now the DVD is on its way out. But the tenacious incunabula, early printed books from the 15th century that both men collect, remain the same.
Passion for books
Eco admits that, though he speaks passionately of the printed book, if there was a fire in his house the first thing he would take with him is his 250 gigabyte hard drive. Both men are collectors of rare and expensive books; they reminisce about tracking down certain editions they were obsessed with and divulge their collecting criteria: Carriere’s is eclectic; one special focus is a collection of Persian books. Eco’s primary focus is collecting ancient, rare and antiquarian books on fakes.
Eco has 50,000 books, out of which 1,200 are very rare. Carriere has around 40,000 not counting his large collection of legends and fairly tales. The book he values most in his collection — the one he would grab if his library was on fire — is a 1490 volume with wonderful illustrations, plates and folded pages. Carriere would grab an “Alfred Jarry manuscript, as well as one by Andre Breton, and a book by Lewis Carroll that contains a letter he wrote.” Carriere shares an anecdote about a book scout he knew who rode in a moped carrying antiquarian treasures in a plastic bag on its handlebars!
The Gutenberg galaxy isn’t the only thing discussed; Eco and Carriere go further back and invoke parchments, scrolls, manuscripts. In ancient Rome, Eco tells us for instance, little shops sold scrolls. You dropped into one of them before heading into the library (or soon after) and asked for the latest bestseller. A week later something, say, by Virgil was copied just for you and kept ready to be picked up.
Eco also tells us that only now we know that old libraries — like those fabled monastic medieval libraries — did not hold thousands of volumes; perhaps around 400 to each library. The printed book, masterfully typeset, illustrated, bound and printed in its infancy, was expensive; 400 was a lot of copies to have in one collection.
Umberto is at his best when he speaks of books and his childhood. When he was five or six, his grandfather who had been a typographer and a bookbinder died and Eco discovered his bookshelves which held stacks of books waiting to be bound. They were all kinds of books from splendidly illustrated adventure books to science books to erotic books. They were in boxes in the cellar and Umberto would be sent down to collect coal to heat the house, and he would linger with these boxes.
Once, more recently, Eco was looking for a book in his library and his secretary suggested ordering the shelves but Eco protested; he wanted to roam and look and find it somewhere rather than go straight to it. Carriere speaks of sometimes just looking at his books. Not touching them or taking them out. Just standing and looking. And remembers coming upon Jean Luc Goddard more than once just staring at cans and cans of his film reels arranged on shelves!
Eco says keeping an old clock in your library wards off worms; the minute vibrations of the tick-tock of the clock through the night keeps the worms tucked into the woodwork. What would happen, asks Tonnac, to their books after their death? Eco hopes to leave it to libraries and not break it up; Carriere will let his wife and children and friends decide.

‘We provide e-books to about 200 universities’- Jagdish Arora

IN THIS AGE when knowledge and information is passing through technological changes, Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), which is an autonomous Inter-University Centre (IUC) under the University Grant Commission (UGC), aims in providing all the Universities with academic resources. Jagdish Arora, Director of INFLIBNET tells Goter Gangkak about the organisation, the initiative that would help avoid plagiarism and the importance of e-books.

EDITED EXCERPTS
What is INFLIBNET? How did it all start?INFLIBNET was started out as a major programme by UGC under Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in 1991. It became an autonomous body in 1996. Since then INFLIBNET has been providing resources to universities all over India in the form of e-books and database.
How many universities or Institution comes under it? Is Delhi University also a part of it?
INFLIBNET provides educational resources to about 200 universities apart from more than 100 other institutions. Delhi University also comes under INFLIBNET but it lacks the basic infrastructure and sometimes faces the problem of excessive downloading.
What about the universities and colleges in rural areas? What are the major challenges you face in such universities
Mostly private universities sign up for access but we do provide resources to colleges and institutions in rural areas. Rural universities usually lack proper infrastructure. We provide basic infrastructure like setting up computer systems and educating the students how to use them in such universities.
Book sources say that e-books kill authenticity of print. Why do you support
e-books?

I believe an e-book is equivalent to print. If you compare the procedure that is required in creating an e-book, it is the same as print in terms of editing, proof reading and spell-check. Also, an e-book can help people with disability to read better in terms of visual elements.
What has INFLIBNET got in store for academicians?
We are working on a programme which will help academicians keep a check on plagiarism in their thesis and research works.
More News at: http://www.tehelka.com/

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Now rent books from online library Hookedonbook.com; Can books work where DVD rentals failed?



Even as online rentals for products is yet to be validated as a sustainable business model at least in India (remember what happened to DVD rentals?), there are new startups trying their hand at it, albeit with a different proposition. One such firm is a Delhi-based startup, which has just launched an online library Hookedonbook.com with a paid subscription model, while also hedging the business with an online store for second hand books.

The site claims to have more than 10,000 books as of now and offers free delivery and pick-up for all its books. The site went live just last week, and as of now the service is only available in the Delhi-NCR region.
Hookedonbook Pvt Ltd was founded by Vikram Khosla in April 2012. Prior to Hookedonbook, Khosla was running an import-export business in the US, before shifting base back to India. He holds a B.E degree in Computer Sciences from Karnataka University and has designed the site himself. The company handles its own logistics and has a team size of 12 people, including delivery boys.
For renting the books, users have to first sign up for a monthly membership. As of now, there are three types of memberships available that include ‘individual plan’, ‘buddies plan’ and ‘family plan’ for Rs 500, Rs 750 and Rs 1,000, respectively. The members also have to pay a security deposit equivalent to twice the amount of the membership they have opted for (basically two months membership). So if you opt for the Rs 500 plan, the security deposit will be Rs 1,000, and so on. The individual plan allows its members to rent up to four books in a month, while for buddies plan it is eight per month and for family plan the number goes up to 60 books per month (two books a day).
As of now, the only available payment method is cash on delivery (COD), but the company will gradually enable online payments as well.
“The idea for Hookedonbook actually came from my daughter, who could not find good libraries (both online and offline) to rent books here, after returning from the US,” said Khosla.
Once a member, readers can select a list of books they want to read and the company delivers them one by one at their doorsteps. If by chance, the number one book in the readers list is not available, the company delivers the number two book in the list, while promising to make the number one book available to the reader in a fortnight.
The maximum delivery time for a book is 48 hours and readers can keep them for as long as their membership lasts. Some of the new titles we found on the site included Calico Joe (John Grisham), Fifty Shades of Grey (E. L. James), What Young India Wants (Chetan Bhagat) and In Different Form (Yuvraj Singh).

Friday, July 27, 2012

Libraries and e-books:Literary labours lent -The uncertain economics of lending virtual books


I hear Muggles make books disapparate
LIKE a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been reassuringly dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital wares if they are to remain relevant, but many publishers are too wary of piracy and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six, only Random House and HarperCollins license e-books with most libraries. The others have either denied requests or are reluctantly experimenting. In August, for example, Penguin will start a pilot with public libraries in New York.
Publishers are wise to be nervous. Owners of e-readers are exactly the customers they need: book-lovers with money (neither the devices nor broadband connections come cheap). If these wonderful people switch to borrowing e-books instead of buying them, what then?

Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles from where you live, book files can be downloaded at home. Digital library catalogues are often browsed at night, from a comfy sofa. The files disappear from the device when they are due (which means no late fees, nor angst about lost or damaged tomes).
Awkwardly for publishers, buying an e-book costs more than renting one but offers little extra value. You cannot resell it, lend it to a friend or burn it to stay warm. Owning a book is useful if you want to savour it repeatedly, but who reads “Fifty Shades of Grey” twice?
E-lending is not simple, however. There are lots of different and often incompatible e-book formats, devices and licences. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, a global distributor that secures rights from publishers and provides e-books and audio files in every format. Some 35m titles were checked out through OverDrive in 2011, and the company now sends useful data on borrowing behaviour to participating publishers. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by OverDrive’s market dominance, as the company can increasingly dictate fees and conditions.
Publishers were miffed when OverDrive teamed up with Amazon, the world’s biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader who want to borrow e-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon’s website, where they must use their Amazon account to secure a loan. Amazon then follows up with library patrons directly, letting them know they can “Buy this book” when the loan falls due.
This arrangement nudged Penguin to end its deal with OverDrive earlier this year. The publisher’s new pilot involves 3M, a rival distributor that does not yet support the Kindle. “Ultimately Amazon wants to control the library business,” says Mike Shatzkin, a publishing consultant.
Library users—nearly 60% of Americans aged 16 and older, according to Pew, an opinion researcher—are a perfect market for Amazon. It woos them by making loans on the Kindle uniquely easy. Late last year Amazon also unveiled its Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which lets its best customers (called “Amazon Prime” members) borrow free one of thousands of popular books each month.
Library boosters argue that book borrowers are also book buyers, and that libraries are vital spaces for readers to discover new work. Many were cheered by a recent Pew survey, which found that more than half of Americans with library cards say they prefer to buy their e-books. But the report also noted that few people know that e-books are available at most libraries, and that popular titles often involve long waiting lists, which may be what inspires people to buy.
So publishers keep tweaking their lending arrangements in search of the right balance. Random House raised its licensing prices earlier this year, and HarperCollins limits libraries to lending its titles 26 times. Penguin plans to keep new releases out of libraries for at least six months, and each book will expire after a year. Hachette is engaged in some secret experiments, and the others are watching with bated breath. In Britain the government will soon announce a review of the matter. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.