New Lending Model for Ebooks in Libraries from Internet Archives OpenLibrary

"The swirling, chaotic ebook revolution continues to generate controversies, particularly in the library arena. An announcement from HarperCollins restricting the number of allowed loans of ebooks by libraries (via OverDrive and others) started a wave of protests in the blogosphere. The furor may have drowned out a quieter and more generous offering to libraries from the Internet Archive’s OpenLibrary. Begun in November 2007, OpenLibrary takes a wiki volunteer approach to building a mammoth catalog of all kinds of books, a catalog now numbering around 20 million entries. It also provides access to some 1.7 million full-text digitized books and documents hosted by its parent, the Internet Archive. The new In-Library eBook Lending Program will initially offer some 85,000 ebooks, many not available in the OpenLibrary itself, for perusal inside participating libraries’ physical facilities. The list of libraries participating in the new program includes mostly public libraries, most in northern California where Internet Archive is also located. Out of state libraries include Boston Public, Allen County (Indiana), University of Florida, University of Alberta (Canada), et al. The list seems slightly padded as it lists individual branches as well as headquarters. For those interested in locating a nearby participating library, the OpenLibrary provides a map. The 85,000 ebooks in the program include mostly 20th century items, many in-copyright...."