The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) E-books Taskforce Chair Bonnie Tijerina has released a statement thanking HarperCollins for attending the taskforce's business meeting during ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.
The discussion followed HarperCollins' February announcement of its current policy under which new titles licensed from library e-book vendors are restricted to 26 circulations. The license then expires.
One important outcome of the discussion is that HarperCollins will contribute to the E-books Taskforce's series of answers to frequently asked questions sent to the taskforce from ALA members that cover issues from basic questions about e-book readers to specific questions about licensing. The ALA e-books taskforce released its first FAQ addressing questions (PDF) from public libraries and will release more to address questions from school and academic libraries. HarperCollins' contribution will give the publisher's perspective.
According to Tijerina, HarperCollins understands that public libraries value sharing information and has expressed its commitment to provide models that ensure this information-sharing can continue. Libraries know publishers are seeking viable economic models so that they can continue to provide the kind of resources that the public expects at their libraries.
The ALA e-books taskforce looks forward to continuing this open dialogue so that libraries can offer the public the enhanced services available through the emerging technologies in today's e-book environment.
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