A standard ebook format?
October 29, 2010 – 1:12 pmYep. It's coming. Just not here. In Japan. http://bit.ly/aTP2Fl

Yep. It's coming. Just not here. In Japan. http://bit.ly/aTP2Fl
April, 2010 sales numbers from the American Publishing Association were just released. Interesting stuff.
Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of April increased by 24.8% percent in April to $629.8 million and were up by 11.8 percent for the year through April.
Audio Book sales posted an increase of 18.6 percent in April with sales totaling $11.7 million; sales through April are up by 15.6 percent. Downloaded Audio Books increased 32.1 percent at sales of $6 million; the category was also up 30.8 percent through April.
E-book sales jumped up 127.4 percent for the month ($27.4 million), reflecting an increase of 217.3 percent for the year-to-date.
Here in library-land we get to navigate the rocky shoals of various downloadable audio services. (more...)
On occasion the library is asked about downloadable e-books and if we are going to be getting them. The answer is probably. Someday. But for now the e-book scene is reminiscent of the VHS vs. Beta format battles. With limited funds and a host of copyright and privacy issues still waiting to be settled, the Spokane Public Library is holding back and keeping our powder dry. A nice discussion of the issue can be found here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010947444_ereaders01m.html
When using NetLibrary's Media Center for downloading audiobooks, I discovered something interesting. Even though the status bar might indicate that the download is proceeding at a snail's pace, it is actually going much more quickly. An audiobook that I just downloaded to my mp3 player showed that it was only about 20% downloaded when the download was completed. So... if you are staring at a download status bar that isn't moving, give it a chance to finish grinding through.
NPR talks to David Sedaris and Martin Jarvis about what makes a great audiobook -- and a great reader.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120769925
Looking for some good content for your iPod? Give these a try... (more...)
With over 1,000 mp3 downloadable audio titles currently available, the question then becomes this: How do I find them? There are a couple answers to that question, but the easiest ways are listed here:
Approach 1: Go to Netlibrary under "Subscription Databases." Under "Advanced Search," users can limit their search by format. Select "eAudiobooks" and then choose "mp3." This will bring up the 1,097 titles that are available.
Approach 2: Open up the Netlibrary Media Center (downloadable through the link above). Click on "Search" in the upper-right hand corner and limit by "mp3" under "Format." This will pull up all available mp3 titles. Alternately, users can go to the "Browse" tab, select mp3 as the format then limit by broad subject area such as Memoirs, Business, Classics, Mystery & Suspense, etc.
Happy listening!
They're here!!!! The mp3/iPod compatible titles from Netlibrary are now available! You can't see me (I hope) but I'm doing a little victory dance right now. There are still a few wrinkles to be hammered out with the catalog records, but for now just know there are two ways to get a listing of the current iPod compatilble titles:
Approach 1: Go to Netlibrary under "Subscription Databases." Under "Advanced Search," users can limit their search by format. Select "eAudiobooks" and then choose "mp3." This will bring up the 375 titles that are available.
Approach 2: Open up the Netlibrary Media Center. Click on "Search" in the upper-right hand corner and limit by "mp3" under "Format." This will pull up all available mp3 titles. Alternately, users can go to the "Browse" tab, select mp3 as the format then limit by broad subject area such as Memoirs, Business, Classics, Mystery & Suspense, etc.
Enjoy!