Amazon.com's BookSurge subsidiary announced Thursday that it has partnered with book digitization company Kirtas Technologies on a project to archive and distribute hard-to-find books. This new initiative involves collaboration with public and university libraries to provide their collections of "rare and inaccessible" books; the titles will be digitized through Kirtas and then reproductions will be sold through Amazon through the BookSurge print-on-demand service.
In return, the partner libraries--initially consisting of Emory University, University of Maine, and the public libraries in Toronto, Ont. and Cincinnati, Ohio--will receive a cut of the revenue to fund further book preservation efforts, provided the titles are in the public domain or the libraries own the rights to them.
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Interesting development, especially the print-on-demand part. Google already has a big lead in digitizing books from libraries. I wonder if there will be any impact on Interlibrary Loan.
In a live video presentation at the NEXTComm industry show here, Martin said broadband policies should be updated so rural consumers could receive the same services as their urban counterparts. "But there's a limited amount of funding to do this," said Martin, who responded to questions from industry leaders. "We need ... a policy that is technologically neutral."
Martin said the FCC should move away from "subsidizing multiple voice carriers in rural areas" to subsidizing broadband. He added, "It's critical that the concept of universal service stays in place -- and that everyone stays connected."
Record for Item: "Flickr hacks /"( Libraries with Item )
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