Category Archives: online books

In which I try to buy an ebook

Posted on July 29, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Not long ago I went to the bookstore and bought some books. This is how: I found some books I liked on the shelves, brought them to the front counter, and handed the clerk some money.  The clerk put my … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, online books, reading, science fiction | 1 Comment

Finding the (market) value in freeing books

Posted on May 28, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I list a number of books on The Online Books Page that are relatively recent copyrighted books  put online with the permission of the copyright holder.  I am very thankful to the authors and other rightsholders who have agreed to … Continue reading →

Posted in online books, open access, sharing | 3 Comments

Why The Online Books Page is black for January 18

Posted on January 17, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

As I mentioned in my last post, the US Congress is currently considering two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA),that would make it easy for copyright infringement complaints (whether ultimately justified or not) … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, copyright, online books | 4 Comments

Public Domain Day 2012: Five things we can do in the US

Posted on January 1, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

It’s New Year’s Day again, and in much of the world, this means another year’s worth of works enter the public domain.  That’s a cause for celebration, as Europe and many other countries that have “life+70 years” copyright terms welcome … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, libraries, online books, open access | 2 Comments

My mother’s orphan

Posted on October 7, 2011 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Before my mother was pregnant with me, she was working on a book. The book had begun its gestation at least a year before. She had been teaching math in Massachusetts, and was involved with the Madison Project, one of … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, findingada, online books, open access, people, preservation, sharing, teaching | 4 Comments

Opt in for open access

Posted on April 9, 2011 by John Mark Ockerbloom

There’s been much discussion online about Judge Chin’s long-awaited decision to reject the settlement proposed by Google and authors and publishers’ organizations over the Google Books service. Settlement discussions continue (and the court has ordered a status conference for April … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, libraries, online books, open access | Comments Off on Opt in for open access

A million books for Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

With the arrival of a new set of books from Hathi Trust onto our extended shelves, I’m happy to report that The Online Books Page now lists over 1 million books and serials that are free to read on the … Continue reading →

Posted in discovery, metadata, online books | 1 Comment

Two talks on making the most of metadata

Posted on October 29, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Earlier this week, I participated in the Books Online workshop in Toronto. The workshop featured an update from James Crawford on Google Books, and papers on social reading and ebook interfaces, and the development of ebook services for various communities … Continue reading →

Posted in libraries, metadata, online books, subjects | Comments Off on Two talks on making the most of metadata

Book liberation with open data (or, how The Online Books Page just got much bigger)

Posted on October 18, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

As we begin Open Access Week, it’s worth noting the importance of open access not only to research articles, data, teaching materials, and the like, but also to books.  We are fortunate not only that millions of historic volumes are … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, discovery, metadata, online books, open access, subjects | 2 Comments

The concept of a work in the catalog web

Posted on September 17, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

My previous post showed four examples of web-based catalogs that describe books and other library resources in a FRBR-like manner. They’re oriented around “works” (like Shakespeare’s Hamlet) that are embodied in multiple editions (like the hundreds or thousands of publications … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, data, discovery, formats, metadata, online books, sharing | 1 Comment