Category Archives: online books

“What do you read, my lord?” “Works, works, works”

Posted on September 8, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

There’s been a lot of talk lately in the library world about the coming age of FRBR-ized library catalogs (prompted in part by development of RDA, a cataloging standard that uses FRBR).  Exactly what such catalogs will look like, and … Continue reading →

Posted in discovery, libraries, metadata, online books | 6 Comments

Keeping subjects up to date with open data

Posted on July 31, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

In an earlier post, I discussed how I was using the open data from the Library of Congress’ Authorities and Vocabularies service to enhance subject browsing on The Online Books Page.  More recently, I’ve used the same data to make … Continue reading →

Posted in data, discovery, online books, open access, sharing, subjects | 4 Comments

How we talk about the president: A quick exploration in Google Books

Posted on June 20, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

On The Online Books Page, I’ve been indexing a collection of memorial sermons on President Abraham Lincoln, all published shortly after his assassination, and digitized by Emory University.  Looking through them, I was struck by how often Lincoln was referred … Continue reading →

Posted in data, online books, sharing | Comments Off on How we talk about the president: A quick exploration in Google Books

Making discovery smarter with open data

Posted on May 6, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I’ve just made a significant data enhancement to subject browsing on The Online Books Page.  It improves the concept-oriented browsing of my catalog of online books via subject maps, where users explore a subject along multiple dimensions from a starting … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, discovery, online books, open access, sharing, subjects | 3 Comments

Public domain day 2010: Drawing up the lines

Posted on January 1, 2010 by John Mark Ockerbloom

As we celebrate the beginning of the New Year, we also mark Public Domain Day (a holiday I’ve been regularly celebrating on this blog.)  This is the day when a year’s worth of copyrights expire in many countries around the … Continue reading →

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

Promoting access to the best literature of the past

Posted on October 26, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Last week saw widespread observance of Open Access Week 2009 .  The week primarily focused on opening access to current research and scholarship (though there’s also been a growing community working on opening access to teaching and learning content).  You … Continue reading →

Posted in online books, open access | 2 Comments

Google Book settlement: Alternatives and alterations

Posted on September 17, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

In my previous post, I worried that the Google Books settlement might fall apart in the face of opposition from influential parties like the Copyright Office, and that such a collapse might deprive the public of meaningful access to millions … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, online books, open access | 5 Comments

Google Books, and missing the opportunities you don’t see

Posted on September 15, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

The Google Books settlement fairness hearing is still a few weeks away, but in the last few weeks the deal has been talked and shouted about with ever-higher volume.  Still, it wasn’t until the other day, in a House Judiciary … Continue reading →

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

Do we need a “reader’s rights registry”?

Posted on May 5, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

This spring’s Digital Library Federation forum, the last under DLF as an independent organization,  included a session for “lightning talks”, where speakers take 5 minutes or less to present an idea or make a demonstration.  Here are the remarks I … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, copyright, metadata, online books, open access, reading, sharing | 3 Comments

David Reed: Some extracts from his life and letters

Posted on April 23, 2009 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Last summer I was looking for a particular book. I couldn’t find it in any library in my State. Went interlibrary loans and found one copy at the library of Congress. Only one copy in the whole country. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in online books, people | 43 Comments