Ebooks and Econtent 2014: Beyond Ebooks

[information at EBOOKS2014.COM]

Ebooks and Econtent 2014: Beyond Ebooks

www.ebooks2014.com 
University College London May 8th 2014 10am - 4pm

Ebooks have come of age. Recent research in the United States has suggested that the huge year on year increase in ebook titles is flattening out and that ebooks have become a fully accepted format for publishers, readers and libraries. However it is unclear at this point whether that levelling out is, in fact, the end point for ebook adoption ie that is there will be a continuing balance between print and electronic for some time to come - though it is difficult to say what that balance might be. But what is also clear is that there are other upcoming changes which go beyond what we currently think of as an ebook and that these changes may in turn promote another radical shift in digital content.  So, what comes next?

  a.. There are now ebooks which derive from using a books' readership to create social networks which can both add to or redefine the ebook;

  b.. There are possibilities of aggregating ebooks so as to develop new bundled products - in effect packaged libraries - with different licensing and pricing models;

  c.. There are technological ways in which books can now be enhanced to provide new reading and learning experiences fully integrated with an individual's work flow or built into onlein courses such as MOOCs

  d.. There are opportunities for libraries and others to become publishers in their own right exploiting their own assets through ebook channels.

Thus the 2014 Ebooks meeting will explore these themes in the context of academic publishing in the library and education sectors. It will bring together experts in digital publishing strategy, elearning communities and new business models so as to enable all partners to keep ahead of publishing changes. Speakers will include representatives of learning systems, digital publishing experts, specialist packaged services such as the Berg fashion library and experts in e-book procurement. There are agreed speakers from Sheffield University, Cambridge University Press, the Open University, Bloomsbury, JISC, SAGE, University of London and Proquest. The event will again be chaired by David Ball formerly PVC of Bournemouth University.


As usual the meeting will be of interest to anyone concerned with the ebook and econtent business including librarians, ebook and other publishers, learning technologists and intermediaries such as ebook aggregators and resellers.

If you need to get in touch with any one please email: malvia.plante at ucl.ac.uk The conference will, as usual be at the very economic rate £115 for the day. A full programme will be available in due course. Please click here to download the application form.

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2014-03-03
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