Call for interoperable Ebook standards in academic market
The library advocacy group Library Futures is asking for signatories from academic institutions to a new Interoperable Ebooks Standards Statement that “affirms the reading choices of all individuals and support choice in the academic marketplace through the use of standards and best practices for academic publishing, library infrastructure and library lending”.
The current list of signatories, which includes representatives from a variety of major academic institutions, is available on the organisation’s website.
Library Futures’ Executive Director Jennie Rose Halperin said: “In an information environment in which content is increasingly siloed and libraries are prevented from fulfilling their traditional roles of acquiring, preserving, and lending ebooks through restrictive and expensive licensing agreements, interoperability and shared standards are more crucial than ever.
“We call for an academic ebook market that provides a consistent, non-fragmented user experience, one where vendors use the kinds of open, interoperable standards that have formed best practices for information sharing online for decades.”
The group states that an ebook environment should provide:
- Ease of Discovery – consistent open metadata using open, universal standards such as OPDS to facilitate discovery, access and use. OPDS allows publishers to syndicate (update regularly) information about available titles in a way that current metadata protocols handle only with difficulty;
- Ease of Use – innovation in developing and employing DRM systems, such as Readium LCP, that use open standards to facilitate interoperable, systematic integration and delivery when access control is necessary;
- Easier to Buy – growth of the overall library marketplace and increased author impact by simplifying the acquisition and use of ebooks; and
- Accessible for Every Reader – options for ebook accessibility through interoperability with accessible readers and accessibility tools.
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