Sharing Visions 2021 Conference: Moving Digital Lending Forward - November 10, 2021: 9:30am - 12:30pm
ALA Core Ebook Interest Group chair Michael Blackwell and Micah May, DPLA’s Director of Ebook Services, will update participants on digital content licensing and platforms. Chris Freeland, from the Internet Archive, will present on Controlled Digital Lending (CDL). The program is free and open to attendees from all types of libraries. This event was held virtually on Zoom.
Library Digital Content: There’s Something Happening Here
The period of 2018 to 2021 has brought many changes in licensing, platforms, and even the legal landscape in library ebooks and audiobooks. Join DPLA’s Director of Ebook Services Micah May and ALA Core Ebook Interest Group chair Michael Blackwell for an up-to-the-minute discussion of the new Palace app, DPLA’s multiple licensing models, Maryland’s Ebook Law and statement of reasonable models, other legislative efforts including Connecticut’s, and possible forms of advocacy.
Michael Blackwell (Director, St. Mary’s County Library; Chair, ALA CORE Ebooks Interest Group; member of the ALA CORE Joint Digital Content Working Group; project manager for the ReadersFirst Working Group) has been an advocate for a better library digital content experience for over a decade. He has frequently presented and published on digital content platforms and the availability and licensing of titles.
Micah May serves as Director of Ebook Services for the Digital Public Library of America and leads the DPLA Exchange / Palace Marketplace, DPLA’s marketplace for library eBooks and audiobooks, the Palace Bookshelf, DPLA's collection of free eBooks, and DPLA’s other eBook related services including our publishing experiments such as the Mueller Report and Impeachment Papers. Before joining DPLA Micah was Director of Strategy and then Sr Dir of Business Development & Innovation at the New York Public Library, were he built capacity for innovation and led many groundbreaking projects including the creation of the NYPL Labs, Open Ebooks, the MyLibraryNYC partnership with NYC schools and the open source SimplyE reading app. Micah started his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. and has a BA from the University of Colorado Boulder and a J.D. from Harvard Law.
Session Resources
Empowering Libraries Through Controlled Digital Lending
Libraries play a crucial societal role in providing access to information and preserving that information over time. Unfortunately that role is under threat from a number of sources: budget reductions, exorbitant licensing fees, and the inability for libraries to own (not lease) digital content. In this session, Chris Freeland, Director of the Open Libraries program at the Internet Archive, will cover how existing library practices like interlibrary loan & controlled digital lending empower libraries to reach their patrons where they're learning—online—and the new efforts helping libraries take control of their digital futures.
Chris Freeland is the Director of Open Libraries at the Internet Archive, working in support of the organization's mission to provide "Universal access to all knowledge." Before joining the Internet Archive Chris was an Associate University Librarian at Washington University in St. Louis, managing Washington University Libraries' digital initiatives and related services. He holds an M.S. in Biological Sciences from Eastern Illinois University and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from University of Missouri-Columbia. His research explores the intersections of science and technology in a cultural heritage context, having published and presented on a variety of topics relating to the use of new media and emerging technologies in libraries and museums.
Session Resources
Planning Committee Members
Zach Berger
Adult Services Librarian
Cranston Public Library
Bradley Bullis
Digital Content and Innovation Coordinator, Division of Library Development
CT State Library (CSL)
Bradley.Bullis@ct.gov
Phone: 860-704-2206
Chaichin Chen
Resource Sharing Coordinator
Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS)
Paul Kissman
Library Information Systems Specialist
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC)
Mary A. Russell
Librarian
New Hampshire State Library (NHSL)
mary.a.russell@dncr.nh.gov
Phone: 603-271-2866
April Shaw
Librarian, Government Services
Vermont Department of Libraries (VTLIB)
april.shaw@vermont.gov
Phone: 802-318-7889
