Textbook publishers revamp ebooks to fight used market (NBC News)
A booming market in recent years for selling and renting used college textbooks has saved students across the United States a ton of cash. But it has put textbook publishers in a bind. They don’t make a cent unless students buy their books new.
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New Mobile and Online Library Service ‘Hoopla’ Does Everything But Ebooks (DBW)
A new digital library services vendor, Hoopla, is out of beta and is now operational at a handful of libraries. The company gives access to libraries and patrons video, music and audio books — but not ebooks, yet.
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Google prototyping real-time translation technology with ‘near perfect’ results (The Verge)
Google is currently prototyping a real-time translation technology that could revolutionize the way people communicate when abroad. Android VP Hugo Barra offered some details on the initiative — which exceeds the scope of Google’s current translate services — to The UK Times.
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The war of words at the British Library (The Independent)
In one corner sit the tut-tutting ‘serious’ readers. In the other, flirtatious undergraduates with their iPhones and social lives. At the heart is the battle for the soul – and control – of the British Library.
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Libraries Partner with Local Airports (Library Journal)
At first glance, a partnership between libraries and airports may seem a case of strange bedfellows. Libraries offer space for concentration and relaxation, while airports are notoriously stressful and full of distractions. But the venues do have one thing in common: in both, users are looking for something to read.
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