" Books as history: the importance of books beyond their texts," by David Pearson. British Library/Oak Knoll, 2008. 208p bibl index; ISBN 9781584562337, $49.95. Reviewed in April 2009 CHOICE.

What a refreshing book! With all the rush to digital that is taking place. this book looks at the book as history and artifact. David Pearson is Director of the University of London Research Library Services and is a respected scholar in the field of eBook history. Lorcan Dempsey also gives this book a heads up on his blog. So -- I am ordering this book and recommend it to you. We are librarians, aren't we?
http://www.orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001789.html
http://www.oakknoll.com
http://www.cro2.org

How can scholarly publishers deliver monograph content digitally and still make a profit? This article is about two new models that are striving toward that goal. Bloomsbury Publishing, J.K. Rowling’s British publisher, is expanding into scholarly publishing with Bloomsbury Academic. All titles (50 by the end of 2009, focusing on humanities and social sciences initially) will be made available online free using Creative Commons licenses. Meanwhile, the AAUP (Association of American University Presses) will give member presses access to Tizra’s Publisher platform. Tizra Publisher is a “web-based software service that lets content owners create branded commerce websites from existing content, with complete control over branding, merchandising and sales terms.” -- See – “2 New Digital Models Promise Academic Publishing for Profit,” by Jennifer Howard,, Chronicle of Higher Educaiton, October 2, 2008.
http://www.chronicle.com/free/2008/10/4842n.htm
http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/
http://tizra.com/

See Sue Polanka's blog for September 12, 2008 -- http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/?p=97
Anyone interested in eBooks should take a look at the Charleston Conference program, November 5 - 8th. And if you have an opinion on patron driven purchasing, stop by the Lively Lunch session Friday at Charleston. Alice Crosetto (Univ. of Toledo) and Sue will debate traditional collection development with patron-driven purchasing. They may even have Michelle Harper from NetLibrary to describe this biz model better. Friday, November 7 - 12:50 - 2:00 “Tossing Traditional Collection Development Practices for Patron Initiated Purchasing: A Debate.” Embassy Suites Historic District, Downtown Charleston.