E-Book Updates

Palm Digital Media Inc. (www.palmdigitalmedia.com) and Lightning Source Inc. (www.lightningsource.com) have introduced the "Classics Collection," a selection of classic literature that gives students, teachers and administrators unlimited use of up to 500 e-books for an entire school year. The companies are offering schools an affordable way to use e-book technology, while providing a comprehensive collection of titles. A licensing fee starting at $499 for the school year gives schools unlimited access to the e-books. Schools receive the "Classics Collection" on a CD-ROM, which can be loaded onto a school's server. Then, the e-books are listed on the schools' Web site by both title and author, or can be located by using the browser's built-in search function. Users can download the e-books in less than a minute to a number of handheld or portable devices, notebook or desktop PCs, or tablet PCs. For schools without Web sites, Lightning Source can host the service for a fee.

OverDrive Inc. (www.overdrive.com) and e-book retailer Fictionwise Inc. (www.fictionwise.com) have formed an alliance that will provide affordable e-book lending solutions to small and midsized public and school libraries. Under terms of the agreement, OverDrive will provide premium content and digital rights management services to Fictionwise for use of its Libwise product (www.libwise.com). Patrons of libraries using Libwise will be able to download e-books to a PC, any popular handheld device and even some Nokia cell phones. In addition, earlier this year, OverDrive introduced a digital media repository called the Digital Library Reserve, which has already gained the support of leading publishers and was deployed by the Cleveland Public Library (www.cpl.org) in March.

Featured

  •  laptop on a clean desk with digital padlock icon on the screen

    Data Privacy a Top Concern as Orgs Scale Up AI Agents

    As organizations race to integrate AI agents into their cloud operations and workflows, they face a crucial reality: while enthusiasm is high, major adoption barriers remain, according to a new Cloudera report. Chief among them is the challenge of safeguarding sensitive data.

  • chart with ascending bars and two silhouetted figures observing it, set against a light background with blue and purple tones

    Report: Enterprises Are Embracing Agentic AI

    According to a new report from SnapLogic, 50% of enterprises are already deploying AI agents, and another 32% plan to do so within the next 12 months..

  • stacks of glowing digital documents with circuit patterns and data streams

    Mistral AI Intros Advanced AI-Powered OCR

    French AI startup Mistral AI has announced Mistral OCR, an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to convert printed and scanned documents into digital files with "unprecedented accuracy."

  • student using a tablet with math symbols dissolving into a glowing AI

    Survey: Students Say AI Use Can Reduce Math Anxiety

    In a recent survey, 56% of high school students said that the use of artificial intelligence can go a long way toward reducing math anxiety.