Japan: New “Study Panel” Will Look at Lending of Ebooks by Public Libraries

From The Japan News/The Yomiuri Shimbun:

A joint project to distribute electronic books to public libraries nationwide is set to be launched by the public and private sectors.
A study panel for the project comprising publishing company and library officials, as well as experts, was established this month. The purpose of the project is to allow public libraries to lend e-books with a view toward establishing a business model for publishing firms’ services for such institutions. The panel also is considering the distribution of e-books to hospitals and welfare facilities, taking advantage of e-books’ unique functions, such as content that can be read aloud with a computer-generated voice and text that can be enlarged.
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Officials of such government entities as the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, as well as online distributors such as Amazon.com Inc. and Rakuten Inc., participated in the panel as observers.

See Also: Panel Looks into Japanese Libraries Offering E-Book Lending (via The Japan Daily Press)

Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries, Publishing