Book Digitisation, Online Access and Lending: What Infrastructure Is Needed for Success?

This webinar brought together practitioners from the California Institute of Technology, Boston Public Library and Project ReShare, and focused on the library workflows, software and infrastructures involved in digitising books and providing access to patrons. The internet has revolutionised how libraries and their users can access books. Project Gutenberg, started in 1971, is one of the world's largest online repositories of public domain eBooks. 2019 copyright reforms in Europe now allow for the mass digitisation and access to out-of-commerce and never-in-commerce works including books. Libraries in North America in particular are digitising titles in their collections to create eBooks for lending. Amongst other things, the webinar included a discussion of secure digital lending technologies that ensure no more copies of copyrighted works are provided to library patrons than are owned by the library in physical form. It provided a better idea of how libraries can put in place infrastructures and workflows to support access to digital content and collections. Speakers: Tommy Keswick (Digital Technologies Development Librarian, California Institute of Technology), David Leonard (President, Boston Public Library), Allen Jones (Director of Digital Libraries & Technical Services, The New School), Jennie Rose Halperin (Executive Director, Library Futures).