Technology

Presented to the ABA Board of Directors at its March 2009 Meeting

By Len Vlahos, ABA Chief Program Officer

History

In 1978 Douglas Adams envisioned a slim electronic folio that contained all the useful knowledge of all the people on all the planets in the universe. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as Adams imagined it, would let you carry in your pocket a device that functioned like an amalgam of Google and an e-book. And while he was trying to be funny, Adams, it turns out, was prescient.

On Tuesday, March 3, representatives from Above the Treeline, nine publishers, Ingram Book Group, and the American Booksellers Association met at Random House's New York City offices for discussions about ongoing field tests of Edelweiss, Treeline's online, interactive catalog product. About 30 booksellers are currently testing the product, which was developed with input from ABA, independent retailers, and publishers.

Booksellers who missed the popular ABA Winter Institute program "Using Multimedia to Market Your Store" -- which Tova Beiser of Brown University Bookstore described as full of ideas that "seem really cool and worth doing" -- can find something of a recap in a downloadable PDF create

One of the fastest growing services on the Web is a paragon of pith, and is playing an increasingly important role for businesses of all sizes.

The IndieBound movement is growing ... in bookstores and other independent retailers nationwide, online at IndieBound.org, and now on the social networking site Facebook.

Above the Treeline announced today that on November 1 it would begin field-testing Edelweiss, a new online, interactive catalog product. The test will include publishers and booksellers and will last for six months, at which time the company plans to release the next version of the application for wider rollout.

Booksellers interested in participating in, or learning more about, the Booksellers Print-to-Order (PTO) Publishing Program, launched by the American Booksellers Association and Applewood Books in July, can now find answers to frequently asked questions as well as a letter of agreement on BookWeb.org.

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced a partnership with Applewood Books that will enable ABA member booksellers to publish out-of-print books on demand. The new program will provide participating booksellers with the ability to publish any title that is in the public domain or any book, such as a local interest title, whose rights have reverted to the author and to sell it at margins from 50 to 75 percent.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that 62 percent of American adults have either accessed the Internet wirelessly or have used hand-held devices for such applications as texting and e-mail, which is not surprising given that of the estimated 150 million laptops sold in 2007 most have wireless capabilities. And, soon, mobile computer users will be checking e-mail and surfing the web wirelessly during American Airline flights and, in 2009, in Chrysler cars and trucks.