This week, California took a big step forward in open-source education. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a proposal to create a website that will allow students to download popular textbooks for free. The legislation contains two bills: One, a proposal for the state to fund 50 open-source digital textbooks, targeted to lower-division courses, which will be produced by California's universities. The other bill is a proposal to establish a California Digital Open Source Library to host those books.

Several universities have recently tried a new model for delivering textbooks in hopes of saving students money: requiring purchase of e-textbooks and charging students a materials fee to cover the costs. A recent report on some of those pilot projects, however, shows that many students find the e-textbooks "clumsy" and prefer print.

While several colleges across the country are pushing electronic textbooks, touting them as more efficient and less cumbersome than regular textbooks, students are reluctant. E-textbooks still account for only 9% of textbook purchases, says Student Monitor, which researches college student behavior.

Amazon was pleased to announce today that they've sold millions of Kindles this holiday season.

E-books are more than a publishing platform-they're a ­whole new literary form.

Wednesday, November 9, Politics & Prose officially launched "Opus," Washington's first print-on-demand Espresso book machine. It's one of only a handful operating in independent bookstores worldwide.

On the topic for tonight's class on DRM, I thought some would find this of interest...

Use OverDrive, an alternative to Amazon's Prime accounts only Kindle Lending Library program

University Presses using Social Media to drive search and discovery

Amazon Announces New Kindle Format 8 for Graphics Rich eBooks

...You can't quite do this with eBooks/eReaders.

The combination of text, video, and archival media is the perfect medium for the new Jacqueline Kennedy volume

New technology allowing users to create their own Commonplace Book: BookRiff, a Vancouver-based company that promises to allow consumers to mix print content and create their own books and e-books, is scheduled to launch Oct. 6.