It isn’t surprising that 3-D printers are often mentioned in the same breath as library Maker spaces. “Additive manufacturing” technology is about 30 years old, but as it becomes more refined, as well as more affordable, its growing importance to engineering and prototyping appears to be inevitable, as well as its use in everything from medicine to haute cuisine. Meanwhile, during the past few years, dozens of small desktop units have become available, most priced out of reach for casual users but within the means of many libraries interested in offering their communities access to new technologies.

In a move that underscores OverDrive’s plans to support a robust selection of streaming video for libraries, the company on Tuesday announced the appointment of Lee C. Milstein to the newly created position of chief strategy officer. Milstein was most recently head of the news content partnership team for Google’s YouTube division, and previously held [...]

It was a coup when 3M announced in June, just three months after Penguin Group had severed its relationship with OverDrive, that it had brought Penguin tentatively back into the library ebook fold through a pilot project with the New York Public Library (NYPL) and the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). The deal typified the way 3M has made its presence felt in the library ebook market, from striking such notable content deals to bringing its considerable experience as a technology company to bear on the development of its 3M Cloud Library platform and hiring away LJ reviews editor Heather McCormack.

EBSCO Information Services and BiblioLabs will launch OpenDissertations.org, an open access initiative that will facilitate the discovery of electronic theses and dissertations beginning early this year.