23 September 2004

Australian libraries among earliest adopters of e-book format

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) is pleased to announce Philip Blackwell, CEO of Blackwell Ltd UK, as one of the keynote speakers at the ALIA 2004 Biennial Conference, 21-24 September, at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. Blackwell's is an internationally renowned leader in the distribution of print and electronic content, with 1500 staff world-wide. Operating in Australia continuously for more than 100 years, Blackwell's has been a family business for over 125 years.

Philip Blackwell will be addressing the conference theme, 'Challenging Ideas', on 23 September at 10:30am with a discussion of e-books entitled 'Uneven distribution - a look back at the future of e-books'. E-books are an often contentious topic that have publishers on edge and librarians eager for more content and accessibility. Australian libraries have been among the earliest adopters of the e-book format, and Australia is the home of one of the world's leading suppliers of e-books, Ebook Library.

In a 9 September interview in Library Journal's Academic Newswire, Blackwell expressed his belief that e-books and print books will continue to thrive, side-by-side. When asked if in ten years, Blackwell's would still be considered a bookseller, he commented, 'books will still be central to what we do, but at the higher level we're trying to create a better-informed world ... I think the e-book, like any form of content, has a role. When it started out, it was a solution looking for a problem.'

For more information on the Blackwell companies, go to http://www.blackwell.com or you may contact Philip Blackwell directly at philip@blackwell.co.uk.

The Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA] is the professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector. It seeks to empower the profession in the development, promotion and delivery of quality library and information services to the nation, through leadership, advocacy and mutual support.