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Weekly News Digest
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March 21, 2013 — In addition to this week's NewsBreak(s), the editors have compiled the Weekly News Digest, featuring stories from the week just past that you should know about. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today.
CLICK HERE to view all of this week's Weekly News Digest items.
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New Bowker Study on Ebook Markets
The rise in ebook reading in the U.S. and U.K. over the last 3 years has been a key driver in the market share gains of e-retailers, according to research being released this month by Bowker Market Research. In the U.S., e-retailers accounted for 44% of book purchases by volume in 2012, up from 25% in 2010. In the U.K., the rise has been somewhat less dramatic but still significant, up from 25% in January-November 2010, to 38% in the same period in 2012.E-retailers market share increases come at the expense of chain booksellers in the U.S., where their market share has dropped from 32% to 19% of volume. This sector has proved more resilient in the U.K., but even there, the bookshop share as a whole fell from 43% during January-November 2010 to 37% in the equivalent months in 2012. “It is clear that the ebook format has really come of age in the U.S.,” said Jo Henry, director of Bowker Market Research, a service of ProQuest affiliate Bowker. “Ebooks’ market share has seen steady growth since January 2009, with steep rises after each Christmas.” In November 2012, 28% of all book purchases in the U.S. were in ebook format—a dramatic rise from 6% in November 2010. In the U.K., the ebook share of the market reached a peak of 13% in July 2012, at the height of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, but it fell back to about 9% in November 2012. Supporting data is available on Bowker’s Bookconsumer.com site. Bowker, a ProQuest affiliate, is the leading provider of bibliographic information and management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. Source: Bowker
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Paula J. Hane
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