On November 10, a group of seven women will sit down and dive into The Golden Notebook, the 1962 Doris Lessing novel that still figures large in the feminist canon. Like book clubbers everywhere, the readers will jot down notes in the margins and riff about the book — except that this conversation, down to the marginal jottings, will take place online.

The readers, all creative writers and critics, will record their thoughts in an online version of the text and in a group blog. Others who want to contribute to the conversation will be able to post to a public forum.

The Golden Notebook project is the brain child of Bob Stein, co-director of if:book London, “a think-and-do tank” devoted to tapping the potential of new media for writers and readers. Mr. Stein is also director and...

Rumors are swirling again that the long-running lawsuit between publishers and Google over its book-scanning program is on the verge of a settlement. According to a report in Library Journal, anonymous sources have let slip “that talk of a final agreement has indeed heated up, with one publishing insider confirming that a settlement was ‘imminent.’”

Google has been scanning millions of books through its Google Book Search program. The suit was brought in October 2005 by five publishers—McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, the Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster, and John Wiley & Sons, all members of the Association of American Publishers. They seek an injunction against Google on the grounds that scanning a copyrighted work with...

Imagine using a textbook free all semester—and then ponying up what, if anything, you thought it was worth. Noel Capon, a professor of marketing at Columbia Business School, has decided to try out that model with his latest textbook, Managing Marketing in the 21st Century.

Users go to the book’s Web site, enter an e-mail address, and get free online access (no downloads or printouts, though). A few months after signing up, they will receive an e-mail message asking them to pay whatever sum they deem appropriate. They can, of course, buy a printed copy of the book, for $45, and they’re encouraged to buy a companion volume, The Virgin Marketer, and a student study guide.

The book’s Web site compares the scheme to the band Radiohead’s release of its album In Rainbows, which listeners could download free. Mr. Capon says his idea...

Library users at the University of Michigan will soon be able to order print-on-demand copies of books from the university’s collection—and get them in about the time it takes for a barista to whip up a latte. The Espresso Book Machine, a book-printing machine described as “the ATM of books,” goes online at Michigan’s library Oct. 1. Michigan says it’s the first university library to install the machine.

Just about any digitized, out-of-copyright book from Michigan’s collection can be printed and bound on the spot. Printing takes five to seven minutes, and the cost is about $10 per book. Users will also be able to print books from online sources such as the Open Content Alliance. The Espresso’s manufacturer, On Demand Books, wants to create a network of machines in libraries and bookshops around the world, allowing users to print...

Libraries can now sign up to buy access to all of Duke University Press’s latest offerings in electronic form through the just-launched e-Duke Books Scholarly Program. The program operates via ebrary, a widely used online content provider.

Duke publishes about 115 books a year in the social sciences and humanities, according to Michael McCullough, the press’s sales manager. Subscribers to e-Duke Books will have online access to all those and to all backlist titles available in electronic format — 900 and counting. Although many university presses have partnerships with ebrary, Mr. McCullough said he believed that Duke’s program is unique because it offers access to the press’s full list, not just to individual titles.

Scholarly presses, including Duke’s, have watched...

Sony wants Penn State students to help it figure out why more readers haven’t taken to e-books. The electronics company has provided the university with 100 e-book readers for a yearlong study of “e-book usage in a higher-ed setting,” Publishers Weekly reports.

Run by the English department and the university libraries, the study will track classroom and library use of e-books, and try to figure out how useful they are as research tools and as aids to people with disabilities. Some of the e-books will be library loaners, loaded with “popular categories” such as top-selling fiction.

“We want to be at the front end of this new technology and to help Sony’s technology team create a product that will be useful for how our students work with literature,” Robin Schulze, head of Penn...

Database giant ProQuest has inked a deal to buy Dialog from Thomson Reuters. Founded 40 years ago, Dialog was the first online information-retrieval system to offer worldwide access to significant commercial databases.

“Dialog is a highly respected source of information and a trusted brand for libraries, so it is an exceptionally good fit in the ProQuest family,” ProQuest chief executive Marty Kahn said in a statement released yesterday. “We share a deep understanding of the library community and commitment to serving it with high-quality information tools.”

The deal will extend ProQuest’s reach in the so-called Deep Web of content not readily...