Been offline over the weekend? You may have missed the news on HarperCollins new licences for ebooks for libraries. This came to the attention of librarians via a message from Overdrive CEO Steve Potash, who did not actually mention the publisher’s name. HarperCollins confirmed it was the publisher in question.

Two key things to note is the limit of 26 checkouts of titles and tightening up on geographical use – who libraries are issuing cards to. There are around 25 Australian library services listed on the Overdrive site.

I won’t go into other details as others have written about this already. You can read:

• HarperCollins Puts 26 Loan Cap on Ebook Circulations – LibraryJournal.com
• Let’s Play Rent-a-Book – David Lee King
• Publishing Industry Forces OverDrive and Other Library eBook Vendors to Take a Giant Step Back – Bobbi L. Newman

To follow the Twitter conversation on this checkout #hcod on Twitter or Twapperkeeper archive

Responses ranged from the visceral to the satirical.

For some it was the proverbial straw provoking them to feelings of anger and disgust.

Others wanting to express their frustration and look for some light-hearted responses started tweeting satirical book titles using the tag #hcodtitles.

Like these…

@marinakastan RT @wawoodworth: Sense & Limited Useability #hcodtitles
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:52:23 +0000 – tweet id 41359899837472768 – #12
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@LundeenLiterary ROFL!!! @michaelkpate One Thousand and One Nights Minus Nine Hundred and Seventy Five #hcodtitles
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:29:37 +0000 – tweet id 41354172305510400 – #27
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@PMMcG My last #hcodtitles –> You don’t get to 26 friends without making a few enemies
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:53:38 +0000 – tweet id 41360215890862081 – #11
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If you are handy with the digital imaging, you might like to enter the LOLbrarians competition inspired by this news. Check out LOLibrarians: a Photoshop Contest at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

Image by rochelle, et. al, reproduced under a creative commons licence.