I heard about Print-On-Demand books for the first time several years ago from Internet Archive’s Brewster Kahle – it was exciting to think after a few punch of the buttons, a bound and printed book pops out minutes later. [Details and photos on Salon.com]
Despite my enthusiasm, I did wonder how long (if ever) it would take libraries to take a shine to this new-fangled technology.
UMichigan has now taken that idea and run with it. “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 to install the machine.”[Read more on The Chronicle of Higher Education]
