BiblioNet
| Public organisation | |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Laiýs, Aðuna , |
Area served | Tyran |
| Services | |
Number of employees | 11.000 (2018) |
| Website | http://www.biblionet.gls/ |
BiblioNet is a Gylian public organisation providing digital preservation and a digital library of books and magazines. It is part of the publinet.
BiblioNet offers ad-free online archiving and download of digitised books and magazines. It is funded from taxation and subscriptions.
Users can read texts on demand and download them in open formats. Access is free, and users have the option to purchase content or donate directly to the writers, using a pay what you want model.
Since its establishment, BiblioNet has had a significant impact and role in Gylian pop culture. It has a practical monopoly on the nationwide digital distribution of literature.
History
BiblioNet was founded in 1994, as part of an effort to harness the increasingly popular internet for social and public service needs. Its aim was to provide publicly-owned digital preservation and digital library services, ensure universal access to culture and the arts, and protect artists' livelihoods.
The site was launched on 1 February 1995. The company's work spawned an additional publinet site, Telecomix, and the ArtNet project partly evolved out of it.
BiblioNet has been one of Gylias' most popular websites since its launch. It has experienced substantial user growth and has continued to expand functionality and services for users. Updates have included support for more formats, new user features, and compatibility with mobile operating systems.
It played a significant role in the renewed Gylian Invasion of the 1990s, making Gylian literature and media easily accessible to anyone with internet access.
The site had 25 million registered users as of December 2018.
Features
Users
BiblioNet users can access digitised books and magazines for reading and download.
Users with accounts can tag and share uploaded works, and perform volunteer proofreading and editing work to fix errors in scanned texts and metadata.
Users can choose whether to purchase the available texts at their own price, or gift money directly to the respective creators. Purchases and donations can be made in various currencies, including þalers, foreign currencies, and complementary currencies.
In addition to personal computers, BiblioNet-supported platforms include smartphones and tablets.
Authors
Authors and publishers with accounts can upload their works to BiblioNet, using various file formats. They are converted to open formats for hosting and downloading.
Authors can customise their pages, write their biography, or provide additional comments on their work. They can also access data regarding their web traffic, which is restricted to their accounts. A tool allows them to also access a database of literary events and programs.
In addition to direct purchases and gifts, authors receive royalty payments for online readings through the Creative Rights Organisation.
Copyright
BiblioNet functions in accordance with Gylian copyright law, and material released on it conforms to different public copyright licenses or is in the public domain. Public domain content still accords permanent moral rights to its creators.
Publinet connections
Works uploaded through BiblioNet are automatically connected to the rest of the publinet, which forms a unified database. A program automatically scans uploads and generates links to respective entries on the other websites.
Cinematic adaptations of books are automatically connected to Proton entries.
Book illustrations are automatically connected to ArtNet entries.
Audiobooks on Proton and readings on NetStream automatically connect to respective BiblioNet entries.
Funding
As a public organisation, BiblioNet is primarily funded from the federal government's budget, with contributions from regional and municipal governments. Users with accounts can also pay a subscription to support the site.
Ownership
BiblioNet is legally a public organisation, registered as a SP. The company is organised as a cooperative and governed by workers' self-management.
Its headquarters are in Laiýs, Aðuna, forming an area known as the Ţiksagon.
Geographic availability
BiblioNet is mainly available in Gylias, but can be accessed from anywhere in Tyran, as it does not use geo-blocking or regional lockout mechanisms.