NIST and NISO invite you to the 4th annual Electronic Book Conference, to be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. The advancements in the e-book industry, the expansion in e-book markets, and the rapid convergence of e-content are setting the stage for E-Book 2001, the largest and most comprehensive meeting addressing all facets of the e-book world.

The first E-Book Conference in 1998 showcased the potential for e-books and e-content and revealed the directions this new business sector was taking. E-Book 1999 featured the release of version one of the Open E-Book Publication Structure Standard, which provided an important base for the launch and acceptance of e-books on a wide-scale. E-Book 2000 was an important meeting point for e-publishers, e-content providers, the DRM community, and e-book readers and users.

A Call for Presentations for Electronic Book 2001: Authors, Applications, & Accessibility has been released. The Conference Committee is soliciting contributions relating to issues with Authors: (how to e-publish, protection of rights, and marketing), Applications: (e-learning, digital libraries, enterprise-wide use, e-healthcare, and library use of e-books), and Accessibility: (distribution, content development, digital rights management (DRM), and standards and interoperability), as well as broader issues such as the e-publisher's place in the publishing process, ways to transfer print texts to electronic files, and usability of various versions of e-books.

In November, accepted papers will become available, published in Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Electronic Book Conference, sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). Attendees will receive a copy. Previous conference attendees have included CEOs and Presidents of literary agencies, e-publishing companies, traditional publishers, software producers, and e-book manufacturers. The NIST e-book conference remains the definitive conference to present recent papers and works to experts in the field, and to see featured exhibits of e-publishing solutions.

Electronic Book 2001 will also include an Exhibit Show. Although attending the Conference will require registration, the Show, which features e-book companies, software developers, and computer companies around the world, is completely free to the public.