Open eBook (or OEB), or formally, the Open eBook Publication Structure (OEBPS), is a legacy e-book format "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press"[2] and on XML; it has been superseded by the EPUB electronic publication standard.

Open eBook is a ZIP file plus a Manifest file. Inside the package a defined subset of XHTML may be used, along with CSS and Dublin Core metadata. The default file extension is .opf (OEB Package Format).

While I haven't absolutely confirmed this, my understanding is that DC support carried over into EPUB.

I've used the rare book readers at the British Library, and liked them quite a lot. While they didn't include every feature one could imagine, they did have a very intuitive interface. (The readers actually in the British Library are better than the online version, because their screens are desk-sized.) UM has a rare book reader too:

Modeled on similar projects at The British Library and the National Library of Medicine, our “PictureIt” site puts some of the most beautiful and sought‐after items in our collections into the hands of readers worldwide – virtually.

One response to this from fans of these affected writers is to boycott Amazon. But you know what, I think that’s putting the focus where it shouldn’t be. This crux of this matter is a negotiation between two corporate entities, and that’s something a boycott just isn’t going to matter to, or solve in any meaningful way. And in the case of the authors involved, it’s not going to help them make sales.

A former publisher of the wonderful, and now sadly deceased, indie press, Four Walls Eight Windows, is co-founding a new press that will deal exclusively in e-books and will sell directly to readers, not retailers. Cory wishes him well, and so do I.

Meanwhile, B&N is charging hard into the world of ebooks with...!!

...A proprietary format that only works on their own device?

Umm... ok. Good luck with that.

So now a publisher weighs in on the question of delaying the release of an ebook edition until after a hardback release.

There are moments of reason in the case she makes, but it's hard to get around the dubious assumption that a publisher will be able to suppress content in the digital age: