E-Books And Libraries
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-08-28/e-books-and-libraries
In the past year, libraries have seen a sharp growth in e-book borrowing. That trend is transforming the relationship between libraries and publishers. Libraries need to offer electronic books to remain relevant today. But some publishers worry lending e-books will lead to piracy and loss of sales. Two of the big six publishers license their e-books to libraries. Others are exploring pilot programs or have declined to participate. Many library patrons are frustrated with the limited availability of titles and long waiting lists. And some buy a copy of the e-book anyway. Guest host, Frank Sesno, and his guests discuss the challenges of e-booking lending at the library.
Guests
Jeremy Greenfield
editorial director of F+W Media's Digital Book World.
Carrie Russell
director of the Program for Public Access to Information, Office of Information Technology, The American Library Association.
Allan Adler
vice president of legal and government affairs at the Association of American Publishers.
Vailey Oehlke
director of libraries at Multnomah County Library in Portland, Ore.
Comments
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Maybe it's because I'm older, but I tend to focus better and soak in more when I read a paper book than an e-book, particularly when reading about a complex topic. However, e-books are more convenient for a quick browsing or a very short reading on anything.
What a coincidence! Two days ago I checked out an mp3 audiobook from my library. It was so convienent, I just selected the audiobook I wanted and downloaded it onto my computer right from the comfort of my home. I was extra surprised to see that the library clarified right on their website that users are permitted to burn the audiobook onto CDs. That was another bonus for me since I listen to audiobooks in the car. Checking out an audiobook online is so great for me especially because I am terrible at remembering library book due dates, but part of me did feel guilty for burning the audiobook onto a CD for my car rather than purchasing it.
Oh, and I'm with you, wamunprlistener, I find paper much easier to read than paper. I love the feeling of a physical book so I don't see myself ever getting e-books. There's something magical about seeing all the knowledge and information spread out in front of you in a library in the form of books. That's probably materialistic of me, but books have always been a very important and treasured part of my family. If anything they were a material possession that was considered perfectly acceptable :)
The doctors did not correctly answer the Detroit listener's question: These microbes don't "learn". The ones that are susceptible die. The ones that happen to have a resistance breed. Eventually, only resistant microbes remain. If they "learned" then the microbes could "move" their proteins around. Are the doctors saying that microbes have a method to actively mutate themselves?
Your post belongs at the comment section for the previous hour's program. But, to answer your question, basically, yes, the microbes are capable of mutating themselves, in order to survive and procreate.
I like the eReader for convenience of having multiple books available to me at any given time. I also like that I can size the font so easily (as my eyes are getting older). The fact that the libraries are now offering eBooks is great.
The physical bookstore and public library are both relics of the 20th century which for the most part will be gone in another decade. With the demise of Borders and independent stores over 50% of bookstore space in the USA has disappeared in the last 6 years.
While I appreciate the topic, like the music industry commerce lags utility. I've personally seen hundreds of books converted from paper form to electronic form with nothing more than an office photocopier. Having just completed my MBA, I can tell you that all of my books are in electronic formats. The industry is so interested in their old business models that they are unwilling to keep with the possibilities of new technology. I love the idea that my local library would again begin relevant.
As a 72 year old retired academic librarian who has to deal with acute nearsightedness and glaucoma, I greatly appreciate the fact that e books allow me to enlarge the print of the material I am reading to whatever size required.
John Tom Chapel Hill, NC
I find the library's e-reader more difficult to use than the one I use from Audible. I get frustrated because my library reader doesn't remember where I stop after each session, even when I try to set a bookmark. Very cumbersome.
Why would I buy an e-book book that I have already borrowed from a library? If I want to read it again I can always borrow it again. Buying an e-book isn't really buying a book, just a license to access a text file.
Just bought a Nook for reading books and magazines but find that there are too few books on Overdrive. I ended up at the bricks and mortar library yesterday to check out some books. PLEASE give us more e-books! I also download audio books all the time from the library, great service!
I do not like ebooks/readers. If the satellite goes down, what do I do?
Have you discussed copyright law vs. licensing law and rights? Should there be a push towards legislation that would allow public libraries the same (not more) rights to purchase and loan digital copies? It seems publishers are really nibbling away at the current law.
@ Cutiecat53: "I do not like ebooks/readers. If the satellite goes down, what do I do?"
Duck!
Although ebooks are generally cheaper than paper books, they are still far too expensive. A typical etextbook for me costs $50 to $100, while the paper version is $75 to $125. The cost of ebooks is simply outrageous and viewed by most students as a rip-off of an involuntary consumer. Marketplace competition isn't working here. When the cost of ebooks comes down to something reasonable like $5 to $10 then students will not seek pirated copies of etextbooks.
In addition, the ebook versions are so cumbersome and frustrating to use that they are almost not worth the trouble. Copying text from the typical etextbook, to use in your course assignments and for your course notes, is far too slow and laborious, especially in comparison to how easy it is to do that with a PDF and wordprocessing file. The etextbook market will suffer ever more pirating and hacking until the prices come way down and usability goes way up. Etextbook publishers need to price their software like the iPad apps, or else they will eventually be largely replaced by pirated books and online wiki books that are free and far easier to use.
My question didn't get addressed on the show but i have a burning curiosity; Does anyone know how long ebooks last? Can I pass on an e-encyclopedia to my children or borrow an e-novel from my wife's reader while I go on a business trip? What happens if my ebook reader with all my ebooks accidently gets destroyed?
I have been a librarian for more than 40 years and I now teach classes to the public on how to use e-media devices to get free downloads from our library website. For a few years now I've been saying no to purchasing an e-reader for myself. After all, I can bring home a book from work any time, assuming there's a copy of the title on the shelf at the moment I want one. But, some readers have become so much more than just a one purpose device. My newly purchased device can function as a tablet PC as well as act as an e-reader. I can access the internet whenever I'm close to a WiFi signal and play WWF, check Facebook, search Google Maps, etc. I can download copies of books in readable or audible form from my library. I can even select instant gratification and occasionally spend a few dollars to download a book when the waiting list at the library is still weeks long. Public libraries with the item in your hand and downloadable e-media -- you can have it both ways!
Started using a Kindle earlier this year. I find that I am reading the books more thoroughly, maybe because it isn't so easy to skip through a part of the book that doesn't completely engage me. I have been checking out library ebooks since day one of having the Kindle.
I am an author of 4 technical books. Once I gave my permission to publish an ebook version of my works, China immediately copied the ebook and released it for free within one of their respected industry websites. Proprietary software was also copied and distributed free to the Chinese market.
I have chosen not to write another revision to the book because it is not worth my time to do this.
Such an interesting discussion! As with all technology, I am still making the transition - I borrow paper books from my local library, and I buy (a few) paper books (not as many as I used to, sorry Borders!!), and I've bought ebooks as well, from Amazon of course. I have not borrowed an ebook from my local library, because until just recently, you could only have the book for 2 weeks - I rarely finish a book that quickly. But the time was increased to 3 weeks, and more books have become available, so I look forward to using this service as well. Can I please be called a Library Power User - what a wonderful title!
Something I don't understand - the libraries just lease the e-book from publishers? Someone said there is a finite number of times the book could be loaned before it has to be "re-upped" (so to speak) from the publisher. Why can't libraries buy e-books & then own them just like they do print books? This sounds like a real boondoggle on the part of publishers. Give us more money, more money, more money. Don't think I like it. Going to have to research this.
They also briefly discussed the problem arising from not being able to pass the “used” book on to a friend or someone who cannot afford it themselves. I think we need a grass roots movement for publishers to provide a way – once you own an e-book – for you to treat it just like a print book & loan it to someone else or give it away. How do they prevent you from copying it to another person’s computer, for instance? (Bear with me, my nickname is techno-weenie) Anyone know more about this?
Oh, wow, paperbacklucy,
You can burn the book to a CD? How is that allowed? I asked my library & the woman I was speaking to did not see how it could be, but she will have to check it out. Of course that won’t help me b/c - 1) I have not burned anything to a CD yet and don’t really know how & 2) my car still has a tape deck so I’d have to go the other step of taping off the CD onto many tapes. Not likely I will be doing it, but still, it’s interesting.
I LOVE reading library books on my e-reader! (I have a Sony reader and a Samsung tablet.) I love being able to change font size...love being able to take a "pile" of books with me when I travel. I greatly appreciate using the library so I can access a wide variety of books. Thank you to libraries for offering this service. Publishers, wake up, libraries introduce people to books which they may want to buy later...
Marty Brown, How distressing! Don't blame you at all. It's sometimes hard not to judge all of China by the many examples like this. I try hard to confine my distaste to t heir government.
The book file is on the e-reader. You do not need to be online to read. They have rechargeable batteries-- a standard e-ink reader charge lasts several weeks.
Edwards,
I don't think the library will - I think it will morph in to something else. And I'd kind of like to go with the bookstores b/c the world will be hollow without them. There will never be anything like holding a real book.
Edwards, again –
What if you LOVE the book (do you ever love a book?) & want to read parts of it repeatedly & it’s no longer available at your library (don’t think that once the library has an e-book it will always have the book available). You might want it in your personal library. But maybe you don’t keep anything – maybe the world is just a passing thing to you.
I do think, however, that we (not necessarily you) would be more likely to keep a real book than one on an e-reader. And I know SO MANY people who love the physical books that I think your prediction of a decade is too short - & no, they aren’t all old – many of them are under 25.
I am interested in finding out more about something I heard on this program, however, I am not sure how to spell it. I have tried to Google it, but must not be spelling it right. The Calafia consortium in CA uses Smashwords and Bilaberry (this is the word I don't know how to spell). Bilaberry (sp) was mentioned to be a way for a library patron who is looking for an ebook, and the library doesn't have it, or if they do, there is a very long wait list (happens in our Bedford, TX library), the patron can then buy the ebook directly from the library webpage (and the library gets some of the profits). If anyone can help, please comment or post a link to their website. Thanks.
I've had a Kindle now for about one year. It's a really good idea in my opinion. I have been able to find a lot of books for free, and certainly some that I couldn't find, probably, in any library. One of the freebies was a true story about two men who toured Scandinavia during the winter in the late 1850s. It's one of the best books I've ever read, and I would probably never have known of if it hadn't been for Kindle. The writer, Bayard Taylor, was totally unknown to me. Turns out he was quite well known in the 19th century.
I've not tried any e-books yet. However, any method that will encourage reading, and thinking, is a great idea. Too much of our knowledge, especially of the past, is slanted one way or another, and it's important that we have some means of comparing different versions of the same story.
After all, some people today have a vested interest in hiding the truths of the past.
storytellin -
It’s Bilbary (Google it for more information) https://www.bilbary.com/
None of these are exactly what you mentioned – from what I was able to find, it appears to have happened that way only at one library in Britain -
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/bilbary-partnership-could-raise-thousa...
Another story: http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/04/ebooks/kansas-state-library-partn...