Another eBook Option

In case you missed it, yesterday Amazon announced that they were partnering with OverDrive to start a kindle library lending program.

This is kind of a big deal.

First, because there are millions of kindle (or kindle app) owners who would like to borrow ebooks from the library. As of yet, libraries haven't been able to officially provide this service (emphasis on officially) because Amazon won't let them.

Second, librarians are still feeling the sting from the Harper Collins debacle- in that Harper Collins will only allow an ebook to circulate 26 times, after which the library has to repurchase the book. Which is stupid.

With this being a big deal, it is all over the internet. You can read the Amazon press release and the OverDrive press release. You can read the story, with excellent commentary, in the New York Times or in the LA Times. And then there are the librarian blogs. Thankfully, they seem to be asking very pertinent questions, trying to make sense of what is to come and ensuring that they can provide the best service to their patrons as possible. Because librarians are awesome like that. The top three blogs that have featured this story, in my humble opinion, are the Librarian in Black, the Librarian by Day and I Found Myself in the Library (written by a recent MLIS grad).

Since I don't have much responsibility (or experience) with collection management, I am following this story from the side lines. I find this story particularly fascinating in comparison with Harper Collins' recent policy announcement about the lending of their ebooks. I keep finding my self comparing the two companies. Harper Collins is one of the world's larget publishers. The are directly producing and disseminating content. It makes sense that they want to protect their assets and keep their authors happy. But, they need to be more realistic in their relations with libraries. Amazon is a retailer - and one of the world's largest. While they also want to have good relationships with authors, and publishers for that matter, they are not directly involved with the production of content as Harper Collins. However, they are both companies and therefore need to turn a profit. So now we wait and see what Amazon is going to do....

[Update: After going through my reader, I saw that Andy over at Agnostic, Maybe also has a great post on this issue, also looking at the retailer/publisher comparison]

...I would like to point out that this is not Amazon's first dealings with other learning organizations. As I blogged about back in January 2010, Amazon was working with Reed College and other universities in testing the practicality of students using kindles in the classroom. That study was stopped by the U.S. Justice Department, after complaints from blind students. In a way, I feel that this supports my theory that eReaders are going to be a much larger issue for public libraries than academic libraries. Academic libraries really jumped on the eContent bandwagon with electronic journals, which has been working out okay (there still is a whole bevy of issues of dealing with vendors and subscriptions), but I am not sure if academic patrons are going to be as interested in eReaders and consumers of popular fiction -with seems to be the kindle's largest audience. I guess we will just have to wait and see...

Public Librarians, take a bow!

The past few days have been pretty exciting for libraries. There has been some amazing, and loud, debate surrounding Harper Collins' new policies surrounding library's purchasing their ebooks. In simplest terms, Harper Collins - working with Over Drive - will sell their ebook to a library, but that ebook can only circulate 26 times before the library has to repurchase said book.

Librarians are not pleased, and between Facebook, Blogs, and Twitter they are letting the world know how disgruntled they are. To see the crazy amount of noise that librarians are making for yourself, just go to twitter.com and search for #hcod. You don't even have to log in or create an account, the results will pop up. Just be sure to come back here when you're done.

And it makes sense why librarians are up in arms. This would take collection development in a whole new direction. When library funds are limited it can be challenging enough to try and make your collection grow appropriately. But, as this youtube video highlights, Harper Collins' new policy would add even more constraints to collection development.

It would be like trying to buy gas, but for every five gallons, you would have to buy back the keys to your car.

I am finding this debate absolutely fascinating. Working in a medical academic library, we certainly emphasize electronic journals, but not so much electronic books. This issue is going to affect public libraries the most...

...While ebooks have been around for about a decade, best practices for delivering content to the masses still need to be figured out. Even for-profit organizations are scrambling. Traditional booksellers like Borders are going belly up while independent writers who avoid traditional publishing houses are making millions. And it's just as confusing for libraries. There has been a lot of discussion among my classmates on what the best answer is, and the debate seems to follow most debates in librarianship: services versus systems.

So, what's the best answer? I have no idea. I'm not sure anyone does. But that's not important. What is important is that librarians are contributing to the discussions. While many people argue that libraries are irrelevant in the 21st century, this debate is proving that librarians help shape the way individuals will receive digital content. Need evidence? Both authors and publishers are taking notice:

Marilyn Johnson, author of The Dead Beat and This Book is Overdue, posted on her blog that while publisher and authors need to be compensated, it should not be off the backs of libraries.While it may be lukewarm, Harper Collins themselves commented on the debate that librarians are stirring up. They call for collaboration, but it doesn't sound like they will change their policy.

I'm real excited to see where this debate goes. But I am mostly excited, and proud, of the way that librarians are refusing to give in without a fight.While I may only be on the sidelines, battles like this are the reason I went into library school.

The future creeps closer

Six months ago, Amazon announced that the Kindle outsold hardbacks on their website. Now, not only have Kindles surpassed HP7 as the most sold product, they have outsold paperbacks, too.

This is not surprising. eBooks and eReaders are a way better business model than paper-and-glue books. It costs way less to store digital content (you don't have to rent warehouses) and it is way cheaper to deliver (no pesky shipping costs).

While I think book-selling as a form commerce is certainly dwindling, I still stand by my assertion that books - and more importantly, libraries - aren't going anywhere. Varying forms forms of information formats will be needed for different information wants and needs. And information professionals are still going to be needed to help people search for appropriate and effective information resources.

Although libraries are still going to be relevant, they are going to look much different in the near future. I'll let Abbey tell you why:

Cupcakes and E-books (How NPR is rocking my world)

Some great content from NPR has not only caught my attention today, but has gotten my mind thinking about information and librarianship (which shouldn't be too surprising, it doesn't take a whole lot to get me thinking about either topic).

First there is this article: At Amazon, E-Book Sales Outpace Hardcover. As I read it, I imagined bibliophiles around the globe FLIPPING OUT. I think there are a lot of implications to the fact that e-books are selling more than hardbacks on Amazons website, and I think there is some reading-between-the-lines that also needs to be taken into consideration.

There are multiple reasons why E-books appear so popular. First are the apparent reasons:

Aside from the cost of the reading devise, they're cheaper than most real books ($10 for an e-book versus $12 for a quality paperback, or $25 for a hardback).

We're a society who loves toys. With the proliferation of Kindles, iPads, iPhones, Nooks and what ever sad attempt Borders has at breaking into the market, there are more and more opportunities to read E-Books.

But on the other hand:

Reading the article, we have to realize that this information is specific for Amazon's website. People who buy things online are going to be way more tech savvy (and have more money) than people who don't. As a perpetually broke grad student, I refuse to give up the pleasure of reading just because I don't have the dough (or time). I do utilize the library more often than not - but when I want a "new" book to put on my shelf I head to Goodwill, where paperbacks are $.99 and I have yet to find a hardcover for more that $4. So while it may seem that more people are utilizing e-books, it's just that more of Amazon's customer's are.

While e-books are more and more common, no one is taking away actually books. Well, yet.

And, while amused at this story, I'm not too freaked out about it. Living in a digital age, digital content is becoming more and more familiar to people. People who constantly look at a screen for information are going to find comfort and convenience at looking at a screen for entertainment as well. When I ride public transportation to work, instead or reading the New York Times over someone's shoulder, I'm reading the New York Times over someone's shoulder on their iPhone. This is just the way things are going and I think folks are starting to get used to it...

And the other bit that caught my eye was a post on the the Monkey See blog: Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries.

There's not a whole lot of analysis that needs to happen here. Blogger Linda Holmes just does a phenomenal job at describing the awesomeness of libraries and librarians. Between Gaga dance videos and The Old Spice Dude (and his Mormon knockoff, which I think is better than the real thing), the cultural presence of libraries is building some serious momentum, and there will be a culmination of society remembering how important they are as a democratic institution. And I'm looking forward to riding that wave.

Special thanks to Flickr user weir thru a lens for use of the cupcake photo.

Amazon hates blind people....

Not really, just looking for a catchy title. But here is an interesting development:

Schools who were testing the kindle for academic settings are stopping, and even going so far to recommend that schools don't promote the use of Kindles in the classroom.

The impetus for this move? Complaints to the U.S. Justice Department stating that the Kindle is not accessible to blind students. Although the Kindle has basic text to speech functions, these functions don't include menus or search options.

I guess Amazon isn't saying a whole lot about this little blunder, but in earlier statements the company recognized that key modifications still need to be made before the device can fully service blind individuals.

writers who are better than me....

I think it is appropriate for my first post of 2010 to continue the examination of emerging content delivery technologies: eReaders.

Don't worry, it's short. (I'm way to excited to go home and cook dinner to focus too much attention on writing). I just wanted to share with you a great article on npr about eReaders. It features author Nicholas Carr (who wrote a great article, called Is Google Making Us Stupid, for The Atlantic), who brings up a very important question: is there a relationship between how we read and what we're reading off of?

So there you are: two great articles to start off the new year....

Stephenie Meyer is the worst ecological catastrophe of the 21st century

I went in to work the other day and to see that her publisher released another paperback edition of New Moon (the sequel to Twilight) with a movie tie-in cover. Just in case the fans did not own enough junk.

I think that 10% of our books in the store are written by a Mormon who uses vampires as an analogy for angels (not that I have anything against Mormons. Just the bigoted ones). Seriously though, that is a lot of books. And multiply that by all of the big box corporate bookstores out there. Add in Amazon. Throw in a few independent stores for good measure. It all adds up

The lorax is weeping...

..and not just over Stephenie Meyer. Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Nicolas Sparks. I don't want to censor bad literature. We all need a little garbage in out lives. Once you think about it though, all those trees add up.

It got me thinking about eReaders again. One of my readings for class talked about the information infrastructure, liking it to our transportation infrastructure. There are dozens, if not hundreds of components that let individuals (and commodities) travel around, almost anywhere we want to get. The infrastructure of information is similar, and mobile technology such as the Kindle and the iPhone are additional components to our information systems. Not everything can be on them, but maybe some stuff should.

PS - found a blog on eReaders. teleread.org Maybe some of you already know about it. If you don't, check it out.

the future is now

I found an article today that makes me want to address the giant pink elephant tiptoeing between the stacks....

Apparently, Sony and OverDrive are going to team up to cross market the Sony Reader with the OverDrive network to make it easier for library patrons to check out books onto eReaders. The patron looks up the book on the library's computer/website, and if it's offered through the OverDrive network, they plug in their library card number and download it to the Sony Reader. This causes a lot of questions to pop into my head:

Does the patron have to provide the eReader?

If the library provides the eReader, who's going to pay for them?

Does the book have a due date? Will it just disappear on the screen when it is due? If the library provides the eReader, will they have the same late fees as a regular book?

I'm sure that it is painfully obvious that I am only starting out as a Library Student (orientation is just over a week away), so maybe it is a little premature for me to start blogging about my opinions surrounding eReaders and what role they should play with in libraries and the information industry. I guess what I am trying to say is that this might be my first blog encroaching upon this subject, but is certainly won't be my last...

Right now my only interaction I have had with eReaders is that as a bookseller for a corporate retail chain, and I must admit, I haven't been all that impressed. It's just another commodity. a toy. something for the wealthy to whip out on a plane so everyone around them can see how wealthy they are. whoop-de-do. And that is basically how we have been trained to sell them in the store. We're told to play up their novelty to anyone who seems like a frequent business traveler.

I feel most sensible folks share the same sentiment. It's not a book. It doesn't feel like a book, smell like a book. You can't turn the pages, or feel the satisfaction of closing the back cover when you finish it. And you certainly don't get the same enjoyment of throwing it across the room in a fit of anger or frustration. or do you...?

However, I am a Libra, thus try to understand both sides of the story. I do see eReaders devices being useful in the academic realm. For a student to have their textbooks, journal articles, syllabuses and other required reading in one location could be very convenient. Although, it would make underlining, highlighting and writing in the margins a little tricky.

So I don't know where I stand on this, but I do promise that after a little research and maybe a few classes I'll have some more to say...