Ursula K. LeGuin on Libraries and ebooks

[crossi]

Get the legislature to kill the stupid idea of an ebook sale only selling a "license". Then the libraries could buy books the same as any other purchaser and it would be theirs permanently.

[Ntsimp]

It's honestly not a question of whether the library buys or licenses an ebook. How do you "lend" bits? Unless the librarian hands you a physical medium containing the library's copy of the ebook, a copy has to be made. That automatically invokes copyright law.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Bravo; and this is what should be supported

Indeed.

Also, this:
http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/08/n...libraries.html

Libraries aren't doomed but they do need to update their acquisitions process to open it up to the people and companies willing to supply content on reasonable terms. They need to remember there is more to publishing than the hostile BPHs.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

That doesn't make sense. First of all, a great many people are simply unaware of e-books at libraries or agency pricing, rather than not caring.

I would think that if people cared about libraries, they'd be aware of what services libraries offer, like ebook loans.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by crossi

Get the legislature to kill the stupid idea of an ebook sale only selling a "license". Then the libraries could buy books the same as any other purchaser and it would be theirs permanently.

One very good reason why this won't happen: It'd start a precident that would provide support for the attitude of people who feel they actually own a copy of software instead of just permission to use it.

[speakingtohe]

I love ebooks and have no desire to read a paper book ever again. If I cannot get the ebook I want from the library, I might snivel about it much as I would whine if my breakfast got cold when I was in the shower. Then of course I could borrow the paper book if available, buy the book or read another book.

One often overlooked fact is that not all libraries have all books in paper format. If every ebook was available at say hardcover price and allowed to circulate the average amount of times as a paper book circulates very few if any libraries could afford to buy them all..

Sure I would like any ebook I want available instantly from the library, but I doubt this is a viable economic proposition for authors. And I do not have that ability with paper books either.

Helen

[SteveEisenberg]

Make the Old Lady Hobble Downtown

At this point, I wanted to yell out "Cite, please!"

Yes, there has been talk of this, but LeGuin gives the false impression it actually is implemented. If and when it is, I'm sure there will be an exception for people who have trouble walking.

. . . how come print publishers didn't refuse to sell books to libraries?

The question cannot arise because anyone, including the government, can legally buy paper books.

more than half reported that they bought book by an author who book they'd read in the library

For the sake of libraries, I wish this was commonly true. But the question is worded so that if you vaguely recall buying one book twenty years ago, that's a yes.

Personally, there are two authors I can think of whose other book or books I bought after library reading -- Alex Dryden and Nury Vittachi. In both cases, it was because the authors wrote books only published outside the US, and thus almost impossible to get through libraries. I don't think this, or other rare situations, are going to give publishers the warm fuzzies.

reactionary ideology has weakened the idea of community

I'd say that claiming peaceable people you disagree with have a reactionary ideology has weakened the idea of community.

They are keeping books from us.

Us here being the more affluent part of the reading public that uses eReaders.

I'd love for Simon and Schuster to start selling their products, to libraries, via Overdrive. I hope they find a good business justification for it. But until then, there still is paper book borrowing. This is not now, or in the near future, a great moral issue.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

At this point, I wanted to yell out "Cite, please!"

Yes, there has been talk of this, but LeGuin gives the false impression it actually is implemented. If and when it is, I'm sure there will be an exception for people who have trouble walking.

With Adobe's DRM for ePub, it's actually not possible to force patrons to have to use a library computer to borrow eBooks. So that's not going to work.

But they can force Kindle users to have to trudge down to the library for eBooks.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/08/n...libraries.html

Libraries aren't doomed but they do need to update their acquisitions process to open it up to the people and companies willing to supply content on reasonable terms. They need to remember there is more to publishing than the hostile BPHs.

I inquired about this at my local library and it was dead in water the minute it was out of my mouth. Multitudinous reasons.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

With Adobe's DRM for ePub, it's actually not possible to force patrons to have to use a library computer to borrow eBooks. So that's not going to work.

But they can force Kindle users to have to trudge down to the library for eBooks.

Surely it is possible if you can only see the catalogue from the library computers?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2012/08...es-and-ebooks/



Quite a bit more at the site.

Thanks for this!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Surely it is possible if you can only see the catalogue from the library computers?

Which is one of the operational modes of the 3M cloud library system.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3m-...ies-2012-06-21

The 3M Cloud Library offers a turnkey system of digital content, in-library hardware, and apps for borrowing and reading. At today's open houses, attendees will be able to test drive the system, which uses several components to allow users to browse the electronic catalog and read on the device of their choice:

-- 3M Discovery Terminals: Patrons at the library can browse the catalog on these electronic kiosks with an intuitive touch-based interface.

-- 3M eReaders: Content from the Cloud Library can be synced with easy-to-use 3M eReaders that can be checked out like any other lendable materials at several branches of the Glendale and Pasadena public libraries.

-- Mobile device compatibility: The service's eBooks are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPads, Nooks, and Androids. Using their personal devices, patrons can browse, check out and read eBooks all without leaving the 3M Cloud Library app.

The 3M cloud library system can limit books to only appearing at the library Kiosks. The ADOBE DRM system can be configured similarly if they choose to, just as they implement geo-restrictions; define library kiosks as a separate region and limit downloads to just that "region".

If the publishers want to do it, they *can* do it.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

With Adobe's DRM for ePub, it's actually not possible to force patrons to have to use a library computer to borrow eBooks. So that's not going to work.

But they can force Kindle users to have to trudge down to the library for eBooks.

Sure it's possible. They don't have to make that part of the website accessible to computers outside the library network.

It would be a nightmare though given Adobe's registration limits and how difficult it can be for them to add more registrations to your Adobe ID account.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by taustin

I would think that if people cared about libraries, they'd be aware of what services libraries offer, like ebook loans.

You're probably unaware of this, but libraries do more than jsut loan e-books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Surely it is possible if you can only see the catalogue from the library computers?

In order to download a DRMed ePub from Overdrive, you have to have ADE on the computer registered to your Adobe account. That won't work on a library computer.