What about my Library?!

[Sleepy]

Hello all...


I'm new to the 'mobilereading' thing and I'm excited about it.... My hesitation is this: I am a college professor with a sizable library of books on a variety of subjects dealing with language, religion, and philosophy. I would think that many of the books I use won't be at the top of the list for 'mobilization' but what concerns me more is this- if I own the book, I have to but it again (in the e form), is any manufacturer considering some kind of deal to entice higher ed types into the market by giving free or reduced-cost e-copies of books already owned. Especially since they are primarily for scholarly use. Just a question, don't really know how sensible (from a business standpoint) my question would be.

regards,

S

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Hello all...


I'm new to the 'mobilereading' thing and I'm excited about it.... My hesitation is this: I am a college professor with a sizable library of books on a variety of subjects dealing with language, religion, and philosophy. I would think that many of the books I use won't be at the top of the list for 'mobilization' but what concerns me more is this- if I own the book, I have to but it again (in the e form), is any manufacturer considering some kind of deal to entice higher ed types into the market by giving free or reduced-cost e-copies of books already owned. Especially since they are primarily for scholarly use. Just a question, don't really know how sensible (from a business standpoint) my question would be.

regards,

S

It's a sensible question. However, I haven't seen any e-book deals for teachers (at any level) on any of the book sites.

At some point they will have to offer some kind of break (such as they generally do for those in education), because it makes sense to do so. At the moment, while it's still considered the bleeding edge of technology, it doesn't look like anyone is doing that.

And, I agree ... once you've purchased a hardback (of any book), I do think they should give you one hell of a break on the same book in eformat. Then again, we have types like Ms. Rowling, who will not even allow her books to be published in that format.

[DDHarriman]

Hi

It's a great question.
The answer for - "(...)is any manufacturer considering some kind of deal to entice higher ed types into the market by giving free or reduced-cost e-copies of books already owned." - is: no.

[Patricia]

Actually, that is a very sensible question, and Amazon have anticipated it with a "Read Online" capability.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/digital/sit...ar=0&details=1

However, that wasn't exactly what you were looking for.

Incidentally, when your Kindle 2 arrives, it will also read books in PRC/mobi format. We have a fair number of free public domain titles in philosophy and religion in our upload section. You may want to check it out. (Go to the blue bar towards the top of this page and click on "ebooks".) Also try a tag search in the search option on the blue bar.

[NormHart]

Not specifically addressing your fields of interest but it is worth noting that at least one publisher is offering ebook versions with some of their hard bound books (on included CDs). They also offer substantial saving if you prefer to purchase just the ebook and have a rapidly growing selection (4-6 ebooks per month). Baen Books, www.baen.com. While they carry a very small group of genre (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and SF) they are influencing other publishers, five other publishers have joined their www.webscription.net effort. Mostly smaller publishers so far but with Tor Books at least dabbling their toes in the waters. These books are non-DMR and available in multiple ebook formats. I personally purchase about $50 monthly from them in ebooks and look for their logo on the shelves of my local book stores. I have been doing this for several years and reading the ebooks on my PC as html files. I am buying my first ebook device, a Kindle 2, just to be able to read my collection in bed, at restaurants, and on vacation.

We can only hope that their efforts are seen as successful and this type of business model picked up by other publishers.

Amazon.com offers a "I'd like to read this book on Kindle" button which offers the opportunity to notify the publisher that ebook interest is growing. Contacting the publishers of your books yourself is certainly desirable since the more often the publishing houses hear the term the more likely they will be to look into the possibilities.

Good Luck

[pilotbob]

Manning and Pragmatic bookshelf also offer ebook (PDF) only or Pbook/ebook price. But, targeted at computer programming and IT type topics. One of them was toying with flowable ebook formats if I recall. Don't know how successfull they were.

BOb

[detacht69]

you always have the option to scan them in yourself. Just a thought.

[sigma8]

Originally Posted by Sleepy

what concerns me more is this- if I own the book, I have to but it again (in the e form), is any manufacturer considering some kind of deal to entice higher ed types into the market by giving free or reduced-cost e-copies of books already owned. Especially since they are primarily for scholarly use.

I wouldn't expect many breaks from publishers for that. Academia is probably the largest consumer of scholarly works. If publishers cut a deal to academics, that would be like giving a big price break to your largest customer demographic. Probably not so great for the bottom line.

There might be publisher-incentive to get people to "upgrade" books they already own to e-versions, but given the difficulties in verifying that sort of thing, I doubt we'll see it happen anytime soon.

From what I can see so far (which isn't a lot, I'll grant), it looks like if your field has been graced by an e-book prolific publisher, you're pretty much on your own. O'Reilly seems to be doing a great job with computer book availability, and I'm sure there are some others.. I'm curious what the journal scene is like. I had to buy some business case studies last year, and they were available in PDF only, but I wonder how other publishers are handling it.