Libraries and eBook adoption

[webroot]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The same options any other libraries have...
Yes, they use OverDrive too.

There is difference!!! public libraries can become "media center" or internet cafe but not college library, unless they move away from original purpose.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by webroot

By sharing means anything legit that one can do with print books should be possible with eBooks as well, for example: library sharing items with their members , inter library loan, or you have seen two member swap their books which is not a bad thing. I am falling short of a good example but there will be many permutations not easy in these eBook distribution systems

Um, yeah, whatever you say.

It is easier than ever before to let someone checkout a library book with your card. I have even checked out books and PMed the redemption link to MobileRead members anywhere in the country! You can't do that with pbooks...
Inter-library loans are still possible. The libraries that offered cards to members of affiliated libraries, for example: those cards work for ebooks too.

Yes, ebooks are bound to a management system and when the management company goes out of business, ebooks from the shelf will disappear overnight, something not good for libraries that relied on long term archiving of literature, which made finding rare books possible.

Yes, libraries should be able to run their own in-house system. But that isn't what you said, you said:

and do not guarantee long term preserv-ability due to DRM.

which is a question of whether to use DRM at all. And they should.

I am not just talking about Public libraries, there is library inside college campus and schools.

I am aware, and I am also aware that your last sentence is still a non sequitur.

What do you think, friction in eBook adoption in schools is causes by both publishers as well libraries?

You did not imply you were talking about school libraries, nor did you explain why there could theoretically be a difference between libraries run by a school or by a municipal council, nor did you explain why you think municipal libraries might be trying to assassinate school libraries...

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by webroot

There is difference!!! public libraries can become "media center" or internet cafe but not college library, unless they move away from original purpose.

What, and the original purpose of the municipal library was the formation of the internet cafe?




It is really difficult to carry on an intelligent conversation when one party keeps on switching gear.

[artifact]

I'm scratching my head over the OPs entire premise. My public library is absolutely NOT suffering. Its not dying out. Librarians are not turning into webmasters. It is adapting and thriving. It can't be the only one.

Overdrive, 3M added 8/2013.
Hoopla added 1/2014.

Let the statistics speak for themselves. From the website:

Multnomah County residents use their library. In 2012-2013, they checked out or renewed an average of 29.4 items per person. Among U.S. libraries serving fewer than 1 million residents, Multnomah County Library ranks No. 1 in annual circulation of books and other materials, according to the Public Library Association's 2014 Statistical Report (which reflects data from 2013).

In 2013-2014:
Checkouts of books, e-books, DVDs and other library materials have increased 30 percent over the past 10 years.

* Multnomah County Library patrons checked out or renewed nearly 19.5 million items.
* Library staff filled 2.4 million holds.
* Library staff answered more than 500,000 reference questions.
* The library was visited online and in person nearly 11 million times — that's more than 30,000 times each day.
* More than 100,000 children participated in the library's countywide 2013 Summer Reading program.
* In total, library programming targeted to all age groups, from infants to elders, reached more than 300,000.
* Volunteers donated more than 66,000 hours of their time to the library, the equivalent of 8,200 eight-hour days.

[robko]

Originally Posted by webroot

There is difference!!! public libraries can become "media center" or internet cafe but not college library, unless they move away from original purpose.

Less of a difference than you think. Even 20 years ago when I was at university there was starting to be the ability to search indexes for scientific journal articles. Albeit after you found what you wanted you had to go into the stacks and pull out the hard copy of the edition you wanted to read the article. That's moving to being able to search AND pull up the article on the computer. Still serving the original purpose even though it's now electronic and I would imagine the library staff are still occupied helping people find what they are looking for -- search engines are great, but are only as good as the search terms you enter.

Having said that, the bigger threat to university/college libraries is the cost of subscriptions to journals whether print or electronic versions. But that's getting off topic of this thread.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by webroot

There is difference!!! public libraries can become "media center" or internet cafe but not college library, unless they move away from original purpose.

Media Center is a term used for many school libraries as they no longer serve as just libraries.

Many college libraries are not just traditional libraries anymore either (and haven't been for a long time). They also serve as media services for classrooms, computer centers, tech support for students and staff, copy centers, etc. Many have access to lots of digital content repositories & databases through services like JSTOR, Academic Search Premier, SciFinder, Project Muse, ProQuest, HathiTrust, and hundreds of others.

[webroot]

Originally Posted by artifact

I'm scratching my head over the OPs entire premise. My public library is absolutely NOT suffering. Its not dying out. Librarians are not turning into webmasters. It is adapting and thriving. It can't be the only one....

Multnomah is a large library, although librarian answered those many reference questions but in your link I couldn't find how much of ebook make of entire transactions. Library as we currently know a hub of books and today ebooks, if they become something else, sell CDs and computer parts and if you want to call that a library, that is fine by me.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by webroot

[...] if they become something else, sell CDs and computer parts and if you want to call that a library, that is fine by me.

Please stop being ridiculous. You know just as well as we do that libraries acting as a public hub of knowledge regardless of the actual media at play is not even remotely comparable to becoming a computer accessories store.

Now you are arguing for the sake of arguing, and your arguments have crossed the line into nonsensical...

Goodbye. I'm leaving this thread while I still retain some vestige of sanity.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by webroot

Multnomah is a large library, although librarian answered those many reference questions but in your link I couldn't find how much of ebook make of entire transactions. Library as we currently know a hub of books and today ebooks, if they become something else, sell CDs and computer parts and if you want to call that a library, that is fine by me.

I was at lunch with my librarian friend about 6 months ago and she was beginning to worry that her job was becoming obsolete. The local library currently does a very robust business with ebooks despite differences in the checkout rules, prices and so on. I almost always check out books using the remote ebook checkout process now.

My friend mentioned that with ebooks a whole host of tasks were no longer needed (binding, re-covering, certain catalog tasks). She could foresee a small town setting up a library that was strictly electronic and that may not even have a dedicated building. Certainly older, larger cities have call for other services that are provided by libraries and younger, newer cities may want those services but not be able to offer them--hence our discussion on how you could have an electronic library run by perhaps one person (even part time if a budget didn't allow for more). The books would all be ebooks to save cost and space. Like the small town bookmobile, the ebook library would be funded by either a small budget or even be enhanced by volunteers.

My library has already seen cuts in hiring. Even though the city is building a larger public library, it will be interesting to see if they increase the number of employees or continue to decrease the overall number.

So, I think your question is quite valid. No, print books won't go away in the short term, but there is opportunity here for ebooks or new branches/libraries that specialize. Even while that is going on, I can see ebooks becoming a more prominent part of existing libraries. Librarians still have many tasks they can do, but that doesn't mean every city will continue to pay for those services and expertise.

[harriska2]

Originally Posted by artifact

I'm scratching my head over the OPs entire premise.

And I'm scratching my head over artifact. Why do libraries have to limit themselves to xx number of checkouts for a book when it is DIGITAL! Why do digital books have the same limitations as a printed book? Why can't a publisher/author get paid PER CHECKOUT at a REASONABLE cost (micropayments). Wouldn't you want that? Good authors *gasp* earn more money! Why do I wait 6 months to 1 year to checkout a book that is DIGITAL?

I think the whole system will need to be overhauled and it needs to be streamlined. I mean, what is a public library for - shouldn't it try to get the books people want? Why do libraries have to pre-purchase a book? Why can't they just buy into some system by which ANY BOOK can be checked out at ANY TIME and a small payment is made?

[harriska2]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Goodbye. I'm leaving this thread while I still retain some vestige of sanity.

Thank you.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by harriska2

Why can't a publisher/author get paid PER CHECKOUT at a REASONABLE cost (micropayments).

When this has been brought up at various times most libraries I've read about have not been in favor of the idea as it doesn't fit in with yearly budget planning. They'd rather have a set number of copies available for checkout than potentially have their entire years budget blown on one or two best sellers with no checkout limits. Also what publishers think is reasonable and the rest of the world does might differ greatly. For a service like Scribd for instance publishers get the approx wholesale price of book for each read (about 60% of cover price).

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

For a service like Scribd for instance publishers get the approx wholesale price of book for each read (about 60% of cover price).

And that didn't work out so well for SCRIBD. So they delisted the romance books that were most read because they couldn't afford to pay out that much per read (or so we assume that is why they did it).

Libraries right now pay once for a paperback or hardback and then they are done. They might have to replace the book at some point, but often, if it was damaged, the patron responsible is charged directly. If libraries had to pay 10 cents per checkout they would have to redo their budgets accordingly--and figure it out based on the number of checkouts overall. The reality is that the book budget itself isn't their biggest expense--the building, salary, fees for overdrive and the checkout system for print books is a HUGE part of the budget. That software isn't cheap. I was astounded at the fees they pay to license software for checking out print books. And overdrive is no better. Not only do they pay for each ebook, they license the overdrive software each year.

Many of the suggestions in this thread are good ideas, but it would have to happen to a brand new library that didn't come with legacy politics attached!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

And that didn't work out so well for SCRIBD.

No it didn't (and won't even with the reduced catalog IMO) which was kinda my point.

[crane3]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

When this has been brought up at various times most libraries I've read about have not been in favor of the idea as it doesn't fit in with yearly budget planning. They'd rather have a set number of copies available for checkout than potentially have their entire years budget blown on one or two best sellers with no checkout limits. Also what publishers think is reasonable and the rest of the world does might differ greatly. For a service like Scribd for instance publishers get the approx wholesale price of book for each read (about 60% of cover price).

Sounds like some people want the publishers to go the route of ASCP. Payment for ebooks like payments for songs. I must pay again to reread MY book? The copyright laws need to be changed but probably won't to "protect" originality where it also include the copying of book titles to scam the public; this also need labeling both in the preface & advertising of the title copying book to indicate that it is not the same stuff as the REAL original. Yes, I was suckered once or twice when I didn't check.

I'm OK to reread books I bought & enjoy; reason I do buy & keep junk (for me) out of my bookshelves.