university librarian setting up an ebook reader lending program

[orionpozo]

I am setting up an ebook reader lending program at our university library. Currently we have 2 Sony Readers and 6 Amazon Kindles. I am interested in talking to and comparing notes with others setting up similar programs at other libraries.

[NatCh]

Welcome to MobileRead, orionpozo!

Have y'all lent e-books before this? Or is it something new that's developed since this new hardware got so visible?

I dunno if we have any other librarians, but I'm sure folks around here will have some suggestions, at any rate, and might be able to help you work through whatever snags you hit.

[orionpozo]

Libraries with ebooks is not new. Vendors like EBook Library, Ebrary and Netlibrary, as well as more specialized vendor services like CRCnetBase, Knovel, and Safari Books Online allow libraries to make books available online to readers. These are all read online from the user's Internet-enabled computer.

Large digital collections like Google Book Search, UVa's ElectronicText Center, and Project Gutenberg have also been indexed by many libraries to make their content available to their users.

However, it has been almost 10 years since libraries made ebook reading devices like the Rocket Ebook and Softbook available. Now, as we prepare to loan out Sony Readers and Amazon Kindles, I would like to talk to other librarians and library users about their experiences.

[Patricia]

Another university is also lending electronic readers:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9573

[MickeyC]

Hi orionpozo and welcome to the Forum

[cbell]

There's several University libraries in Australia trialling iLiads, for the use of academic staff, researchers and/or students. The feedback so far has been very positive.

If anyone can offer advice on managing security deposits, loans, returns, clean-ups (re-flash/format), legal requirements/DRM, or any other issues from a librarian's point of view, I'd be interested.

[DixieGal]

Where's HarryT? I've come to depend upon his wisdom concerning all things copyrightish.

Does Amazon know you are planning this, and has your Office of Grants and Contracts approved your plan? I can't imagine Amazon approving of your lending Kindles, and I doubt even more that they are happy to allow you to share downloaded content. They seem to prefer a one-device / one-license per title approach to raking in the cash with Kindle.

[Patricia]

It is the content that is (sometimes) under copyright (and sometimes under a creative commons licence, or public domain).
I can't see any legal problem with lending devices to read things on. Many universities lend laptops already.

[NatCh]

Copyright certainly wouldn't apply to the hardware in any case.

Once the hardware is paid for, you have a legal right to do whatever you like with it short of reverse-engineering and copying it, but even that would be a patent issue.

[orionpozo]

1. I have contacted the librarian an Winthrop University with the Sony Readers. Thank you Patricia for sharing that.
2. I would love more information about Australian libraries and iLiads cbell. Do you have any contact information or library names?
3. We are working with the Amazon technical support folks and they have been very helpful. I get the feeling that, within the restrictions of their DRM, they are happy to have libraries buying Kindles and content.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by orionpozo

3. We are working with the Amazon technical support folks and they have been very helpful. I get the feeling that, within the restrictions of their DRM, they are happy to have libraries buying Kindles and content.

Just so you know, you won't be able to buy Kindle ebooks with a purchase order. You'll need to use a credit card. I know of at least one library who made this mistake.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by orionpozo

3. We are working with the Amazon technical support folks and they have been very helpful. I get the feeling that, within the restrictions of their DRM, they are happy to have libraries buying Kindles and content.

So, I am interested in how this works. Will you have one account that you will register/deregister devices to and be able to send all the books in one Amazon account to any/all of your Kindles. This could concevibly allow you to have an unlimited number of kindles contain copies of books that were purchased once.

Or, will you be required to have one Amazon account per every 6 Kindle devices and purchase the same books multiple times?

Also, when you lend out a Kindle, I assume it is not registered thereby not enabling the user to buy more books on your library account. Does an unregistered kindle still allow Wikipedia and internet access.

BOb

[orionpozo]

Hi Nate -

We are using a credit card account. As a result we are de-registering the Kindles at checkout and re-registering them when they are checked back in.


The user can ask the library staff to download a title to the Kindle at checkout so they can pick the title they want to read. When checked back in, additional titles that have been purchased are added to the device. We currently have 6 Kindles so all devices can share titles purchased.

It is a user-driven collection model with the latest user getting to read the book of their choice as well as browse the books selected by previous borrowers. We have all walked into a library to get a book, only to find out the library doesn't have it. Now the librarian can say "Would you like us to download that book to a Kindle so you can have it today?"

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by orionpozo

Hi Nate -

We are using a credit card account. As a result we are de-registering the Kindles at checkout and re-registering them when they are checked back in.


The user can ask the library staff to download a title to the Kindle at checkout so they can pick the title they want to read. When checked back in, additional titles that have been purchased are added to the device. We currently have 6 Kindles so all devices can share titles purchased.

It is a user-driven collection model with the latest user getting to read the book of their choice as well as browse the books selected by previous borrowers. We have all walked into a library to get a book, only to find out the library doesn't have it. Now the librarian can say "Would you like us to download that book to a Kindle so you can have it today?"

The register/de-register method sounds like it's too much work. Wouldn't it be easier to control the ebook purchases by enabling and disabling the credit card? Plus, if you keep all the Kindles registered to the account, any new ebook could be sent to all the Kindles over Whispernet simultaneously.

[orionpozo]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

The register/de-register method sounds like it's too much work. Wouldn't it be easier to control the ebook purchases by enabling and disabling the credit card? Plus, if you keep all the Kindles registered to the account, any new ebook could be sent to all the Kindles over Whispernet simultaneously.

Actually de-registering is very simple, just click on the de-register option. Re-registering requires the username and password for the account.

One advantage to this is that a user with an Amazon account can register the Kindle while they have it checked out and purchase and download titles to the Kindle or a flash drive. Thus they can build a library that is stored at Amazon and on a flash drive that they can use with any Kindle they have access to. The titles are tied to the account, not the device.