Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ebooks to go in libraries?

School Library Journal's latest issue is filled with news about ebooks and the attention they are getting from librarians and teachers. They report on a conference on virtual books at which speakers talked about the opportunities and problems for librarians in providing ebook materials. One of the biggest obvious issues is the variety of formats for ebooks. Kindles are currently the most popular platform but the Nooks, iPad and other formats have their supporters. Librarians worry that if they go with the wrong format they will end with obsolete equipment and materials just as many libraries did with filmstrips and tape recorders in the past. Perhaps an even greater issue is the rights of libraries to provide ebooks to patrons who own their own device. The marketers have built their business plans on each user buying a device, which cuts libraries out of the picture. It's time for professional organizations like ALA to try to start a dialog with ebook producers to work out some reasonable way for libraries to circulate materials. On pattern that might work in schools is the model, also written up in SLJ this month, at Arizona State University. The library there is buying a supply of Kindles for students and will have a collection of YA materials available for each machine. This model could work in other school situations where authorized users are limited and easily identifiable, but it doesn't seem feasible for public libraries. We need to think about the future of ebooks in libraries for the next 20 years, because they are not going away.

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