Another player in the ebook field?

Just when it seems that the tug-of-war between publishers, bookstores and libraries is stalled with each side locked into a position unacceptable to others, a jolt has come to ebook publishing. As reported in the NY Times, Microsoft has agreed to invest millions of dollars in Barnes & Noble's Nook publishing. This sudden influx of money should make B&N a real contender against Amazon's Kindle. The partnership of bookstores and ebooks should be a natural one, although it doesn't exist in the Amazon-Apple world. Many readers (or borrowers in a library) would likely enjoy browsing through the print edition of a book before deciding to choose it to read on their e-reader. The all-online world of Amazon offers enticing pictures of book covers and snippets of reviews by journalists and other readers, but seeing the actual book offers an even stronger incentive to read.

Although this move may complicate librarian's choices in deciding what formats to choose for their ebook collections, any competition in the field is actually an advantage for libraries. Competition between producers of ebooks is likely to encourage all sides to enter into negotiations to make their products available through libraries as well as bookstores. Let's hope this business move will open up choices for all of us.

Will Amazon take over libraries?

The big news in the tech world today is the unveiling of not just a new Kindle tablet, but of four new Kindles. Libraries have been watching all the new ebook readers coming out because so many patrons prefer digital books to their paper counterparts. One of the major factors in limiting the use of a library's ebook collection has been the fact that they were not available for Kindles, the most popular format for ebook readers. Recent announcements that Kindle books can be used and lent by libraries have made many librarians and teachers happy, but this new influx of brand new products changes the outlook again. Not only will lighter, less expensive Kindles be available for reading ebooks in the familiar e-paper version, but a new Kindle tablet with color and touchscreen will attract many parents and children who want all the illustrations and design of picture books onscreen for younger children. What will librarians and teachers do with these new products? The first thing we have to do is study what the new Kindles will provide. The high-end Fire tablet that Kindle offers is an entirely different object from the plain vanilla Kindles owned by individuals, and some schools and libraries, today. These tablets will do far more than screen books--they also will stream movies--Amazon has announced a deal by which it will be able to provide a wide range of movies for people to download. Besides that, the reader can surf the Internet through the new Amazon cloud service. Every teacher and librarian should take a look at some of the new features being offered. Although the news reports coming out today focus on the variety of experiences available to users, teachers, librarians, and parents will also want to consider the new distractions for the young people using the tablet. Will a library reading group use the new Kindle to anchor a lively discussion about the new Rick Riordan tale, or will half the group wander onto other screens to look at the latest movie? There is always a trade-off between having wonderful new content available and having more offered than most kids can deal with. The new Kindles with their many offerings will excite many adults who work with kids. We are always looking for new ways to lead kids into reading and learning. The trick is to integrate the products into a school or library setting. We need to find out what kind of borrowing privileges we can offer, how expensive the books and other content will be, and how the the kids are going to react. Whatever the final decisions made about purchasing, teachers and librarians have plenty of homework to do in preparation.

Newer, shorter books

We all know how many students come into the library with a request for "a short book". A book report assignment often calls out this response. Now the makers of ebook reading devices are answering this call, for adults as well as young people. A few weeks ago Kindle announced plans to publish short books--somewhere between a novella and a novel--that will be sold for Kindle. Now more publishers are jumping into the game, often to provide materials to read on i-phones, i-pads and other small mobile devices. According to a N.Y. Times story, this trend may lead to some big changes in publishing as writers and editors learn to tailor their wares to the needs of today's readers. With magazines fading from prominence for many readers, there is a need for a detailed account of events or a complex story, but one that does not require a full book to recount. Another advantage of the short form is that the time from the conception of the idea to the availability of the text is much shorter than for conventional books. It will be interesting to see whether the revolution in Egypt and turmoil in other Arab countries will be detailed in some of these new, short, immediate ebooks.

For those who mourn the decline of the printed book, there is a cheerful sight in San Francisco this weekend as the lavish booths of the World's Largest Antiquarian Book Fair were on display. There were plenty of lovers of print books around to browse, enjoy, and even purchase the books, which range in price from under $100 to over a million.

How do I choose the format?

Librarians all over the country are trying to decide which ebook formats they should try to serve with their collections. Ebooks are fast becoming a standard service in libraries, but it's hard not to be confused with the proliferation of formats from which to choose. Here's a clever chart of formats to help you visualize the choices to be made. Many books and periodicals are available for a variety of formats, but it's helpful if the librarian can help a patron decide what he/she needs. There is a lot of information packed into this chart and most of it will help us make choices.Whether you personally prefer a Kindle or a nook or really want to stick to ink on paper is irrelevant. We need the expertise to explain to patrons, both parents and children, what the choices are and then show them how to use the resources available in the library.

Libraries are given a gift

Publishing tends to go into hibernation for the last few weeks of December. All the books available for holiday gifts have been published and all the companies can do is wait and see what the public (including libraries) will buy. This year there is a new factor in the equation--ebook readers were among the most popular gifts for the holiday. Thousands of people around the country found one among their gifts. Publishers celebrated the number of people who ordered ebooks the next day, but libraries have at least as great a reason for celebrating. According to library figures, the borrowing of ebooks jumped 93% in the two days following Christmas. This has been reported in Stephen's Lighthouse blog which points out that libraries now have a stronger mandate than ever to collect ebooks for borrowing and to make them available for many platforms. Amazon's Kindle is still limited to purchased books, but almost all of the other ebook readers are compatible with borrowed books from library collections, and as more people become aware of this, Amazon will be pressured to follow suit. The availability of ebooks in public libraries will encourage more people to read and perhaps will broaden their reading interests. Although there are no figures I have seen on how many children's books are among those borrowed, but these figures will follow. As long as librarians remain aware of what patrons want and are willing to offer them, the use of libraries will expand. Even though the use of ebooks has increased dramatically in 2010, many people are still not aware that most libraries have ebooks available for borrowing. Here's an effective area for more publicity throughout the library, including the children's room. This is the time to build awareness, while new ebook readers are searching for sources of reading materials. Let's make 2011 the year when every library became a resource for digital as well as print books.