Thus far, we have been exploring the concept of replacing the traditional paper bound book with an eReader for the purposes of classroom instruction, independent studying, and even for teacher administration. This post is going to take a look at that institution which, for many of us, is nearly synonymous with reading – the library.
From the days of the first great library—the Royal Library of Alexandria—we have looked to these great buildings as collections of knowledge, symbols of humankind’s intellectual progression, and even a quiet respite away from the hustle and bustle of daily life where we can lose ourselves in the hunt for a mythic whale, travel to a fantasy land by climbing through a wardrobe, pore over the entries in a 19th century Ohio census record, or learn about biomechanical engineering, should we feel so inclined. Most of those books we are even allowed to take with us (provided we return them in a timely fashion and are local residents, or registered students). The question with any new technology is how will it affect what we have already been doing. I have posited the consideration of eBook readers and digital content becoming a replacement for textbooks and have yet to come up with a prediction for the future. Things get a little more serious when we talk about using these devices in the libraries.
Imagine being able to go to a website where you simply clicked on the material you wanted to read. The “book” would then be transferred to your handy-dandy personal portable handheld viewer. Whether the content be a textbook, a romance novel (complete with full-color pictures of a half-undressed Fabio), or a copy of Popular Science. Like the libraries of today, you would need to use your credentials to access the material and it would deactivate after a certain period of time—essentially like returning it. This is because the library has only so many licenses for that particular item and wants to allow other people to use it as well. This may sound futuristic, but it’s already here. I first experimented with it at the New York Public Library. Many public libraries do this, and even have videos, music and audiobooks available. Try asking at your local library.
For decades the Library of Congress has been in the process of digitizing their collection—starting with the most fragile and rarest materials to protect and preserve them and now have over 25,0000. In 1994, they began making the collection available online. Google Book Search is a project by the über-search gurus that has already digitized millions of books. New books and magazines, are usually written and laid out by computer—frequently there is content made available online—it would not be difficult to distribute the digital versions. So why have the eBooks not completely replaced the traditional? Well, I can think of two major reasons:
- Money – there is profit to be made in the printing and distribution of traditional books; if this method was completely eliminated it would be a severe drop in business to: bookstores, printing companies, paper mills, ink manufacturers, and shipping companies; additionally, because figuring out how to stop people from making copies of digital content has yet to be figured out, there is no viable pricing scheme that will an all digital method profitable.
- Comfort – I have yet to see an eBook reader, though the XO-2 has some neat features, that “feels” like a book. I mean something where I can fold back the pages and crease the spine, dog-ear pages and flip quickly to the index. Something that I can read on the beach, in bed or in the bathroom without worry about batteries dying, a little bit of sand or too much sunlight.
A disparity of access to technology, and especially knowledge of how to use it, still exists. This could be a limiting factor in the spread of the all-online or bookstore. There are some libraries that are loaning Kindle devices, but it still is a bit confusing over whether or not this is permissible. It seems to be that the traditional library stocked with traditional books will be around for a while yet.
In order to change that, there will need to be a device that can replace the page-turning comfort of a well-worn paperback or the authority of imposing-looking hardcover. That device must be so ubiquitous that it could either be expected for the average person to have one (much like a cell phone is today), or inexpensive enough that it could be loaned by cash-strapped municipal libraries, while also being easy enough for a luddite to learn how to turn a page and powerful enough to allow the eBookworms to “highlight” and “dogear”. At the same time, this device and its content, must have methods of “borrowing” from a central repository, returning said material, purchasing it for long-term use, a mechanism to transfer to another device owned by the same user, and to do all of that without allowing for the dreaded “unauthorized reproduction”. When the day arrives, maybe we can speak about the next generation of libraries.
Flickr photo courtesy of Christopher Chan
Many libraries are lending digital books now but I have yet to read of any that lend out e-book readers. The digital readers are exploding on the market-this year we can expect to see dozens of new devices with much lower price tags than the Kindle or Sony readers.
As you say, reading material on a device is not going to replace paper and ink reading anytime in the near future, but they are highly convenient and portable. I have had my Kindle for several months now and it’s great-especially on my daily train commute.