[PUBLIB] RE: Ebook characteristics libraries need (fwd)

[PUBLIB]

Sender: Chris Rippel <crippel at ckls.org>
Subject: RE: Ebook characteristics libraries need 

Patricia S. Cheney asked me to compile the answers for the following query.

> I [Chris Rippel] would like your thoughts about these questions:
>
> 1. What characteristics do ebooks need for librarians to easily purchase,
> circulate, interlibrary loan, ebooks the way librarians now handle books,
> videos, CDs, etc.?
>
> 2. What characteristics do ebooks need for librarians to improve library
> service?
>
> 3. If you considered purchasing ebooks for your library and decided against
> it, what are you waiting for?

Two or three librarians responded to #3 saying that patrons were not
requesting e-books.
All other answers were less memorable and, therefore, I didn't retain these
answers.

However, I do have answers from a similar query, "As an ebook author and
sometime publisher, what can I do that would make it easier on librarians?
(Other than having the ebook available thru Baker & Taylor.)"- Eric Balkan
balkan at patriot.net.

"Answer [by Millard Johnson]:
Not much.  The problem is not really any one thing and not the
author/publisher.  It is not a bottle-neck problem, it is a system problem.

1. Readers have to be willing to read Etexts.  Steven King has done a great
deal to show libraries and other readers that the Ebook is a viable way to
read.

2. Libraries need enough good Ebook readers to circulate.  It will take a
lot of money to get these up.  Public libraries will need from 20 to 500 of
these things to have a critical stock.  So we are talking about around
$20,000 for a relatively small public library to get a stock of readers to
loan.  In my state, we more than 100 libraries of this class.  Nobody around
is making $2 million grants these days.

3. We need an archival / rights management / download system that does not
link each Ebook reader to a particular PC for every book owned.

4. We also need a distribution system.  Libraries typically do not place
orders for each book with each publisher.  They buy through distributors.
And Ebooks are different enough that distributors (I could be wrong about
this) have not yet developed a mechanism for dealing with them.

**************
Kendall Hanson responded to point #4 above:
Just curious about this. I've opened a relationship with B&T's
Replica Books, and one of the selling points is that they plan to do
ebook distribution to libraries in the future. Ingram's Lightning
Source has also announced an intention to provide distribution of
future ebooks, although they appear more concerned with
commercial distribution. Now, both of these POD subsidiaries ask
for files in pdf, but neither has mentioned anything about converting
files into OEB or any other format. What are librarians hearing from
these two companies?

Kendall Hanson
kdhwriter at softcom.net
**************************

5. We need to develop mechanisms to "select" Ebooks.  This is an inexact
science.  Libraries read reviews, take user suggestions, and respond to
marketing.

6. We need to get the Ebooks we have rights to into our catalogs.  This is
more complicated and expensive than you would think.  In theory we can just
tell people to look on the net and we will buy anything you want, but part
of the values of libraries is that they exclude a lot of trash.
Things seem to be moving in the right direction, but I have no idea how long
it will take to have the "system" in place to use Ebooks effectively.

MJ
Millard F. Johnson             zendog at incolsa.net
INCOLSA                        (317) 298-6570"


*****************************
Below is my own [Chris Rippel] answer.

Part 1 assumes that, in the short run, libraries will circulate e-book text
in our own hardware (i.e., e-book readers). So part 1 discusses the
characteristics of the hardware libraries need.
Part 2 discusses the distribution of e-texts libraries need.


PART 1: LIBRARIES NEED inexpensive, one-piece, hand-held e-book readers on
which any 10 of a library's e-book titles can be loaded.

A.	The ability to carry hand-held e-book readers around makes them
superior for public libraries over e-books on PCs and laptops.

B.	Inexpensive hand-held readers would be more affordable to buy,
repair, and replace.

C.	Since patrons seldom check-out more than 10 titles at once,
purchasing readers with memory for hundreds of titles wastes the library's
money.

D.	Libraries need all their e-book titles attached to all their e-book
readers. The current practice of attaching titles to specific readers is
inefficient. For example, if a patron wants a title attached to one reader
and a second title attached to another reader, the patron must check out
both readers and will leave with access to all titles attached to both
readers.

E.	One-piece readers would be least troublesome. Rocket eBooks, for
example, have five separate pieces (i.e., reader, stylus, screen cloth, AC
adaptor, zippered container) for patrons to lose and staff to inventory
during check-in. And, since its AC adaptor doesn't fit in Rocket's own
container, libraries are buying additional bags to hold everything.

F.	Changes to text on e-book readers (e.g., annotations) should not be
saved. Saving changes (e.g., annotations) creates potential for mischief
(e.g., offensive language). Librarians need quick ways to restore e-book
content to its original form after lending.

G.	Some new e-book readers have the capability of using their own
software and modem to connect to an online e-bookstore and download new
e-book texts. Libraries need this capability turned off when checked out to
patrons. (Thanks to Deborah Wiesehan of Patchogue-Medford Public Library,
Suffolk, New York, for bringing this problem to my attention.)

H.	Librarians need some way to continue to reading the e-texts they
buy in the distant future. Libraries are, in part, archives of materials
and librarians take this preservation role seriously. Librarians will want
to know how they will read e-text after the original hardware dies.

PART 2: LIBRARIES NEED publishers to follow first sale and fair use
doctrines and provide barrier-free purchasing, materials for displaying
e-book titles.

A.	Librarians need publishers to respect the traditional rights given
by the Doctrines of First Sale and Fair Use in copyright law.

B.	Centralized distribution of e-book titles through vendors would
help librarians quickly identify and purchase e-books as described on the
front page of this pamphlet.

C.	Monthly billing and standing orders are traditional ways librarians
purchase books. Requiring credit cards for purchasing titles is a barrier
for librarians.

D.	Vendors sell popular hardbacks to libraries at 40% discount.
Librarians will balk at purchasing e-book titles for the list price of
hardbacks.

E.	Having e-book titles reviewed by respected sources (e.g., Library
Journal, School Library Journal) provides selection tools and touchstones
of legitimacy familiar to librarians.

F.	The major way patrons find books in public libraries is through
browsing the shelves. The major problem for e-books is their invisibility
because they have nothing to display. Publishers need to provide some thing
to display e-book titles. For example, publishers could provide online
printable 8.5" X 11" mini-posters with colorful cover art on the upper
three-quarters of the paper and a flyleaf blurb on the lower quarter. These
mini-posters could be printed out and laminated. Then they could be placed
in the correct spot on the shelves, in three-ring binders, on book
displays, etc.

G.	Most paper book publishers provide cataloging in their new
publications. Some book vendors provide cataloging for books sold to
libraries. Publishers and vendors of e-books would win librarians to their
products and services by continuing this practice for e-books.

Thanks for reading,

Chris Rippel crippel at ckls.org
Central Kansas Library System
1409 Wiliams, Great Bend, Kansas 67530
316-792-4865 (voice); 316-792-5495 (fax)

->Can ebooks improve libraries?
<http://skyways.lib.ks.us/central/ebooks/index.html>

->Mousercise
<http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/computerlab/tutorials/mouse/page1.html>

->Encyclopedia of Kansas Public Librarianship
<http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/encyclopedia/>