Ebooks in the Academic Library
In the academic library environment, there is a propensity of reference books and technical books, both of which are well-suited for the electronic format. Electronic books are a convenient format for reference tools a patron can search the scope of a book and access the content to get pertinent information.Technical books are especially well-suited for the electronic format because they become outdated quickly and are hard to keep in the library because of high demand. The online version will feature hyperlinked indexes, cross references, and bibliographic links to abstracts and full texts where available. Industry experts predict that electronic versions will grow to dominate the book industry, due to the increasing array of features unavailable in print and the increased flexibility in updating multi-volume reference works.
For publishers, authors, and libraries, ebooks include a number of thorny problems, revolving around access, ownership, and protection of rights.
These books may be checked out online by library users or downloaded to a PC. The whole collection is searchable as is the individual book title. Copyright is protected by limiting the amount of text that a user can download or copy and by limiting the use of the book to one user at a time.
What these academic libraries have in common is that they make published print texts available in electronic format, with enhancements such as searching, annotating, research paper formatting. The books in these collections are mostly non-fiction, academic titles, useful for looking up information. The typical user may read a chapter or two, or only particular pages.
What they all have in common is that the books, once downloaded, may only be read by one particular reader. Despite the problems that this might present for a library, public libraries have been experimenting with ebook readers, and they have had an enthusiastic response from library patrons who can check out an ebook reader loaded with dozens of titles.
These ebook readers do have some advantages over the print.
- Carry your personal library with you--great for textbooks.
- Permanency - books cannot be damaged
- Read where you're most comfortable desk, couch, bed, bus, train, plane--the reader even includes its own lighting.
- Includes extras such as highlighting, bookmarks, notes, drawings, text searches, built- in dictionaries, instant large print, audio.
The future place of ebooks is certain, but what will an ebook be in five or ten years with the coming developments in e-ink and e-paper and wireless technology. Will ebooks be subject to levels of control and restrictions that go beyond what we expect for print books? Will ebooks, freed from the constraints of the physical format of the printed book, evolve into something new? And what effect will this have on literature, communication of ideas, storytelling. For a glimpse into a possible future, there are ebooks on the Internet that have never appeared in print - some, experimental in form and content, relying on images and interactivity with the reader.
Library's eBooks can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Libraries can make their eBook collections searchable through their web-based online catalogs with a direct link to the desired title. The collection can be searched by keyword, full text, author, subject, publisher, publication year, ISBN, and using the Boolean operators an, or, not. Quotations can be used to search phrases.
Once a title has been checked out library users have the option of either reading the ebook online through their live internet connection or to download the book to their computer's hard disk.
Online reading is accomplished using Library's browser-based online eBook Reader. A feature packed tool palette allows users to click on tabs to search an eBook for a word or phrase, consult the dictionary for word definitions with audio pronunciations, to display the book's table of contents with chapter links, and to consult online help. The eBook Reader allows users to search text forwards or phrases, create annotation sets of bookmarked sections, highlighted text, and margin notes, copy/paste restricted amounts of text into other documents complete with quotations and a MLA citation, print restricted amounts of text, and zoom to enlarge or shrink text size.
The advantages of electronic books are significant: - rapid delivery to patrons, elimination of printing and distribution costs, reduced "processing" before they go into circulation, and easy replacement if lost or damaged. Furthermore, concerns about missing pages or highlighting within the text by other patrons are eliminated; storage space is minimal, and type can easily be enlarged. Already, there is a certain amount of versatility in this format. Ebooks can be downloaded from booksellers to be read from desktop or laptop computers, or there are battery powered readers - handheld devices designed for storing and reading e-books.
In spite of the advantages, however, the ebook format is not quite the perfect medium. Let us look briefly at some of the problems encountered by academic libraries with electronic books.
Circulation Problems
Many academic libraries have encountered problems in circulating electronic books. First, the checkout status is dependent upon the library's access to the vendor. In other words, a library may have only one user per book at a time, unless the library has purchased multiple copies of a title.
Additional problems have been encountered with (usually brief) checkout times. Circulation periods for ebooks range from a few hours to as long as two weeks. If a patron is unable to finish a book within the allotted time period, he would have to return the book and check it out again, hoping that it was still available. Coupled with the (often considerable) download time, this could make an ebook far less attractive than a traditional book.
Finally, several libraries have reported logistical problems in circulating e-readers.
Most often, libraries have had to provide some sort of tote bag that would be large enough to hold the device itself, its accompanying battery pack, and other relevant materials such as instructions, user agreements, etc.
Bibliographic Control
One of the advantages of electronic books is that they don't need the extensive "processing" that traditional books need to prepare them for circulation. In academic libraries, however, it is still important to obtain complete bibliographic information in order to catalog the books. The library catalog could not be updated with records for electronic books until catalogers had viewed them, because the vendor's listing did not provide sufficient bibliographic data.
Administrative Problems
The electronic book format raises a number of questions regarding copyright, fair use, intellectual property and digital rights. In incorporating ebooks into an academic library collection, library staff will face problems related to archiving, network applications, product support and updates, interfaces, and license agreements. In acquiring electronic books, it is necessary to address issues regarding space and equipment requirements, impact on other resources and services, and vendor and technical support. Collection management will inevitably become a far more intricate process.
Conclusion
Most academic libraries have had some degree of success with web based resources and electronic journals. In these instances ebooks will integrate easily into the infrastructure.
Advances in high resolution screen technology and improved software display will inevitably improve the readability of electronic books. Emerging generations of
ebook readers will have features which will considerably improve their readability - built-in electronic dictionaries and on screen note-pads, the ability the highlight passages of text, the option to change the orientation of the display by rotating the screen contents. The electronic book format has tremendous possibilities for the distance education arena. As the traditional university becomes the virtual university, scholars will access a virtual library of electronic resources.
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Julian Arhire is a success coach, trainer, Certified Master of Web Copywriting and founder of EbooksChoice.com. Julian is a prolific writer and Infopreneur having written many ebooks, articles and special reports.
