Comments on: Future of Libraries 2010: The Consumer and Library E-book Markets (Paul Sims, Ann Awakuni, & Henry Bankhead)

By: Dan Gerson

Dan Gerson — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:42:38 +0000

The current ebook licensing model threatens not only the viability of libraries bur also ‘privatizes’ public discourse. Soon readers amd libraries alike will not enjoy a choice when selecting the format of their reading materials but will be forced to license the content from a particular vendor using certain hardware and software. No longer will we be able to loan or sell our ‘book’ nor donate it to a library without the explicit cooperation of a publisher and or intermediary, if made possible at all by software capabilities. Particular books could potentially be clawed-back by publishers for any reason and entire collections cold be deauthorized by hacking or database failure.

By: 20101022 Kindle Sony Ipad 借阅之比较 at E-ink now!

20101022 Kindle Sony Ipad 借阅之比较 at E-ink now! — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:02:28 +0000

[...] http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2010/09/fol-ebooks.html [...]

By: 20101022 Public Libraries, Why aren’t you lending nook, Kobo, COOL-ER and SONY eReaders? at E-ink now!

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 01:52:42 +0000

[...] really curious about this, and reading a blog post from the Librarian in Black, which summarized a library futures event has gotten me even more [...]

By: Thoughts on eBooks « Marginalia

Thoughts on eBooks « Marginalia — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:18:06 +0000

[...] of the public library, presented by Henry Bankhead (see the Librarian in Black’s excellent recap). The main point that stuck out was that ebooks are a very big deal – they are already [...]

By: Future of the pBook – Conflicting Opinions! « 21st Century Library Blog

Future of the pBook – Conflicting Opinions! « 21st Century Library Blog — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:27:49 +0000

[...] in Black” blogger, Posted a very comprehensive review of an event in San Francisco in her Post: Future of Libraries 2010: The Consumer and Library E-book Markets. In her Post of September 21, she reviewed three individuals (Paul Sims, Ann Awakuni and Henry [...]

By: CBS Bibliotek Blog – Innovation & Ny Viden » Blog Archive » E-boglæsere vs. tablets

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 19:36:19 +0000

[...] Læs også Future of Libraries 2010: The Consumer and Library E-book Markets [...]

By: Brent Hanner

Brent Hanner — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:05:21 +0000

I’m a first semester information science student who did graduate work in history before persuing this degree and I came across an older blog post refering to similar statements made in a Library Law blog. Something that strikes me both in reading some of the stuff on the blogs but also many readings for class is a high degree of self indulgence among a certain segment of librarians leading to a lot of talk about why librarians and libraries are so important instead of focusing on making librarians and libraries more important. And part of that is to be actually educated on the issues at hand and not being chicken little every time some new issue comes along.
At the moment the legal nature of an e-book has not yet been defined. If it is a book then they will fall under first sale and there are no new issues. Publishers say they are like software and licensed. Even if we accept that premise public libraries have little to worry about because the COMPUTER SOFTWARE RENTAL AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1990 explicitly allows public libraries to lend software. So either way public libraries basically unaffected by any rights the publishers claim as long as they do due diligence against copyright infringment.
Beyond that public libraries should welcome a lawsuit over the issue. We should be prepaired legally and on the publicity front but a large majority of Americans support the idea of public libraries even if they are not high on the funding priorities.
It may end up that public libraries end up as mostly a reference desk at city hall with the majority of the collection in digital format, that does not change the need for them just the physical shape they take.
Also libraries looking at what readers to buy should serously consider the Sony, it has the fewest attachments to the book trade and as such is more likely to side with libraries should a legal fight emerge.

By: Pete Basofin

Pete Basofin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:31:03 +0000

Thanks for summarizing this panel in detail. Very thought-provoking. I’ve not seen a discussion that faces the huge threat ebooks pose to public libraries.

By: Today’s reads: Netflix; legal wastes of time; the future of the book | Simon Chamberlain's Blog

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:39:16 +0000

[...] Future of Libraries Conference: Social Media Capital (tips on using social media at your library); The Consumer and Library E-Book Markets (some interesting stuff here, including a self-confessed ‘doomsayer’s’ [...]

By: Michael Henry Starks

Michael Henry Starks — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:28:31 +0000

It is hard for me to imagine how libraries will be a significant player in providing ebook access to patrons unless libraries deal collectively with publishers and distributors. Otherwise, how can libraries provide free access to ebooks on the same scale that they provide free access to physical books? And if they cannot, then what is the value of libraries to patrons who want only e-content?