by There has been a lot of talk in the library world about ebooks and ebook readers and so it seemed timely to attend Crystal Rose’s Education Institute session on ebooks.
Ebook readers seem to be booming, with seemingly endless releases of new readers. (Once again, Canada loses out in the recent kindle ereader releases). It makes me consider my use of ereaders and really, it comes down to the occasion or the format I’m reading. I frequently read on my smartphone (at lunch, in bed when I can’t sleep), on my iPad (love reading journal articles on it), on my Sony touch (usually longer books), on the computer as required. Could one device do it all? At this point, I don’t think so and that’s because of the item. I read PDFs differently than a long book. Something I’m not spending much time on at a lunch doesn’t need to be as robust as something that I need to focus on.
As I drafted this, Penguin appears to have pulled out of the ebook game for libraries, removing their books from Overdrive while they reevaluate. This again raises questions on how libraries can be part of the ebook world. Ownership of content is a pressing issue and present licenses aren’t helping. Time and again I see the question “what is the future of ebooks in libraries” and with the constantly shifting arena, it seems to only be getting more problematic.
Update It seems Penguin has reversed the decision until the end of the year. More here.
