Empowering the Reader in a Digital World

Program Goals
Make sense of ePublication and eReaders
Distinguish between dedicated and non-dedicated eReaders
Answer the “eBooks: Fad or Trend?” question
Untangle the web of acronyms for ePub formats and DRM schemes

Program Goals
Highlight ePub’s strengths and weakness for libraries and for end users
Explore how eTextbooks fit in to this emerging landscape
Propose new models for library service in a digital environment

Program Goals
Provide you with some practical patron assisting tools
Give you some homework and an opportunity to change the world

What is a Book?

The form of the book has changed over time.
The ‘book’ is the content, not the package!

So, what happens when the package undergoes a drastic change?

Formerly music’s King of the Hill

Took over that whole eco-niche

Once “the” format for home movies

So, will these be replaced by…

Back to the Future

ePub and Human Nature
Humphrey Davies and Nitrous Oxide
44 years
Calvin and Hobbes and the microwave
Six minutes

Recap
A “book” is the content; an eBook is just the next new package.
History suggests that eBooks will rapidly invade the codex space.
The new package will last until it is replaced by a better package.
We won’t revert to the previous package.

History also suggests that—as libraries—we won’t be ready.
Chad & I want you to be ready this time!!
Recap

eReaders, Formats, and DRM

What is a Dedicated eReader?
n models
A device optimized for reading eBooks
Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader

What’s so special about them?
Reflect light the way paper does (Outdoor reading).
E-Ink has no backlighting so it is easier on the eyes and can be printed on any surface.
Long battery life, especially if other features are turned off.
Small format with huge capacity.

Just as digital music turned this…

… into this

ePub turns this…

… into this

A few “dedicated” eReaders

Kindle 2 and Kindle DX The Kindle DX can hold 3,500 books. If each title weighed 2.5 pounds then it could hold 4 tons of books ( Information today , May 2010)

Barnes and Noble Nook The Nook was the first eReader with digital lending between the Nook, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, PC, Mac OS, and Android Smartphones.

Sony eReader

Copia eReaders are considered the “first social eReading experience designed so you can discover, connect and share what's meaningful.”

Skiff eReader

HP’s Flexible Display This mylar-infused sheet will hold an image without power.

What’s a non-dedicated eReader
A device designed for some other, larger purpose that can also read ePublications.
PC, Mac, iPad, netbook, iPhone, Android phones/tablets, Internet-enabled DVD players/TVs, gaming consoles etc.

Steve and his iPad

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks/download-reader.asp

Some Android eReader Apps Laputa Google eBooks Kindle Kobo

Which one is better?
Dedicated
Excellent for extended reading and/or pleasure reading.
You can “fall into” the book, and the mechanism does not interfere.
Non-dedicated
Excellent for quick, casual reading.
Can read while multitasking.

Is it OK to have both?
Yes!

So, what will eReaders look like a few years from now?

We have no idea

ePublication Formats
We have an alphabet soup of formats:
AZW, PDF, EPUB, MOBI, TXT, DJVU, LIT, etc.
For a thorough explanation/comparison, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats
The big ones for us are EPUB, PDF and AZW (Kindle).
“ Everyone” else uses EPUB and PDF
Microsoft uses LIT, but hardly anyone cares
Official ePub logo, International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF)

Libraries and format
OverDrive uses the EPUB and PDF formats
Anyone not familiar with OverDrive?
NetLibrary uses PDF, HTML, and DJVU formats for various documents. (This is probably changing?)
Anyone not familiar with NetLibrary?

Dueling Formats The cassette/CD format difference is easy for our patrons to see and understand. But .EPUB vs .AZW… ? Not so easy.

Dueling formats AZW EPUB

If format were the only issue… www.calibre-ebook.com

Same Format, Dueling DRMs EPUB w/ Adobe’s ADEPT DRM EPUB w/ Apple’s FairPlay DRM

Dueling Formats and DRMs AZW using Amazon’s DRM EPUB using Abode’s DRM

So, what’s this DRM thing?
Digital Rights Management.
A software “lock” that controls access to a file (eBook, eMusic, eMovie). You must have the correct software “key” to unlock it.

Is DRM a good thing or is it an evil thing?

Like speed limits and banking regulations, DRM schemes can be a good thing and can protect an author’s livelihood.
Like speed traps and unreasonable lending practices, DRM schemes can infuriate and frustrate our readers.

I am upset! This is so frustrating! I don’t care what it is called; I JUST WANT to read an eBook!

A reader who has figured it out

https://readersbillofrights.info/

Recap
There are dedicated and non-dedicated eReaders; both are wonderful.
Any devices we see now will be quaint in a few years.
ePublications come in a variety of (often) incompatible formats.
They are protected by various forms of DRM.

ePub and Public Libraries

How will ePub affect Public Libraries?
Access—Web site becomes “the” library
Old days--My library has a web site!
Near future--My web site still has a library!
Delivery—Instant home delivery. No need to visit the library. Or wait.
Delivery—Your costly, polluting, labor intensive inter-branch delivery vanishes

Overdues—Nope.
Book self-returns when due
Storage—Your entire collection fits on a one or two Terabyte hard drive.
About $50 per Terabyte at CompUSA
Service area—Why have a ‘local’ library?

What happens to Ownership?
Storage on “OverDrive’s” servers
CKO via “OverDrive’s” software
Access via “NetLibrary” web site
(Are we sure that “we” own this book?)

Homework/Quest One
Create open source software that enables a library to store and check out eBooks without needing an “OverDrive”.
Think Apache and Mailman

Publishers’ reluctance to sell to libraries
Term limited eBooks
Limited range of vendors

Homework/Quest Two
Devise a purchasing plan that creates a “win” for publishers, vendors, librarians and patrons
Hint: 90% of it already exists

Recap
ePub offers huge benefits to public libraries, but also some threats to libraries as we now envision them.
We need to figure out how to exploit ePub’s power without being destroyed by it.
Use the Force, but don’t go over to the dark side, even if they offer you candy

eTextbooks Al & Chad Chad & Al

Consider this eTextbook pricing breakdown … 32.3% (paper, printing) + 22.6% (college store) = 54.9% of the cost of textbooks. So, why aren’t we using eTextbooks?

eTextbooks
95 % of McGraw-Hill’s offerings are electronic, but their focus is on print. Why?
75% of college students surveyed prefer print textbooks, citing print’s look and feel + its permanence and ability to be resold. (Book Industry Study Group's Student Attitudes Toward Content in Higher Education survey, 2011)
Torrent sites are starting to get more popular for eTextbooks (Isohunt, TheEbooksBay, TextbookTorrents, Piratebay, and on and on and on …)

eTextbooks
Electronic books will be widely adopted in college settings within one to two years. ( 2011 Horizon Report )
According to the National Association of College Stores only 3% of textbook sales are digital, but they expect it to grow to 10-15% by 2012. ( Campus Technology , 3/2011)
Florida looks at taking school textbooks completely digital by 2015 (St. Petersburg Times, 2/17/11)
Profs: Kindle no threat to college textbooks: Students find e-reader cheaper but hard to use (Arizona Republic, 7/6/10)

Some eTextbook Options
CourseSmart’s “ catalog includes over 90% of the core textbooks in use today in North American Higher Education as eTextbooks …”
Amazon.com has eTextbooks for Kindle, but they are limited (e.g., no color).
CourseLoad integrates with Learning Management Systems and does not depend on specific devices for students to read and interact with the content.
Flat World Knowledge is where “educators choose the book [and] students choose format and price.” Remixable eTextbooks.
Inkling is brining content to the “iPad with interactivity, social collaboration and simple ease-of-use” and is going beyond the constraints of the printed book!

The Kno, textbook tablet

The Application requires 46MB of hard disk space; books range from 50KB to 1GB per title. (Source: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy

Browser-based books = truly device agnostic!
With HTML 5 eBooks will become more interactive; content can be stored offline and then synced via the “cloud.”
Books in Browsers 2010: The Future of Reading on the Web conference was held October 21, 2010 at the Internet Archive.
eTextbooks – looking ahead

CourseSmart Amazon.com

Recap
eBooks are powerful and complicated.
They can fundamentally change libraries as we know them.
Nobody fully grasps the full range of opportunities and threats they offer.
Lots of people are bewildered and confused. So…
How should we—as Librarians—respond?

Appropriate Library Response to these Problems

Issues like this that keep us relevant and employed.
This is powerful and FUN!
We are seeing evolution in action.
Show me the rules that says “Libraries may not convert EPUB to AZW for patrons!”
Or “Never, ever mention calibre or FeedBooks!”

Hands on empowerment
This quick demo assumes that you
have downloaded, installed and launched calibre
Have a DRM free eBook available
Have a Kindle (or Nook or…) with cable
(Ask me about DRM afterwards)

Well, what about DRM?

More Joy

DRM schemes are a possibly necessary evil.
Current treebook CKO is primitive DRM.
DRM schemes can be beaten, and it’s not illegal to know how.
We can be the eBook source with the least annoying DRM and often none at all.

How do we stay in the game?
OverDrive model
We exist but with a changed role
Amazon and Apple models
We don’t exist
Ebsco NetLibrary model
We may exist. We don’t know yet.
Other models
Maybe we should create our own
Create a model right now…

One New Model
S earch
H olds List
- (Current alternatives cost money & time)
R ental
E lectronically Purchase
D onate to your library

A possible academic model
Find and borrow or buy an eBook.
Add notes in a Photoshop-like layer.
Return or sell back the book.
Retain the notes.
Sell the notes to next term’s students to be overlaid on the eBook. (Or a used book store could do this…)

Who do we buy from?
OverDrive
OverDrive
Ebsco (NetLibrary)
Smashbooks, Baen, and…?
That’s a pretty short and iffy list. We need to lobby our current suppliers.
By ‘we’ I also mean ‘ You !’

Homework/Quest Three
Sit down with your vendor’s sales rep
Look him in the eye
Grab his tie and….

What do we do with the empty shelf space? How do we ‘repurpose’ staff?
Community ‘center’
The Yin to Starbucks’ Yang?
Lots of information plus some good coffee?
Put an actual Starbucks where the treebooks used to be
eGov and the ‘stigma’ of food stamps
Library expertise on ePub
Way more than just a latte!
The OCLC Perceptions study

Final Recap
Development of books
Libraries and formats and DRM
Really cool e-pub stuff
Really annoying/scary e-pub stuff
Innovative purchasing and loan models

Summary
“ Bad” ePub news
Learning curve
Loss of status quo
Publishing FUD
Vendor scarcity
Possibility of library extinction

Summary
Good ePub news
Thousands of free books
A MARC record makes it “yours”
Potential for dramatic cost decreases
Huge increase in ability to serve patrons
Opportunity for entirely new service models
Local authorship opportunities

Your homework or quests
Tell your vendors you want lendable, downloadable e-books.
Train your staff so that they are able to say, “We can help you with that!”

Quests and homework
Find ways to cooperate with other libraries; location is now irrelevant.
Invent and share ways to exploit ePub’s digital nature in library environments.
Start reading eBooks and playing with calibre (and related tools)

How can I learn more?
Visit: http://sites.google.com/a/tblc.org/digital-delight
Visit: http://sites.google.com/site/epublishingtrendstblc/
Google “sources of free ebooks”
Pay attention! (Hint: HarperCollins)
[email_address]
[email_address]

Relic of the Past
Not a relic

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Empowering the Reader in a Digital World

by Chad Mairn

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