The TFAO Digital Library: eBooks and Public Libraries

The TFAO Digital Library

eBooks and Public Libraries

Nationwide, public library systems are establishing "digital libraries" to offer eBooks, which are electronic versions of books that can be viewed on a computer screen. eBooks are designed, according to the software publisher Adobe®, to allow or restrict printing of the contents and expire after a period of time. eBooks can be read out load by a computer, and enable highlighting, search and notes. Adobe®'s "eBook Central" page says "Adobe® eBook technology allows library patrons to borrow, download, and read offline a wide variety of titles on any computer running Microsoft® Windows® or Mac OS. Once a book is checked out, it can be accessed for a set amount of time, after which it is automatically deactivated, making it available for other patrons."

Advocates point out that eBooks in digital libraries:

are never lost or stolen
there are no overdue fines to patrons
provide lending period flexibility
puts reference content into circulation
are always accessible
have lessened processing costs
save patrons' time.

InternetWeek.com, in a July 19, 2004 article titled "Booksellers, Libraries See Growth In eBooks," describes adaption of eBook lending practices in public libraries:

The Park Ridge Public Library in Park Ridge, Ill., a suburban area north of Chicago, is offering city residents access to a new online eBook service over the Web. The library serves approximately 40,000 residents, circulating an average of 700,000 print volumes annually. OverDrive, a vendor of eBook solutions for libraries and retailers, supplied the technology for the new service...

The libraries [sic] collection includes bestsellers, classics, and fiction and non-fiction titles from leading publishers. Park Ridge library cardholders can check out and download eBooks online in Adobe PDF and Mobipocket formats. After downloading free reader software, they can read the books using handheld computers, PCs, Macs, and smartphones. Books are returned automatically.

Usage of OverDrive eBook library services has been on the upswing. In addition to the Park Ridge Library, the Denver Public, King County, San Jose Public, Cuyahoga County, and Cleveland Public libraries, among others, have deployed the OverDrive Digital Library Reserve service [1]

netLibrary, a division of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. in October 2004 estimated that "More than 76,000 complete titles are currently available in eBook form, representing a broad range of subject areas that meets the needs of thousands of diverse library customers, including academic, public, corporate, K-12, and special libraries, both domestically and internationally."

The help guide for the Michigan Library Consortium's digital library leads patrons through the steps of selecting and checking out eBooks. The process largely parallels the procedure used in a physical library. Questions are answered such as how many eBooks can be checked out at a time, use of an eBook Bag, return of eBooks, eBooks on hold, etc.

Amazon.com's internal subject searches provide a useful estimate of the amount of titles commercially available. Amazon.com has an eBook section. An October, 2004 search using the keywords "American art" yielded only one eBook title. Other keywords were also entered with lack of positive results, indicating that commercial publishers had not yet become active in publishing American art eBooks. In November, 2004 TFAO searched for American art eBooks in 21 digital public libraries and found one title at the Denver Public Library.

From this search for American art eBooks it is clear that TFAO-dl need not be presently concerned with establishing an eBook lending program.[2]

When practical, TFAO-dl plans to lease or purchase eBooks and lend them to patrons. This service will be largely driven by the requests of patrons. There are presently not enough published eBooks within TFAO-dl's field of interest to rationalize this service. Also, lending system software is not yet priced affordably by vendors nor is there a well developed cooperative lending model.

Notes:

1. For a view of the home pages of several public digital library systems see openebook.org's page for presentations and select the PDF file "Library Markets for Your eBooks and Digital Materials" by Angela Arnold of OverDrive at the Book Expo America - eBook Experience, June 4th through June 6th, 2004. Angelina Benedetti of the King County Library System prepared a presentation for the eBooks in the Public Library Conference, March 16th, 2004 which is available the same page. Her presentation includes charts showing monthly usage statistics for King County's digital library. Also see a list of 22 library systems [accessed 11/6/04] from Digital Library Reserve .

2. In August, 2005 TFAO located a 78-page eBook titled Art a GoGo's Guide to Careers in Art History: A Career Guide for California Art History Students, by Kathleen Lang.

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