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Libraries and ebooks
Mar. 15th, 2011 12:32 pmNew York Times (yes, yes, I know) on the recent decision by Harper Collins to limit the number of times an ebook can be checked out from any given library. Slightly interesting tidbit: that despite the need to replace hardcovers/softcovers after they've worn out, libraries face losing a potential revenue source: selling off their used hardcovers/softcovers.
Other interesting tidbit not in the article: for an upcoming Tor.com post, the Orange County Library provided a 1970s copy of a children's book. So, er. Yeah.
While we're chatting about this, my main issue with Overdrive, as a consumer, is the excessively poor labelling/"shelving" of ebooks (this is also true for the Sony ebookstore.) Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, to name an example not at random, is not science fiction. And this sort of thing happens all the time.
I find Overdrive useful when I know exactly what I'm looking for -- author or title. Browsing, not so much; I've found a few books here and there, but browsing has not been the most positive experience. Which leads me in turn to the conclusion that my future reading will be even more influenced by the recommendations of friends and websites - not entirely a bad thing, but perhaps limiting my wild explorations just a little bit.
Which in turn, not entirely a bad thing: one problem I had in college when writing research papers on, say, Trotsky, was to get distracted on the way to those shelves, or even on those shelves, with a number of items that had nothing to do with Trotsky whatsoever. In marine biology grad courses, my research papers, targeted by search words, had considerably less of this kind of thing. On the other hand, those first explorations turned me into the rolling bundle of useless facts I am today.
Other interesting tidbit not in the article: for an upcoming Tor.com post, the Orange County Library provided a 1970s copy of a children's book. So, er. Yeah.
While we're chatting about this, my main issue with Overdrive, as a consumer, is the excessively poor labelling/"shelving" of ebooks (this is also true for the Sony ebookstore.) Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, to name an example not at random, is not science fiction. And this sort of thing happens all the time.
I find Overdrive useful when I know exactly what I'm looking for -- author or title. Browsing, not so much; I've found a few books here and there, but browsing has not been the most positive experience. Which leads me in turn to the conclusion that my future reading will be even more influenced by the recommendations of friends and websites - not entirely a bad thing, but perhaps limiting my wild explorations just a little bit.
Which in turn, not entirely a bad thing: one problem I had in college when writing research papers on, say, Trotsky, was to get distracted on the way to those shelves, or even on those shelves, with a number of items that had nothing to do with Trotsky whatsoever. In marine biology grad courses, my research papers, targeted by search words, had considerably less of this kind of thing. On the other hand, those first explorations turned me into the rolling bundle of useless facts I am today.