I have been intrigued by the idea of Ebooks all semester and have struggled with the idea of getting one for myself. I enjoyed the group presentation about Ebooks and Ereaders and thought I would explore some of the history of the topic, the currents and trends, and especially on what the challenges are for the library today. It’s a pretty hefty topic and I found some great research on the subject of Ereaders, and thankfully most of it current! My conclusions came to be that the Ereader is not just a trend and that the library must embrace the technology as a service and not a threat to its existence.
Abstract:
The Electronic Book Revolution has hit the American mainstream with the advent of the Apple Ipad, the Amazon Kindle, and the Barnes and Noble Nook, to name a few of the more popular e-readers of current times. In fact, the Ebook revolution has hit such popularity that a Google search of the simple term, “Ebooks” brings about over 23 million hits. The Ebook medium needs to be reviewed by librarians as one more available tool for its patrons just as it promotes the use of the internet and social networking tools. This underlying nature of sharing, sharing books, thoughts, words on ‘paper’ through the Ebook format is one that is truly revolutionary. It is through these ideas that makes the technology unique for libraries. Librarians are champions of advocacy for libraries, the physical space, the print book, and they must also be advocates for the Ebook before someone else takes the reins. The librarian must set the standard and the status quo with the publishing world in order to take the control back of the disbursement in their library. Considering Ebooks as complimentary rather than a struggle to the library and its services can only expand its popularity in the community because of its ability to bring books and literature together with our digital world.
