November 1, 2010 · 2:09 pm

Ebooks, Publishers and Accessibility

Late last night I decided that I wanted to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Shallows (mock me now).  It was pretty late, so I just figured I would download it to my iPad through my Kindle app or iBooks.  No such luck.  As it turns out, Harry Potter is not available digitally, and yes I did check overdrive too.

This bothers me for a couple of reasons:

1.  What are the publishers waiting for?  eBooks are here to stay.  The technology works, and prevents “theft” of their property, so what’s the hold up?

2. This is also an accessibility issue.  There are people in this country, and internationally, who only have access to books through digital means.  These people are barred from reading.

3. I prefer books like Harry Potter on the iPad, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

 

I’m sorry Arthur A. Levine Books, but I will not purchase any of your books now, until you make them available in the medium I want!

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Filed under digital divide, eBooks

October 30, 2010 · 1:09 pm

A Divided City: librarians have become a discretionary purchase

I have blogged about both YOUMedia and Whittier Elementary School, both in Chicago.  YOUMedia is Chicago’s highly successful digital space for teens.  Whittier Elementary School (Chicago Public Schools) was a school where parent’s staged a month long sit-in to restore the schools library.

Well, a recent article explains that the sit-in at Whittier Elementary School was a minor success in regards to the 164 Chicago Public Schools lacking a library.  1 in 4 elementary schools and 51 high schools in Chicago do not have a stand alone professionally staffed library.  The deathblow comes from an expert on urban education who states that librarians have become a discretionary purchase.

So in Chicago, kids likely have no access to a library in their schools, but a lucky few have access to games at YOUMedia?  Don’t get me wrong, I think YOUMedia is great, and will be the future of libraries.  I think Chicago Public Library is a great organization, but I’m just trying to point out the obvious divide here.  How is Chicago so supportive of libraries on one-hand and yet also view libraries as discretionary purchases on the other?

The biggest question for me is how are teens suppose to use the YOUMedia center if they have not had access to libraries in their schools?  More importantly, how are the kids who most need access to libraries going feel about all of this?

 

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Filed under Chicago, digital divide, information activist

October 29, 2010 · 5:25 pm

King’s take on eReading

In a recent interview with Stephan King by the WSJ King opened up about where he thinks ereading is going and what publishing will look like.  He made some interesting points:

1. He buys physical books even when he owns them digitally.  This is for the stamp-collector type who wants to display books.

2. Keyword searching of eBooks is great, especially when no index exist, and lets face it, indexes are not what they used to be.

3. Digital books are great for disposable reading, and that is a large chunk of book sales.

4. Bookstores are empty (I disagree with this one, but hey I’m no Stephen King).

King also mentions that half of his reading is now digital, I would like to know if this includes email and web surfing too?

 

The writing is on the wall.  eBooks are here to stay.  If we are not ready, we will be replaced.

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Filed under eBooks, eReading