Earlier we ran Hype Department: "No Library? No Problem--ebooks to the Rescue!" Now, spotted on Jessamyn West's librarian.net, here is ebook invasion in Cherry Hill, NJ:

This ebook/library press release [which was emailed to me in its entirely in my comment box] makes the "virtual library" that patrons get to use until the new library is built sound about as fun as watching the Macy's Parade on a tiny black and white television. Residents of Cherry Hill do get to visit the Cherry Hill Digital Community Center [sponsored by Sirsi, makers of non-Netscape compliant OPACs] which the library web site says is "an online place" available for residents. I've got nothing against eBooks conceptually, but can we agree that, just like Google Answers, they're supplemental to other library services, not replacements for them? Just like the profession's reliance on major book distributors has narrowed our easily-purchased titles to a smaller subsection of available books, so does the eBook program's interaction with big name publishers subtly, or not so subtly, shift the library's collection focus from comprehensive to popular? Library/business/vendor partnerships can be a really good thing, but they have to be entered into thoughtfully and consciously. Do you think overdrive's privacy policy is the same as your library's?

The TeleRead take: Exactly! Libraries should be driven by patrons' needs, not what is available in what medium. Furthermore, e-book privacy policies must match library standards.

Related: Cherry Hill Library offering 500 eBooks in the Courier-Post Online. Alas, just as the OverDrive press release was supremely clueless about the function of public libraries, the newspaper misses a major point in saying: "The bad news about the 'eBooks' now available at the Cherry Hill Library is that it's difficult to curl up in bed with a good computer." So PDAs and tablet computers have yet to reach New Jersey? The good news is that if even newspaper reporters don't know the possibilities of e-books, then what about the populace at large? Education, as opposed to hype, can go a long way in fighting this mass ignorance.
posted by David Rothman at 9:15 AM | permanent link

If you want to be among the brave, go to http://desktop.google.com/.

Related: Reuters story.

posted by David Rothman at 11:51 AM | permanent link

NY Times columnist David Pogue has just reviewed the OQO, the tiny PC. One thing that's clear: Make sure that your e-book software for the XP operating system can blow up the letters sufficiently to deal with tiny screen. (Thanks to Tom Peters.)
posted by David Rothman at 10:48 AM | permanent link

(1) I like most of John Kerry's other positions more than George Bush's, and (2) the Bush Justice Department is about as clueful as Kerry's team on copyright matters. Oh, well. Maybe someone at the last minute can educate Karl Rove about the potential of the MP3 vote. (Justice item via Copyfight.)
posted by David Rothman at 1:59 AM | permanent link

Um, this news release headline is just what e-bookdom needs to make librarians feel at home, eh? Even for temporary use, e-books are p-library substitutes NOT!
posted by David Rothman at 1:48 AM | permanent link

From Tom Peters:

Hello, Everyone. This is just a reminder that tonight beginning at 8:00 Eastern Daylight Time, 7:00 Central, 6:00 Mountain, and 5:00 Pacific we will have our monthly "Meting of the Minds" online book discussion. Tonight we will be discussing Stephen Ambrose's valedictory book, To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian.

A link into the online meeting room has been pasted below:
http://www.tcconference.com/lib/?auditorium&nopass_field=1

Although we always try to limit these discussions to one hour, tonight we will want to be particularly mindful of the time, because the final presidential debate begins at 9:00 Eastern, 8:00 Central. There may be an informative juxtaposition between this book and the presidential debate.

I hope you will be able to join us tonight, and I hope we attract some other folks to what promised to be a lively discussion of an interesting book.

By the way, next month we will be discussing a comic novel, Where Do You Stop?, by Eric Kraft. That discussion will be on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 7:00 Central, 6:00 Mountain, and 5:00 Pacific.
posted by David Rothman at 3:09 PM | permanent link

Just back from the emergency clinic with seven stitches in my right index finger. I can still work, but not as fast. Oh, well, at least Cary and I know that it was most likely the edges of our tuna can that did me in while I was on trash duty. No rust. Thank goodness for the telephone and VoIP.
posted by David Rothman at 2:49 PM | permanent link

"..digital hardware and software changes rapidly. Yesterday's common format can quickly become today's more or less unusable one. Try finding a machine to access a WordStar file on a 5-inch floppy disk these days." - Researchers keeping digital history alive, in The Champaign (IL) News-Gazatte.

The TeleRead take: Ouch, that's close to home; I'm the author of, among other books, WordStar in a Day. Point is, proprietary formats suck for word-processors and e-books alike. Someday I'd love to ditch Microsoft Word, which, of course, Microsoft keeps changing to thwart rivals. We end users are the victims. Now--the e-book angle. It'll be interesting to see just how accessible Microsoft Reader books will be three decades from now. Proprietary formats are an insult to the supposedly "permanent" medium of books.

Related: Library of Congress Seeks Digital Preserves, on NPR. You can bet that an OpenReader approach for formal "born digital" documents would save the taxpayers a ton of money in the end by reducing conversion costs.

(News stories found via LISNews.)
posted by David Rothman at 1:35 AM | permanent link

Looks as if the more restrictive news sites like the Wall Street Journal are starting to pay for their reader-unfriendly linking policies.

The same concept could apply to e-books in many cases. The less publishers allow readers to sample the merchandise, the worse sales may be. Not always but often. Balance is the key. Of course, speaking of linking, one of the biggest problems in the e-book world is that each book is an island in itself. Precise linking from e-book to e-book just isn't posssible. A TeleReadish approach could change that, and OpenReader will also help. (Via Techdirt.)

Detail: Oh, well, at least the Wall Street Journal at least supports RSS feeds.
posted by David Rothman at 1:35 AM | permanent link

"As noted here, Copyright Shenanigans Not Over in Congress - Piracy Education Act Dangerous, there was concern that a mishmash copyright law bill would come out of Congress near the end of this session. Thankfully, the proposed legislation did not make it to a vote." - The Importance of...
posted by David Rothman at 1:28 AM | permanent link

RedLightGreen.com, a creation of RLG, searches through 120 million books based on such criteria as author's name, title, and subject matter. Not full text search--but still useful. (Via Newsscan.)

Related: OCLC Opens Up the Complete Worldcat Database to Web Engines and Other Partners, in Resources Shelf.

posted by David Rothman at 10:33 AM | permanent link

Oh, the power of the Net. Steve Ballmer has backed off from his insult against iPod owners, whom he branded as music thieves.
posted by David Rothman at 8:14 AM | permanent link

See LISNews' links on Creative Commons. The question I have is, How long until the copyright greedsters try to figure out a way of making the Creative Common approach illegal or at least too difficult to use.

No, I would not in the least be reassured by some copyright industry people's comments that they can live with the idea of Creative Commons for the willing.

If too many content-providers try to use Creative Commons--which is just plain good business in many cases--then the usual suspects may respond in the usual ways. With bought laws or perhaps court suits of the kind used in the anti-linux jihad.
posted by David Rothman at 8:11 AM | permanent link

Again and again TeleRead has told how copyright fanatics in Washington will alienate young people abroad--by using our trade-negotiations clout to inflict consumer-hostile copyright laws overseas. "Young people" include hackers. And if you're wondering just what some of the consequences could be, check out Shifting cyber threats menace factory floors in the Register.
posted by David Rothman at 8:08 AM | permanent link

"AudioBooksGuide.com brings you the most concise guide to everything that encompasses the world of audio books. Our goal is to keep users informed on the latest deals, special offers, releases and background information in the happenings of audio books." - AudioBooksGuide home page, via ebook news.

Among other things, the home page includes a tip on how to speed up audio books in Windows.
posted by David Rothman at 7:21 AM | permanent link

A "thousand tiny cuts have now been united in a single bill, HR 4077, which is racing through Congress--while all our attention was focused on INDUCE." - Lessig blog.

Related: Copyright Shenanigans Not Over in Congress - Piracy Education Act Dangerous, in Ernie Miller's The Importance of... blog. Also see Copyright Bill Dies in Senate as Others Advance, from Reuters.
posted by David Rothman at 3:31 AM | permanent link

In the early '90s, TeleRead was advocating getting the Library of Congress online. Similar sentiments came out at the Web 2.0 conference last week.

But what about the copyright-related obstacles? For years we've been discussing that, one reason we keep ranting against the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Will the cost of a comprehensive virtual LOC really be just $260 million, the figure given in a BBC report?

Costs actually far higher

Unless LOC uses the bookstore or subscription model, where users pay, the taxpayers will be spending considerably more. The $15-billion-plus for content each year would still be just a tiny fraction of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, a bargain compared to the benefits, and I'm all in favor of seeing much more free content online --but what about the political realities?

Of course, the BBC may have been wrong in saying: "Universal access to all human knowledge could be had for around $260m, a conference about the web's future has been told." Perhaps Brewster Kahle, the speaker, was really talking just about the actual cost of digitizing the information and not including copyright-related costs.

Update, 11:09: OK--just as I suspected. The word from Jon Noring, whose Sound Preserve project is being assisted by Brewster Kahle, is this: "Yes, Brewster Kahle was talking about the cost of digitizing the materials, not the added cost of making currently copyrighted materials in the Library of Congress available on the Internet. BK is talking about doing each book for $10.00, so that's where the $260 million comes from." Also see Cory Doctorow's notes. It's clear the BBC was misleading at best.

Coming in the next week or so: More information on Sound Preserve, which will will include Project Gramophone. SP's executive director is Eric Jacobs. An automation/robotics expert and audio expert, he is consulting with Brewster on a robotic book scanning project.
posted by David Rothman at 10:39 AM | permanent link