Digital vs paper

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 Hello all, 

While listening to one of my favorite radio channels, WBZ News Radio for Boston, they briefly covered a very interesting piece on the increasing price of ebooks in comparison to their physical counterparts. This has been an increasing issue, especially considering many libraries are trying to work with the ever-rising demand for ebooks from people borrowing books. because of this, they cannot afford as many copies and there is usually a very long wait for extremely popular titles. I ended up looking into this and found that this is not a new problem I received articles dating back as far as 2019. This comes as both no surprise and a bit of a surprise given the history of OA and other sources of that type. I'm including a fantastic article I found below on this matter that really helped break it down for me. Some of the craziest things that I read included the fact that some publishers don't allow libraries to lend out their books at all, the fact that print books are more protected under US copyright laws, and the fact that a library pays almost double for the same book a consumer might. I am also not shocked to see that digital books are declining in use, I think given how busy we are (audiobooks for multitaskers) and our attempts to make for a greener environment by using fewer trees, that these will be ever more increasing norms for us at libraries. 


https://www.govtech.com/biz/data/behind-e-books-libraries-find-restrictions-and-high-costs

Comments

  1. Natalie StansburyNovember 21, 2023 at 2:57 PM

    We have had issues at our library with this as well. While I understand the reasoning for the increased prices for e-books for libraries, it doesn't make it any easier for us to purchase for the demand. I, myself, have started borrowing books from other libraries outside of our region - through the APP SimplyE. They state their goal is for libraries is "to put [your] library back into the role of curating and controlling the e-books [your] patrons can discover, read, and enjoy." They hope that libraries will "see a better return" on their e-books since they are reaching a larger audience. I have enjoyed using it since there have been some titles I could no get through our system. I think libraries are fighting back this way!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna V.November 21, 2023 at 7:15 PM

    I remember a previous class had discussed the unique issues surrounding e-books. I had not heard about the SimplyE app until you mentioned it in your post! I will have to look into it. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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