Whatever is to become of books? Paper books vs digital books

Aquiles Alencar-Brayner

Digital Curator, British Library

@Aquilesbrayner

Email: aquiles.alencarbrayner@bl.uk

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eBooks: physicality as essence

Print vs Electronic

– Popular opinion highlights the tangibility of the book as its main essence.

–“E-book is a term used to describe a text in digital format, similar to a book, to be read on a computer screen” (Feather & Sturges, International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science, 1997, p.130) [my italics]

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From manuscript to print: a revolution beyond format

La Grant Dance Macabre, printed by Matthias Huss, Lyon, 1499

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Prosper Marchand Histoire de l’origine et des premieres d’imprimerie, The Hague, 1740

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From text to hypertext

Technological advance:

New reading habits

Big gap: digital natives vs digital immigrants (Marc Prensky, 2001)

Challenge to libraries and publishers: understand, predict and create services that respond to the information needs of both user groups

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Digital content: new format, new revolution?

“Integrated”

Pierre Levy - Les technologies de l'intelligence : l'avenir de la pensee a l' ere informatique the digital world offers us the potential to deconstruct hierarchies enriching our experience and understanding of the world - collective intelligence based on consensus.

“Apocalyptic”

Nicholas Carr – The Shallows: digital reading based on a schizophrenic model - unlike the printed book that requires concentration and reflection, reading digital content is superficial and random changing our intellectual habits and brain structure.

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Market for eBooks in the UK:

• eBooks sell has increased by 318% em 2010

• Research shows that in the coming years many titles will be published only in digital format

• eBook users spend more time reading. Poll with 1200 eBook readers shows that 40% of respondents are reading more now than before

http://www.bl.uk/2020vision

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Market trends for eBooks in the UK for 2020

• 20% of titles will be published only in paper format

• 40% of titles will be published only in electronic format

• 40% of publications in the UK will appear in both formats

Migration from print to electronic

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See also JISC national e-books observatory project: http://www.jiscebooksproject.org/

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eBooks: problems encountered by libraries

Bullet 1 Bullet2

Bullet 3

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Publishers: major obstacles in providing eBooks to libraries

Restrictions imposed by HarperCollins on the loan of eBooks by libraries (26 loans) proves that:

•Service for accessing eBooks is still tied to printed publishing model

•Options to access digital content are still very tight and do not take in consideration different user groups

•Little understanding of reading and access behavior to online information

•Market must offer new access models and greater flexibility in DRM

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What is the British Library doing?

Colaboration with other institutions (academic, governmental and commmercial partners) for the creation of interactive platforms:

1. Codex Sinaiticus: http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/

2. Gale World Scholar:http://www.galeuk.com/trialsite/

3. Turning the Pages: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/index.html#

4. Apps for tablets and smart phones: 19th Century Books (Microsoft) - BiblioLabs Treasures – Toura Royal Treasures – Toura (work in progress)

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BL apps: 19th Century Books http://bit.ly/lI2BfQ

1. Digitisation project in partnership with Microsoft (Live Book Search)

2. Free access to 1,000 titles

3. “Content with Curation”

4. Monthly subscription for access to other 45,000 titles

5. BL invests the revenue generated by subscription into the digitisation of new titles to be added to the collections aiming to provide 60,000 titles by the end of 2011

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Future projects

Digitisation project with Google:

•Digitization of 250,000 titles published between 1700 to 1870 (40 million pages) due to start in 2012

•Thematic selection of material to be digitised (eg, French Revolution, Feminist publications, Slavery, etc.)

•Material accessible through Google Books and the British Library online catalog

Gouges, Olympe de, The Rights of Women. To the Queen, 1791