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This is a presentation I gave on ebooks at the Association of Pall Mall Libraries meeting in April 2014.
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Past, Present, Future• Back to the 1930s• Ebooks today• How ebook lending
services work• The future?
© Wiertz Sébastien/Flickr
Ebooks - Beginnings• A 1930s idea:• “The Readies”
• Reality in the 1940s:• Index of Thomas
Aquinas• Mechanical
Encyclopedia
© Eirik Newth/Flickr
Project Gutenberg (1971)• First digital library• 45,000 ebooks• Still freely available
now via the internet
© gato.villegas/Flickr
Modern eBooks
• eBook – text file• eReader – the
device you read it on
• Compatibility
© Kodomut/Flickr
Ebooks – 21st Century• Recent popularity• Most public library
ebook services less than 5 years old
• Why lend ebooks?
© Let Ideas Compete
UK Statistics (2013)• 80m ebook sales• 323m print book sales• 1-in-5 sales are self-published
books• Est. 35% of book sales in next 2
years will be ebooks© Libraryman/Flickr
Key Players• Non-traditional:
• Amazon• Tech organisations• Supermarkets
• Publishers• Booksellers• DIY self-publishers © theunquietlibrary/Flickr
Surrey Example• Services• Overdrive• Project Gutenberg• One Click Digital
• Access via apps, internet, desktop computers
© Peter Gene/Flickr
Challenges• Changing ebook landscape• Publishers concerns• Some high costs • Supporting staff & library
users
© Eric Rice/Flickr
Government eLending Review• Acknowledged problems• Asked for feedback• Positive ideas • Pilot projects
© Mike Licht/Flickr
The Future?• It is still early days• Still no single “best way”• Pilots will help guide us• What technology is around
the corner?
© Mike Licht/Flickr