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A talk given by Tom Peters at the Kanawha County Public Library's staff development day, February 23, 2011
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In the Clouds, With a Personal, Portable Computer, By Professor Plum:
Clues Concerning the Impact and Opportunities of the eReading Revolution on Libraries and Library Staff
A talk given by Tom Peters at the Kanawha County Public Library Staff Development DayCharleston, West Virginia, February 23, 2011
Talkin’ About a Revolution!
These slides are online at http://www.tapinformation.com/KanawhaTalk201102.htm
A Portable eBook Revolution is Underway Right Now
Revolutionary Fits and Starts
Seventies: Paperless Office
Late Nineties: Failed eBook Coup
2001: Segway
Amazing Revolutions Underway
Global mobile phone revolution. 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions
in 2010. 76.2 subscriptions for every 100 pe0ple
worldwide.
Source: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/KeyTelecom.html
Portable eReading revolution.
My Two Professional Fears
1. Mobile Revolution(Fear of missed
opportunities)
2. Portable eReading Revolution(Fear of being muscled
out)
People and Tech RevolutionsWhat can we learn from history?
When We Name a New Technology, We Project the Past into the Future
Horse Iron Horse Carriage Horseless Carriage Phone Smart Phone Book eBook
(Wordprocessing may be the exception that proves the rule. Why didn’t we call it eWriting?)
These naming propensities help us in the short term, but hurt us in the long term.
The Cloudiness of Cloud Computing
Just about everybody is always connected to the Internet, unless they consciously choose to be offline.
What does this mean for the development of library experiences (content, systems, services)?
How will eReading in the cloud work?
ReadingWhat do we know? Where is it headed?
What Is Reading?
• Gist of the Wikipedia Definition: A complex process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving and/or constructing meaning.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_(process)
• My Tentative Definition: People interacting with texts, thus constituting
a sensory, cognitive, and emotional experience that is complete, complex, and satisfying .
Reading as Sensory Intake• Visual Reading: printed on paper or digital• Auditory Reading: analog or digital,
prepackaged, downloadable, or streaming• Tactile Reading: braille (printed or digital)
*************************************• Olfactory Reading: e.g., Olfactory Web
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/04/08/weird-wednesday-whatever-happened-to-the-olfactory-web/
• Gustatory Reading: Devouring a Good Bookhttp://www.books2eat.com
Let’s Bracket Some Stuff
eBooks as Searchable Databases: NetLibrary, eBrary, EBL, etc. Let’s focus on books intended to be read
“cover to cover” on portable electronic devices primarily for avocational interests.
Tactile, Olfactory, and Gustatory Reading
Situational Reading
1. School
2. Work
3. Avocational(Reading for Pleasure)
4. Incidental
Let’s Focus on Avocational Readers
In any given year, a slight majority of adult Americans claim to have read anything for pleasure (i.e., not related to work or school)
50.2 % of adult Americans (approx. 113 million) engaged in literary reading in 2008.
Source: NEA Report, “Reading on the Rise” (January 2009). Available as free PDF file at http://www.nea.gov/pub/pubLit.php
U.S. Portable eReading
Devices: U.S. represents approx. 75% of world market. Q3 2010: 2.7 million units shipped worldwide Worldwide in 2010: sales $1.9 billion (11 million
units). Sources: http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/02/yankee_group_e-.html
and http://www.digitalhome.ca/2011/01/media-tablet-and-ereader-sales-continue-to-grow-at-a-torrid-pace/
Software: Scads of apps for netbooks, tablets, smartphones, gaming devices, desktops, etc.
Content: U.S. trade wholesale ebook sales in Q3 2010 were almost $120 million. Source: http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm
Not-So-Bold Prediction
The future of sustained reading for pleasure will be primarily portable eReading.
What Does This Portend for Libraries & Library Staff Members?
New user expectations. New sources of content. New genres and formats. New services for individual readers &
groups. New “competition” from non-library
sectors. New skill sets for staff members.
Portable eReadingIn the U.S., with or without Libraries
Portable eReading for Pleasure in the U.S.: Now a 4-Horse Race?
1. Amazon Kindle
2. Apple iPad
3. Barnes & Noble Nook Color
4. Google eBooks (cloud reading)
Portable eReading and Libraries Amazon Kindle (doesn’t exhibit at library conferences) Apple iPad (doesn’t exhibit at library conferences) Barnes & Noble (doesn’t exhibit at library conferences) Google eBooks (doesn’t exhibit at library conferences)
OverDriveAdding more mobile appsAdding content Simplifying the circ processCertifying devices as library-model-friendlyUsing the same DRM system as Google eBooks
Blio (Baker &Taylor, Kurzweil, and NFB)Launched (to end-users running MS OS) on 9/28/10. Library-lending module sometime in 2011
The Long Tail Goes Mobile• Google eBooks
(over 2 million titles)• BookServer (Internet
Archive) (approx. 1.6 million titles in ePub and DAISY formats)
• Sony Reader (over 1 million titles, mainly public domain Google Books)
• Barnes & Noble Nook (over 1 million titles)
• Amazon Kindle editions (over 800,000 titles)
• OverDrive (over 200,000 ebook titles)
Who and What is at Risk?If portable eReading for pleasure
becomes an unbundled, commercial enterprise serving individual readers, the at-risk groups include:
Bookstores Libraries Have Nots Students, Scholars, and Researchers Voracious Readers
Left to Their Own Devices
Mobile eReading experiences require some sort of portable device.
Consider All PP ICE Devices• PP ICE = Personal, Portable
Information, Communication, Entertainment
– Mobile Phones– Dedicated eReading Devices– Portable Music/Media Players– Netbooks– Tablet Devices– Portable Gaming Devices– Devices for Kids
Future of Devices and Libraries For millennia (until about last year)
libraries had to be in the device business.
From now on, most (but not all) library users will provide their own PP ICE’s.
Implications for the right of first sale. See http://www.idealog.com/blog/ (Feb. 12)
Libraries will be free to concentrate on content, services, and communities.
eBook Lending Services
BooksForNooks.com BooksForMyKindle.com BookLending.com (formerly
KindleLendingClub.com) Booklends.com (still in private beta) eBookFling.com, powered by
BookSwim.com
This Is All Faintly Disturbing
How did Libraries Get Into This Fine Mess?
From Stressed to Success
Libraries and Library Staff Move Boldly into the eReading EraHow to overcome our fears and anxieties concerning the future of public libraries in the mobile eReading era?
Understand the Stakeholders Authors Agents, Rights Holders,
and other Inscrutables Publishers Booksellers Librarians Library vendors IT companies Readers
Libraries Serve Communities of Readers
Who are these readers? Why do they read? How do they read? Where and when do they read? Printed books all are designed and
read in the same basic way. eBooks are presented and read
(interacted with) in a wide variety of ways.
Library staff need to explore these ways.
A Matter of Focus
eBooks (content, file formats, DRM, etc.)
eReaders (devices, screen tech, batteries, etc.)
eDistribution (3G, 4G, wi-fi, bluetooth, etc.)
eReaders (humans)eReading (a process; a human
activity)
What to do? (SDD)
Action is Needed, but What Type is Not Self-Evident
Painting, mowing, and shoveling snow produce immediate, discernible results.
Libraries need to undertake “murky work” for continued success in the eReading era.
Action Plan: General Strategy Gain experiential knowledge of the
various portable eReading experiences. Imagine how existing library services and
new ones could enhance these experiences.
Beef up the collection of eBooks. Streamline the process for the user. Pay attention to all stakeholders, but
focus on readers and authors.
What You Can Do Later Today
Tech Petting Zoo: Pick up these devices and play with them.
Download some free eReading software and content to your PP ICE of choice.
Begin at least one complete portable eReading experience.
Read and talk about this portable eReading revolution with friends, family, colleagues.
What Should Library Staff Do?
1. Explain and assert the value of Public Good information institutions
2. Re-educate Publishers about how libraries add to a healthy culture of reading
3. Strengthen alliances with Readers and Authors
4. Explore new lending models for the
mobile eReading era.
Library Call to Action Individually, Libraries must:
Become actively engaged in market developments
Continue experimenting with devices and services that support portable eReading (e.g., WVdeli)
Collectively, Libraries must: eReader Bill of Rights Develop a library-friendly PP ICE? Federal legislation to protect and promote the
library lending model for digital content?
eReader Bill of Rights: Just One Plank…
The reader controls how a book is experienced as a sensory experience.
Not authors Not rights holders Not publishers Exhibit A: The tussle over the text-to-
speech function on the Kindle.
What Are Library Orgs Doing?
COSLA Study (first half of 2010)http://www.cosla.org/documents/COSLA2270_Report_Final1.pdf
ALA Office of Info Technology Policy eBook TF (first half of 2011)
COSLA Report on Portable eReading and Public Libraries
1. Consolidate/leverage Pub Lib purchasing power
2. Consolidated access point for Pub Lib content
3. Develop a device certification process
4. Document how Public Library use contributes to
a culture of reading (and book buying)
5. Help local authors. Support self-publishing
6. More leadership about reading’s future
7. Public Libraries as labs for new reading experiences
What Happened to Prof. Plum?
Rustication of Expertise Experts in our midst Deinstitutionalization
of research and expertise
Rapid Diffusion of Content Creation
Dive Into the eReading Revolution
In the Computing Clouds, with a PP ICE, by Professor Plum
Read More About It
Cloud Computing: Thomas, Keir. 2011. “What Cloud Computing Means
for the Real World.” PC World Website (Feb. 4). Available online at http://bit.ly/ihyaDv
PP ICE Devices: Peters, Thomas A. 2011. “Left to Their Own
Devices.” The Reference Librarian 52 (1/2): 88-97.
Rustication of Expertise and the Diffusion of Content Creation: Peters, Tom. 2007. “The Rustication of Expertise”
Blog post on the ALA TechSource Bloghttp://bit.ly/g5samm
Thank You for Your
Time and Attention
Tom PetersFounder and CEOTAP Information [email protected]
816.616.6746www.tapinformation.com
