A Step Forward in Europe?

Does a library have the same right to lend an e-book that it does with print? That question is very much up for debate in Europe, where e-book lending has not been so open as in the USA.  Not every publisher in Europe has been willing to sell e-books to libraries. Libraries in Europe were not even certain that it was legal to lend e-books and, it was argued, libraries should not be able to do so unless they had a license from the rights holder specifically allowing circulation. A case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) may settle the matter. The outcome so far is looking good for libraries. Advocate General Maciej Szpunar has released an opinion, currently under review by the CJEU, holding that e-books should be covered under the same lending right as print.

As Nils Rauer and Eva Vona explain,  "The dispute that led to the request as submitted by the Dutch court arose between the library society Vereniging Openbare Bibliotheken (VOB) and the collecting society Stichting Leenrecht. In the Netherlands, public libraries are required to obtain a license for lending e-books. VOB aims to introduce a “one copy one user” system. Under such scheme, libraries would be allowed to create and provide a digital copy of an e-book (Reproduction A) on their library server. The library user borrowing the e-book would be granted the option to download a digital copy (Reproduction B). Upon expiry of the lending period, the Reproduction B would become invalid and not accessible anymore. Moreover, during the time that the e-book has been lent out, no other library user could download a copy of the same e-book."

What seems like common practice to those used to libraries on this side of the Atlantic is in fact radical enough for a court ruling in Europe.

Szpunar's opinion is that the provisions governing library lending rights need to be interpreted dynamically, allowing new formats to be covered, even if they were not mentioned or even heard of when the provisions were originally drafted. He also stresses how library e-book use can benefit authors, perhaps giving them compensation without having to depend upon licensing agreements with publishers (from which, he says, they seldom gain). He also points to the important role libraries play in sharing and preserving as a justification for treating e-books the same as print.

Rauer and Vona note that the CJEU will need to balance the publishers' perspective with Szpunar's opinion in their ruling.  The European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) and IFLA, while quick to support Szpunar, hope to extend any ruling beyond his opinion: "The European library community notes that the CJEU Advocate-General’s Opinion challenges some current national laws and programmes for e-lending, but the question of market distortion, whereby publishers may refuse to make e-book titles available to libraries for lending, remains unsolved. Should the Court uphold the AG’s Opinion, we stand ready to provide expertise and support to legislators to bring about inclusive legislation which meets library patrons’ expectations and offers legal certainty for all." 

RF offers its support (however distant we are and how little it may help) to our library friends in EBLIDA and IFLA.  We hope that we might hear more about this situation at the upcoming IFLA conference in Columbus, OH.  We have European members. If we can do anything to help, please reach out. This case should be a rallying point for all librarians and inspire us to extend our efforts to ensure access to e-content in every continent. While the situation is better in the USA than in Europe, to judge at least from this case, our fight to get access under improved business models and to have e-books treated as much under copyright with as few problematic licensing restrictions as is feasible is far from over.  How might our copyright laws be enhanced to improve access to library e-book lending? And might we also learn something? Should more of us investigate in our own libraries, or at least support the many consortial efforts underway for libraries to have e-books on library servers, negotiating with rights holders for better access? Would some authors offer simultaneous use?  Would some publishers offer better pricing or access terms directly to libraries? The e-content world is young and we need constantly to explore and advocate.      

LJ's INFODOCKET Posts a Video on Library eBook Platforms

Though it was given in April, RF is happy to see this session from DP.LAFest captured and posted recently by LJ.  

In it, Michelle Bickert from DP.LA, Micah May from New York Public Library, Christine Peterson from Amigos, and Gregory Pronevitz from Massachusetts Library System discuss the following (taken from session abstract): "Library ebook stakeholders convened at DPLAfest 2015 to collaborate and address the challenges ebooks present to libraries. What does the library ebook ecosystem look like one year later? What progress have we made, and where can we continue to disrupt? During this session, we will discuss the goals and states of both library-owned platforms and consortial solutions, innovative technologies, and the possibility of a 'national ebook platform'.”

Free Access to 200,000+ Family History eBooks

Our Friends and Partners at the Digial Public Library of America are bringing hundreds of thousands of eBooks to library users for free. It's a great reminder that not all content has to come from for-profit library vendors and well worth a mention on library websites. Here is their most recent offering:

"In concert with the American Library Association national conference in Orlando, Florida, this week, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and FamilySearch International, the largest genealogy organization in the world, have signed an agreement that will expand access to FamilySearch.org’s growing free digital historical book collection to DPLA’s broad audience of users including genealogists, researchers, family historians, students, and more.

Family history/genealogy continues to be a popular and growing hobby. And FamilySearch is a leader in the use of technology to digitally preserve the world’s historic records and books of genealogical relevance for easy search and access online. With this new partnership, DPLA will incorporate metadata from FamilySearch.org’s online digital book collection that will make more than 200,000 family history books discoverable through DPLA’s search portal later this year. From DPLA, users will be able to access the free, fully viewable digital books on FamilySearch.org.  

The digitized historical book collection at FamilySearch.org includes genealogy and family history publications from the archives of some of the most important family history libraries in the world. The collection includes family histories, county and local histories, genealogy magazines and how-to books, gazetteers, and medieval histories and pedigrees.  Tens of thousands of new publications are added yearly."

Live, From New York . . . It's SimplyE

New York Public Library has moved the SimplyE app from Beta into public use. It can now be downloaded from the iStore or Google Playstore. As of the first day, 3,000 users have adopted the app and it is working without a hitch.

This is big news for people other than those fortunate enough to have an NYPL library card. NYPL is interested in increased use of the app and is working with other groups to see it implemented. It may help groups or libraries without IT development staff by adoption and hosting. In a few years, as part of the LEAP initiative implementation, Minitex MAY (this is very conditional but they are hoping) may also be able to help others with development. In addition to Minitex, a number of consortiums or libraries are moving towards implementation, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Califa, Georgia Libraries, and RAILS. Over 1,000 libraries are marching to realize this next step in library service to provide a more integrated and effective library eContent experience.

Currently, it looks as if libraries might be able to have two options: the SimplyE app, which is brandable, or the more generic Open eBooks app (which was the first iteration of SimplyE): perhaps not brandable, but lower cost and easier to implement, providing access to open source eBooks, the ConnectED titles, and whatever eBooks that the library may have contracted for.

It is important to note that the SimplyE app will undergo continued development. Its accessibility features will become more robust and its compatibility with other eContent (not just eBooks) will be enhanced. 

ReadersFirst extends a big thanks to NYPL for its pioneering working developing a library content solution, designed by librarians for librarians. We hope that our members, and all libraries, will recognize the revolutionary (or, if you prefer, evolutionary) prospects offered SimplyE, investigate, and implement it in some form.  

 Michael Blackwell, St. Mary's County Library 

An Opportunity to Own and Not Just License?

Copyright and Technology notes that the U.S. Copyright Office has announced it is seeking comments on Section 108 in ways that could clarify/simplify use of eBooks in libraries.  

The United States Copyright
Office is inviting interested parties to
discuss potential revisions relating to
the library and archives exceptions in
the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 108, in
furtherance of the Copyright Office’s
policy work in this area over the past
ten years and as part of the current
copyright review process in Congress.
The Copyright Office has led and
participated in major discussions on
potential changes to section 108 since
2005, with the goal of updating the
provisions to better reflect the facts,
practices, and principles of the digital
age and to provide greater clarity for
libraries, archives, and museums. To
finalize its legislative recommendation,
the Copyright Office seeks further input
from the public on several remaining
issues, including, especially, provisions
concerning copies for users, security
measures, public access, and third-party
outsourcing. The Copyright Office
therefore invites interested parties to
schedule meetings in Washington, DC to
take place during late June through July
2016, using the meeting request form
referenced below. 

Copyright and Technology's article is a good overview of what the obstacles we face to put eBooks before readers that we don't face with print. Appearing at person in Washington D.C.may not be easy, but RF hopes at least some library groups will make the effort. Follow the link to the U.S. Copyright office to see how.  

What If the eBook Had Come First?

Every once in a while, RF likes to drop its earnest demeanor and report something fun. Tom Challies' recent blog post "Imagine if eBooks Came First" makes a neat point while provoking a smile: "In this scenario, you sat on your mommy’s knee while she read Goodnight Moon from a tablet, you heard dad read Little House on the Prairie from his Kindle, and you spent your years of schooling learning from electronic textbooks. Gutenberg had worked tirelessly centuries before to perfect the Kindle but now Jeff Bezos is heralding the remarkable new technology of the printing press and the amazing books it churns out. Where would the new book pale in comparison to the old ebook? What are the reasons we would give to remain with the status quo?"

Read the post to find out.  Challies ends with a prediction prophesying war: "For the first time in 500 years the printed book has found a worthy rival in the ebook. One will eventually inevitably emerge the winner. For what it’s worth, I think it will be a protracted battle that will eventually see the ebook vanquish its predecessor." RF isn't sure we need to think of the print/eBooks shift in martial terms, though likely the day is eventually coming when books will be "read" by loading into a composite human/computer circuit brain, finally rendering print obsolete. Until then, enjoy your format of choice and just help boost reading as our product. 

Michael @ St Mary's Co Library

Indie Authors Dominate in Million Title Study of Author Earnings

AuthorEarning's May 2016 Report employs an enhanced methodology to get at books sales data that is often hidden:  "So for this report, we went deeper. Instead of just looking at Amazon’s bestseller lists, we had our spider follow links to also-bought recommendations and also through each authors’ full catalog. This resulted in a million-title dataset, our most comprehensive and definitive look yet at author earnings. We were able to tally up precisely how many indie authors, Big Five authors, small/medium press authors, and Amazon-imprint authors are currently making enough from Amazon.com sales to land in a number of 'tax brackets'."

The results are fascinating. Over the last 27 months, Big 5 publishers' market share by units has fallen from 39% to 23%; their share in gross $ sales has dropped from 53% to 40%. Independent authors' market shares have risen from 27% to 43% (and they now have the highest share) and from 15% to 25% in gross $ sales.

What this means is that independent authors are selling more books, though at much less cost per unit.

AE's report, even though it explores more in-depth than ever before, is still based upon Amazon sales and "18% of Amazon’s daily ebook sales remain unaccounted for in our data." It is nevertheless worth a good look by librarians, supporting at least two tentative conclusions:

• We knew the eBook market was changing with the entry of Indie authors, but this report suggests how very much it is changing, and how very much much we need to learn more about those authors' offerings. A world of potentially worthy titles at lesser costs than we are paying the big publishers awaits exploration but generally remains undiscovered by traditional library acquisition processes. Titles may only come to our attention if they have some local interest. How can we track and offer access to titles of interest?
• It spikes the guns of those who say eBook sales are slowing. The American Association of Publishers claims of stagnant sales are true in one market segment but not the entire market. It's not time to lower eBooks share of our budgets--in case the continued growth of library eBook circulation left anyone believing that.

EBooks are only one part of library services, but surely it is to our advantage to understand in a larger market than our own what drives their sales and consumption. Sales on smart phones are increasing. A price point much less than what the Big 5 charge consumers (never mind the ruinous prices they charge libraries) drives sales. Could we be offering more titles, at a lower cost and perhaps with better muse models, but exploring a growing market?   

The Toronto Star: Libraries Feel the eBook Pinch

The Star has run an article on our friends in Canadian Public Libraries for Fair Book Pricing (CPLFBP). While we might have wanted a more in-depth treatment, ReadersFirst thanks The Star for bringing attention to a continuing problem for libraries and expresses our ongoing support for CPLFBP, a group which includes many RF members.

"And libraries — including ones in Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax and Vancouver — say they’d like things to change, so that they can pay according to their size and needs, rather than using the current one-size-fits-all model." Absolutely! Our Canadian partners face challenges that those in the USA do not--publishers do not consider the size and scope of Canadian libraries when setting prices and often charge in U.S dollars, adding additional costs--but current pricing models are unfair and are holding back library eBook circulation and doing a disservice to library readers.

Let's dispense with the prevarication that libraries should pay five times the cost for an eBook than a private buyer does because eBooks never wear out. Few books maintain high interest over time. It boots us nothing to keep a title forever if it simply sits collecting digital dust. Ironically, the Harper-Collins 26 circ model, much lamented at the time it was implemented, in some cases by librarians who felt threatened by the growth of eBooks looking to score points in a larger debate, is one of the most advantageous models we see once pricing alone is considered.

Paying five to seven times per eBook what we pay for the same title in print ($18 vs $121) is, simply put, price-gouging. Libraries do not get a good return on investment. Why not just stick to print and let titles run out their useful lives that way? Sure, some print copies are ruined after the first circ by coffee spill or dog chewing, but we get more circ per dollar from them.

We are encouraged by at least one publisher (Penguin Random) moderating prices slightly, but we stand with CPLFBP in their efforts to make prices fair and call on U.S. libraries to let their voices be heard..       

Does eBook Reading Lower Comprehension?

Much ink has been used to decry how reading eBooks rather than traditional print lowers comprehension of material. Ironically, the news of the eBook's inferiority as platform is often shared in online posts. It might be thought that ReadersFirst would have a vested interest in promoting the opposite view:  that eBook reading is in no way lessens comprehension. Since we are a group of librarians before all else, however,  we have no such bias. We are interested, as all librarians and educators are, in knowing the truth about reading:  what works, what doesn't, how we might influence the discussion for the best with evidence.

The Huffington Post recently published a blog by Suren Ramasubbu, "Paper Books Vs. eBooks: The State of the Art of Reading," that explores the issue. Ramasubbu does point to a study that suggests eBook readers fare less well than print readers. He also points to a study that suggests both perform equally.  The real threat to reading comprehension is not the medium used for reading, he suggests, but a lack of deep reading caused by other activities, with much electronic communication:

"Reading, especially entertainment reading, such as reading a novel, according to Sven Birkerts, involves an inward plunge into an imaginary world described in the novel. This inward plunge requires a considerable amount of leisure and attention span, which are essential to provide wings to the imagination. Researchers at Michigan State observed a global increase in blood flow to the brain when “paying attention to literary texts” (Mansfield Park, in this experiment), which “requires the coordination of multiple complex cognitive functions.” Such focus activated various parts of the brain associated with touch, movement, and spatial orientation, in effect immersing the reader in the story. The Internet culture that is filled with competing stimuli causes the attention to flit between stimuli, thus limiting imagination and effectively killing it. Reading literary work has many levels and resonates with the reader through the use of language. The linguistic density associated with serious reading requires directed and uninterrupted concentration. Skimming-based reading fostered by the internet is addictive in that it makes directed reading a chore, thus effectively killing deep reading, and consequently, deep thought."

"The verdict? While e-books and e-readers could be beneficial to reading in the long run, no other digital tool bodes well."

Ramasubbu is not so naive as to think we will plunge backwards and give up the digital age. He does suggest that we pay attention to and work to keep skills we are in danger of seeing eroded. And with that, surely every librarian and teacher can find common ground.

What do you think? Is digital reading inherently less effective? Or is deep reading in any format still worthwhile and necessary?

Michael Blackwell, St. Mary's County Library.

A New Business Model at Bibliotheca/3M

A press release from Bibliotheca (now proprietors of the cloud service formerly named 3M) explains that they are adopting a pay-per-use model that will allow "libraries to offer a much more diverse collection of material with practically no risk." Moreover, "At BookExpo America, bibliotheca will meet with key publishers to continue securing content for the model. Several great publishers are already on-board, including Blackstone Audio and Hachette Audio. Working diligently with eAudiobook partner Findaway, bibliotheca expects to offer a wide range of eAudiobooks and eBooks under the new pay-per-use model."

While we aren't getting too excited over a mere press release, RF is pleased to see another vendor presenting an alternative business model for the benefit of libraries. We wish the company luck and look forward to seeing what they develop.