Monday, April 8, 2013

Checking Out Kindles Like Books

Getting new book releases in English overseas, and in a timely fashion, can be a real challenge for international schools. Our school has purchased Kindles for student check out from grades 5 and up so we can buy new eBooks from Amazon as a way to tackle the problem. While our school uses Overdrive as an eBook lending library, publishers have restricted the available books for many reasons. Books in Overdrive can't be downloaded in Kindle format overseas but they can from U.S. public libraries. The eBook controversy is complex and has disrupted the traditional publishing business model in many ways. I don't have the time nor the desire to delve into it, but the result is a mishmash of eBook offerings at our library in an attempt to get new books to patrons without the usual 2 month delay. Here's an interesting article that touches on the issues: http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/dec11/Hamaker.shtml. I'm willing to pay for whatever service agreed upon and desperately wish the parties could agree on something that satisfies the creators, publishers, and libraries. In the meantime, I'll keep watching and waiting.

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