Tales From A Reluctant E-Reader

I have bonded with my iPad Mini and thus have begun bonding with the Kindle app and e-reading. As I've said before, I'm not an e-reading hater, I've just always preferred real books. I still do. But the time has come for me to venture a bit further out of my comfort zone for two reasons- access and portability.

In terms of access, more authors are releasing e-content. Short stories and novellas are making a comeback. Authors are enjoying writing short pieces, readers are thrilled to get new content of any length between book releases, so it's a win/win. I'm also noticing e-content for tie-ins to movie and TV shows. This year marks the 50th. Anniversary of Doctor Who and to help celebrate, the BBC has commissioned popular YA authors to pen stories about each of the eleven doctors. A new story is e-published each month until November when the entire collection will be offered in  book form. E-content makes giving readers samples or early access cost effective and simple for authors and publishers.

Before Spring Break I was forced to purchase an e-book from one of my favorite authors because Barnes and Noble ordered such a small quantity of her new release,  it was sold out when I went to buy it. My heart was set on starting the book that night, so I downloaded it. Did I enjoy the book more or less? Not really, but I can't say that I feel like I own it. If I can't grab it off a shelf  or have it autographed is it really a book?

I am the type of reader who travels with books. For a vacation longer than seven days I will take at least five books with me and likely purchase one or two if I happen upon a bookstore. With airfare baggage charges and weight limits, I realize e-books make traveling much easier.

As I add to my e-book collection I have decided to purchase some favorite books that I enjoy rereading more than once- everything by Jane Austen for example. I know I want to reread the entire Harry Potter series as well as the Game of Thrones series. These books are huge and heavy and seem perfect for e-reading except for one catch- I'd need to repurchase them. I own two of all the Harry Potter books already and all of the Game of Thrones titles. E-copies would set me back about $120 total. To be honest, I'd rather spend that money on new books.

Remember how we all had to replace records with CDs and then CDs with digital downloads? Tough choices!

The one aspect of e-reading that still concerns me is how it affects the discovery process. Avid readers love to walk through the stacks at a bookstore or library. If you've reduced your entire reading existence to what you download from a recliner in your family room, I guarantee you'll be missing out on discovering a new author despite Amazon's "readers who bought this, also bought-" feature.

Reading is still a multi-sensory  experience. I've seen students who got e-readers for Christmas spend less time looking at books in the LMC because they now just shop in the Kindle store. Yes they're finding some good books, but that seems like such a passive way to treasure hunt. Book covers and titles are designed to be enticing. A flat screen doesn't capture that in quite the same way in my opinion.

I know reading isn't dying but I can't help but feel that small parts of it are nearing THE END.

 

Updates? More Like Ugh-dates!

My grandma never bonded with the microwave my mother bought her. It drove us crazy, but in the end Gram still manged to heat up her food just fine using the stove or oven with no difference in outcome.

There was a time when a person could hide behind the technology he or she used forever and still function in the world.

I believe those days are numbered, if not gone already.

System updates aren't anything new, but their frequency and ability to disrupt has increased over the last year. So much so that we're seeing updates effect outcomes more and more. Older browsers can't support certain plug-ins. Older operating systems can't update to a newer browser. And some places (Google) refuse to play nice anymore with old Office software.

For those who have successfully avoided digital literacy, there's nowhere to hide anymore. For those of us who are regular, if not confident, users there's a fatigue settling in as we constantly adjust to new settings or windows to perform functions we've been doing for years.

It's a mixed blessing of sorts because while updates are meant to solve problems, they often cause new ones.

Here in the LMC, we try and stay on top of the changes as best we can.  For all their DI (digital intelligence) students struggle with changes as much as we do. Sometimes we figure out a problem together, sometimes the kids tip us off and other times we scramble for a fix in the eye of a storm (always it seems on a day an English class has a paper due).

Here are some tips for taking the Ugh out and being Up for updates-

• Adjusting to new software changes is a bit like a brain teaser, so your exercising your mind!
• Synonyms for up- well-versed, cognizant, informed and my favorite- savvy. See how smart you sound already?
• Think about the movie Up- doesn't it put a smile on your face? (Except for that lovely montage in the beginning that makes people cry- don't think about that!)
• Up is higher- as in higher learning, higher capacity and high-end user- you're practically a pro! 

Up, up, updates aren't going away folks!

Going Digital Without Getting Dizzy

I spent the weekend at the Missouri Writer's Guild Conference and had a wonderful time. As both Library Support Staff and an emerging writer, I've followed the rise of digital books with equal measures of interest and unease.

One session of the conference I enjoyed was Jane Friedman's on the impact of Google, FaceBook, Amazon and Apple on a writer's career. It's important to remember that whatever happens to writers will eventually affect a library. Digital lending (and its pricing) is a hot topic between libraries and publishers right now. The rise of e-readers (Kindle and Nook) and Tablets (iPad and Android offerings) is pushing demand for digital materials to own or rent.

Jane said one thing that surprised me. Apparently, pundits are divided on whether tablets are here to stay. Looking at tech use here on the HHS campus, tablets are the least owned personal devices our students have. The iPads are popular at lunch and get used everyday, but few kids own one. I see e-readers now and then, but the number one device students own is a smartphone, followed by a laptop. Reading on either of those devices, while possible, isn't always desirable. In my own life, I rarely use my iPad, I prefer a real book or my laptop for long projects.

What does this all have to do with us in the Media Center? Will the district ever go digital?

Public libraries will always adopt new technologies before school libraries, their infrastructure is better designed for change and so are their patrons. Patron demand weights heavily on planning and implementing new policies. At this point in time, we aren't seeing a heavy demand for digital books from students. Until tablets or e-readers are as commonly owned as a mobile phone or home computers I don't expect that to change. Our resources are best used acquiring new fiction and updating systems and software the kids use here in the Media Center.

It often feels like the digital revolution is moving so fast it's hard to keep up. Yes and no. It is here, it will stay, but the speed at which you adopt to it is yours to set. In many ways it's never been a better time to be a writer and a reader. Some things to keep in mind-

1- The more options authors have for releasing material, the more choices (often at lower price points) readers have.
2- Most platforms support digital lending or downloads to every device on the market, which also keeps choice and pricing options in the hands of consumers.
3- Device options keep getting better.
4- Support for your devices is strong. Most public libraries offer free classes on digital lending.
5- Pick your pace. I started with a Kindle app on my iPhone and have graduated to both Nook and Kindle apps on my iPad. You don't necessarily have purchase a new device to try e-books.
6- We're watching! Here in the LMC, we're following all the trends and information and deciding how best to keep up, run from or adopt the latest services or devices that help our students. Feel free to ask us questions.
7- Print books will be around for a long time. There will be fewer to buy, but the medium will not become extinct.

I'm curious to know what devices you use. Have you bought something new in the last six months? Thinking about a change? Let me know about it!