Written by Glenn McEowen
This article discusses how the e-books[1] service works. We will consider the need for an e-book vendor and what it can do for us.
E-book technology assumes your church member has an electronic device that can connect to the Internet. The device contains software (an app) that can convert the downloaded e-book file into readable form, ie. the appearance of a printed page and handles touch gestures such as turning the page. The devices include dedicated e-readers, tablets, smartphones and computers. Almost everyone has access to some device that can run an e-reader app.
Before we discuss the vendor, let's look at several "vendor-less" ways to serve our e-book users:
- Providing web sites that provide free, current e-books with limited-time, first-of-a-series, and "sample" titles.
- Posting public domain titles for readers to download.
- Providing e-readers or tablets that members can check out. They are supplied with pre-purchased titles.
Most libraries, however, would prefer to create their own collections of current, copyrighted e-book titles. These titles cannot be legally read unless the publisher, author, and others receive their just income. To assure the payments are made, the e-book files (titles) are encrypted. As encrypted files they are useless until an authorization key opens the file. Once authorized, the title can be read on the user's device. The authorization process is very technical and highly protected, but your members and library staff will never have to directly deal with authorization. The encryption/decryption process absolutely requires the services of an e-book vendor. (We know church libraries are using vendors OverDrive® and bibliotheca® [formerly 3M Cloud]. There may be others that we don't know.)
The vendor has arrangements with many publishers (probably hundreds) and access to their titles (tens of thousands.) The library's e-book collection is built by purchasing[2] these titles from the vendor.
Once an e-book vendor is selected, the library will sign a contract and determine a "go live" date. The vendor will create and maintain a web site containing the library's unique collection (purchased titles) with images, bibliographic details and summaries. This catalog will have groupings by age, topic, fiction, non-fiction, etc., and your own curated sets. Each title will have its own page with "borrow" and "hold" links.
When the church member is ready to "checkout" an e-book, he or she finds the desired title's page in the vendor's catalog and clicks on the "borrow" link. Next, the member steps through the login and confirmation pages. In seconds, the title appears in the device's reading app ready to read. Behind the scenes, the e-book file has been 1) unencrypted, 2) authenticated for that member in that church's collection, and 3) downloaded for use only on that member's device and only for a defined checkout period (usually 2 or 3 weeks.)
At the end of the checkout period, the e-book file returns to its encrypted state and is no longer readable … in effect, the title is "turned in." (Think about it: no overdue e-books and, once returned, no need to be shelved!)
The reading apps (such Libby®, OverDrive®, cloudLibrary®) are provided for free by the vendor to be added to the church member's computer, tablet or smartphone. Each of these apps can download encrypted e-book files, coordinate the device-user authentications and the checkout duration.
The member, after installing the reader app and downloading an e-book title can read it much like a print book, flipping pages, making notes and highlighting phrases. Settings can be adjusted such as font type and size, background color, brightness and daytime/nighttime preferences. The app remembers where the user left off reading and picks up at that point when the user is ready to read again. Most apps include dictionary lookup by selecting a word (incredibly handy!) Some titles can even read aloud if the app and device support that option.
As a church library is starting its e-book service, the vendor will provide online training for the library staff. The vendor also has support pages and videos for your church members on learning how to use their reader apps.
While the vendor will maintain the library's stand-alone e-book web catalog, they will also provide cataloging files for e-book titles. These files (MARC format) can be directly imported into your library software. Adding these records now makes the e-book titles accessible in the library's primary catalog as well as the stand-alone e-book catalog. Cataloged e-book titles can be included in reports or lists the staff creates appearing as just other type of media.
For all the great things e-books can bring to the church library, they are not something that entices readers as they browse the shelves. E-books will need to be promoted in different ways. ("Have you found our INVISIBLE library?")
_______________
Glenn McEowen serves as a library volunteer at Wedgwood Baptist in Fort Worth, TX. He is the VP of Sales and Development with Library Concepts.
This article is a part of a series on e-books on the Church Librarians Network.
[1] The term e-books is used to describe both electronic books (including text and illustrations) and audio books. These are typically downloaded (or streamed) to devices such as e-readers, smartphones, tablets and computers.
[2] The term purchase is used to denote several payment options. More accurately, e-book titles are "leased" for as long as the e-book service is maintained. Titles are checked out by one user at a time with no limits as to the how many times they can be checked out. Some publishers, however, limit the check outs to a set number (commonly, 26) or limited time (2 years) after which the title must repurchased or dropped from the collection.
For the complete article, click here: E-BOOKS: The Process
Comments