[WEB4LIB] RE: Books on Demand

[Dan Lester]

Wednesday, July 11, 2001, 11:55:22 AM, you wrote:

JL> Dan Lester wrote:
>> Since Gail isn't at HP any more (early retirment option in one of
>> their cutbacks), I don't know the status of their particular system,
>> but know they're not the only one producing such systems.  I think the
>> main target audience for POD isn't libraries, but consumers.

JL>         I think Dan is right about this, although I would argue that libraries are
JL> being cut out of the loop.  Publishers are bypassing traditional outlets (like
JL> libraries) and are interacting directly with the public.  Digital files and the
JL> DMCA make this type of service much easier for publishers, but much harder for
JL> libraries.

I don't think libraries are being cut out, unless they're doing it to
themselves.  I'd be very surprised if a library's money for the
machine, the royalty payments, etc, wasn't just as good as that from
Barnes&Noble.

JL>         For example, IDG and Frommer's have teamed up on Hungry Minds A la Carte
JL> (http://alacarte.hungryminds.com/), a print-on-demand service that lets you
JL> choose chapters from Frommer's travel guides and/or any Dummies title and have
JL> them combined into a paperback they'll send you or an ebook you can download. 
JL> The service is too expensive and inconvenient right now, but I met someone who
JL> made her own travel book this way based on the itinerary for her honeymoon.  No
JL> library in that equation.

True enough in that situation, but there are disadvantages to that
type of service, such as the lack of binding, just as there are
advantages, such as being able to get it immediately at home. I think
we'll find that some of the services will help libraries and some may
hurt us in some way. Of course we've faced those issues since the
advent of photocopying, computers, the internet, and so forth.  Just
consider it to be "new opportunities" rather than "new problems."  (I
know that sounds trite and Pollyannaish [coined word of the day], but
I truly believe it).

JL>         Libraries will have to work hard to keep themselves in the
JL> new loops emerging in today's world, and while I am looking
JL> forward to some of these conveniences as a consumer, as a
JL> librarian I am a bit worried.

Agreed.  We need to keep working on all of these issues, make sure our
bosses with the money and the power are aware of them, and do our best
to keep aware of all the developments.  That's why this is my
favorite, and most useful, list.

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.gailndan.com  Stop Global Whining!