[Web4lib] Kindle lending

[Chris (CE)]

I agree with Tim Spalding that ebooks will eventually dominate.

Almost 10 years ago, when Rocketbooks were the leading ereaders,
someone told me that libraries will always be around because
not every print book will be converted to electronic form and
people will go to libraries for those documents.

I agree in the same way that automobiles have not completely replaced 
horses and buggies.

Horses and buggies are still used in a small number of situations, e.g., 
Central Park,
and by a relatively small number of people, e.g., Amish,
but for the vast majority of times, places and people,
horses and buggies are ignored.

With the rise of Google and the Web, reference books are being ignored 
by most people,
even though reference books may offer better information. I think the 
same is eventually going to happen with other books.

It's the "principle of least effort" in action, i.e., people, including 
professional like doctors, use the easiest source of information 
available even when they know better and newer sources are available in 
the nearest library.

Online delivery of ebooks is a threat to libraries because this delivery 
undermines libraries' traditional asset of having most easily available 
local reading material. Kindles are especially threatening to libraries 
because Amazon will not allow libraries to provide popular content to 
local Kindle owners.

-- 
Thanks,

Chris Rippel
Central Kansas Library System
1409 Williams
Great Bend, Kansas 67530
620-792-4865 (voice)
620-792-5495 (fax)
crippel at ckls dot org
http://ceprojects.blogspot.com
http://creatingreaderfriendlylibraries.blogspot.com
http://publiclibraryshelftalkers.blogspot.com

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