Serving the User: Discovery & Lending with e-Book Devices Susan Gibbons Director, Digital Library Initiatives University of Rochester January 23, 2003

E-Book Devices

Discovery Issues E-book titles need to be represented in the library catalog MARC records or full bibliographic info to create one DRM/Cataloging Nightmares How to catalog e-book titles that are “tied” to a single, unique device?

Discovery Issues How does one browse an e-book? What’s it about? How long is it? What’s the book jacket look like? Do I like the author’s writing style? Create real or virtual surrogates Physical item on the shelf Amazon.com-like website

Lending Issues Most libraries have sophisticated integrated library systems (ILS) to handle complexities of circulation Don’t want to support multiple circulation and authentication systems Base-level standards in all ILS

Lending Issues Circulate e-book on device of patron’s choice Convenience & familiarity Libraries provide content, not hardware Hardware costs could price some libraries out of e-book market Course Reserves at Academic Libraries

Lending Issues But this requires… Digital rights that permit lending Digital “due dates” Interoperability Easy downloading methods