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Sidenote: Book publishers seem to refuse to embrace digital. I just love going to my local library to "rent" a digital book on my Kindle only to be told that t

Sidenote: Book publishers seem to refuse to embrace digital. I just love going to my local library to "rent" a digital book on my Kindle only to be told that there's no availabile "copies" Is love to read more on Kindle or other book readers if there was an actual good platform that was embraced by both national and international authors. Same with audio books for that matter. It's even worse than streaming somehow

ghaff 3y ago
Whenever I've looked at my library's digital offerings, I've been pretty underwhelmed. Still, I buy most of my books in digital form.
Neff 3y ago
One approach I've seen people take is to get non-resident library cards to large library systems like the NY Public Library or the Chicago Library. You can put multiple library cards into Overdrive/Libby/whatever and then you can see availability for all the valid cards you have. And isn't this "available digital copy" issue at the heart of the lawsuit the Internet Archives is dealing with when they stopped placing copy limits on digital books at the start of the pandemic?
hagbard_c 3y ago
The platform exists but it is probably not what you want: Library Genesis. Publishers insist on pushing paper-book characteristics like 'wear and tear' to digital copies in libraries so they can only be lent out a given number of times or a certain number of months after which they are 'worn out' and the library needs to buy a new copy. Here are some of the rules set by different publishers [1]: Penguin Random House: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase Hachette Livre: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase HarperCollins: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 26 checkouts, then library must repurchase Macmillan: one copy/one user, libraries limited to 1 copy of newest titles for the first 8 weeks after publication, metered access: most titles expire after 24 months or 52 checkouts (whichever comes first), then library must repurchase Simon & Schuster: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase Ebooks are priced at 2 to 4 times the retail rice when sold to libraries. A question to those working in publishing: where does the revenue end up? Is this another example of a rent-seeking scheme like Elsevier/Wiley et al. have been up to in scientific publishing or does it work like Spotify where at least part of the revenue goes to the authors? [1] https://cheshirelibraryblog.com/2019/09/10/why-do-i-have-to-wait-so-long-for-library-ebooks/ https://cheshirelibraryblog.com/2019/09/10/why-do-i-have-to-...

ghaff 3y ago

Whenever I've looked at my library's digital offerings, I've been pretty underwhelmed. Still, I buy most of my books in digital form.

Neff 3y ago

One approach I've seen people take is to get non-resident library cards to large library systems like the NY Public Library or the Chicago Library. You can put multiple library cards into Overdrive/Libby/whatever and then you can see availability for all the valid cards you have. And isn't this "available digital copy" issue at the heart of the lawsuit the Internet Archives is dealing with when they stopped placing copy limits on digital books at the start of the pandemic?

hagbard_c 3y ago

The platform exists but it is probably not what you want: Library Genesis. Publishers insist on pushing paper-book characteristics like 'wear and tear' to digital copies in libraries so they can only be lent out a given number of times or a certain number of months after which they are 'worn out' and the library needs to buy a new copy. Here are some of the rules set by different publishers [1]: Penguin Random House: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase Hachette Livre: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase HarperCollins: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 26 checkouts, then library must repurchase Macmillan: one copy/one user, libraries limited to 1 copy of newest titles for the first 8 weeks after publication, metered access: most titles expire after 24 months or 52 checkouts (whichever comes first), then library must repurchase Simon & Schuster: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase Ebooks are priced at 2 to 4 times the retail rice when sold to libraries. A question to those working in publishing: where does the revenue end up? Is this another example of a rent-seeking scheme like Elsevier/Wiley et al. have been up to in scientific publishing or does it work like Spotify where at least part of the revenue goes to the authors? [1] https://cheshirelibraryblog.com/2019/09/10/why-do-i-have-to-wait-so-long-for-library-ebooks/ https://cheshirelibraryblog.com/2019/09/10/why-do-i-have-to-...