[bksvol-discuss] Re: Something interesting

  • From: Mike <mlsestak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:46:48 -0800

Many libraries do now carry ebooks and downloadable audio books. Each library is authorized by the publisher to lend out a certain number of copies at once (I suppose they pay a certain amount "per copy" but I haven't asked the librarian how it actually works). You have to use the library's version of the ebook or audio book reader and when you download the book it has an expiration date after which the reader will no longer work for that file. I'm sure all this could be hacked or worked around somehow, but it seems to work well enough that more and more libraries have them and it seems more publishers are providing them. But, then I could just be in an optimistic mood today as I've also had publisher's stop supporting a particular ebook seller and when I tried to download a new copy of an ebook I'd purchased because my computer trashed the old copy, I couldn't do that.


All of which is more cumbersome than what bookshare does, but then bookshare only provides copies in brf and DAISY formats which the typical person does not have a program to translate.

Misha

Soronel Haetir wrote:
Bookshare would be far more like a lending library if they had to
possess and keep the physical books and could only hand out as many
instances as they possess.  This would of course be a far harder
technical system than bookshare currently supports and is not required
under the current copyright law.  However these differences do keep it
from being a classic lending library as far as I am concerned.

On 12/11/09, Shelley L. Rhodes <guidinggolden@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Denese,

This is an interesting question.  And you know the Bean Library, who has
been providing free digital books for years, smile, did a study and found
that actually the authors and publishers get more money and more attention,
smile, if their books are available as electronic text.  The reason is a
large one.  If I read a book, I am going to recommend it to others, buy it
for Christmas presents, and mention it to my colleagues and friends.  Not to
mention write reviews of it on sites like Amazon.  Amnd statistically
according to Bean's research the majority of people who use electronic texts
follow this pattern.

I also look at the other things I "pay" for this privilage, mainly the work
time and equipment I have invested.  If i had universal access I would be
o.k. with that, but I look at Bookshare as a library, and I also look at the
price I pay in the time I spend scanning, time the average person who goes
to the bookstores and the like doesn't have to spend.  Not to mention the
cost of the scanning equipment i have purchased and maintained, and the time
dedicated to getting books ready for Bookshare.

Smile.

Not to split hairs, but... the used bookstores the author doesn't get
anything from, nor do they from the book swop sites, smile.  Just a point of
reference, smile.

And actually most authors unless they are really good get a flat rate for
the book they publish.  They might get royalities if the book proves to be a
good one, but for beginners it is a flat rate to  sell the rights to a book.
 I know at least in Boston the gowing rate for some kids books is $500 my
brother was looking into it.  Depending on the contract the author signs,
they might get royalties, or they might not.  Sometimes they just sell the
rights to the book to a particular publisher particularly if they are just
starting out.


Shelley L. Rhodes, VRT

Guide dogs for the Blind Alumni Association
www.guidedogs.com

Reading a book is like rewriting it for yourself. You bring to a novel,
anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history
and you read it in your own terms. -Angela Carter, novelist and journalist
(1940-1992)

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Denise Thompson
  To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 6:32 PM
  Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Something interesting


  Hi

  At risk of beheading, I agree that reading print materials- books should
be available to everyone. However that we can read them virtually free is
questionable. I know we pay a membership fee to BKS but is it very nominal
and the authors and publishers are loosing money by allowing their books to
be made available to us. As much as I enjoy being able to read virtually
unlimited books a year, it doesn't really seem fair completely. I have some
friends who are on limited incomes and love to read, but they can't afford
to read the amount of books I read each year. They're limited to seeking out
second hand book stores or going places that have used book swaps, etc. And
because they also have disabilities it makes finding books harder for them
because of the travel involved. So my most magnanimous self says we should
have to pay some sort of nominal price for downloading books that goes back
to the authors and publishers like the sale of any book. The more selfish
part of myself says lets keep things the same. I suppose I can ease my
conscience by thinking of bKS as a library and I'm checking out books to
read.
  Denise



  At 12:06 PM 12/11/2009, you wrote:

    New Petition Seeks to Gain Support of Access to Books for All
    A new petition has been launched which seeks to gain support of writers
and others for equal access to printed material. Some groups, including some
book publishers, oppose this idea claiming it will circumvent their
copyrights of the books. But others consider the ability to read the same
books as everyone else a fundamental right. The treaty will be discussed at
the World Intellectual Property Organization meeting in Geneva next week.
Thanks to @circulating on Twitter for sending this in. Via Boing Boing
    ----------------
    "If you go without playing the trumpet for one day, no one knows, two
days, only you know, and more than three days without practicing, girl you
better look out, because everyone will know!"
    Today, I find myself constantly saying those words, just to get myself
going, to not give up, and it works. Since I learned to play the trumpet at
the tender age of 10, I have spent so much passion and much diligence with
that instrument that I will not give up on it. Sometimes my instrument puts
me into awkward situations where I feel like they won't ever end, but the
trumpet gives me a lot of hope with the majestic, crystal-clear sound it
brings to my ears.
    ----------------
    Chela Robles
    E-Mail: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxx
    MSNWindowsLive Messenger: cdrobles693@xxxxxxxxxxx
    Skype: jazzytrumpet





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