NetBoox
NetBoox
Upon reading The Virtual Library (O’Donnell, 1994) I began asking the people around me “When was the last time you were in the library?” Overwhelmingly, the respondents could not even remember how many years had passed since their last visit. My teenagers both said they were forced to go into the school library and take out mandatory silent reading books for English class. Other than that they do all of their research online. Therefore, the appeal of the “Virtual Library” concept caught my attention.
In his brief overview of the past 1500 years of library development, O’Donnell points out how the availability of text forced a movement away from guess work and more into formal teaching, particularly in the church. Scripture and rules could be written down, shared with accuracy, and enforced. The library served an important purpose. The Internet has replaced the non-fiction shelves and an increased number of people are turning to eBooks rather than paper copies.
I love books. I love the feel, the texture, the cracking sound a new book binding makes when first opened. I love the feeling of satisfaction as you look at how many pages you have already read and the range of emotions of getting near the end. After years of avoiding the eBook platform I finally had to give it a try. My friend published her book in eBook format. This was an affordable way for a new author to break into the world of publication. So, I was forced to download it onto my iPad and give it a whirl. I had to admit, it was better than I imagined! I could change the font size, especially handy if I was tired. I could change the background to being white text on a black background so I could read with the lights off. I could flip between the book and notepad and use Siri to take speech to text notes about what I was reading so that I could email them to my friend later. I could have an entire library on my iPad and still fit it in my purse! While I still enjoy paperback books, I am quickly becoming a convert.
So now I have to ask myself, what would a “Virtual Library” look like? There is so much non-fiction readily available on the Internet, this would be pointless. But there just might be a place for fiction. Would it perhaps mimic Netflix? Could a new “NetBoox” be on the horizon with people paying a monthly subscription to receive unlimited access to a growing library of eBooks categorized by genre? The idea has merit! With growing excitement I began to do some research! Apparently this is already available in an app called “Oyster”. Back to the drawing board.
REFERENCE
O’Donnell, James J. “The virtual library: an idea whose time has passed.”Proceedings of the third symposium on Gateways, gatekeepers, and roles in the information omniverse. Association of Research Libraries, 1994.
Photo credit: “Oyster” eBooks: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4YA_8kjvg-c/maxresdefault.jpg
You have prompted a great discussion Tina. Certainly there is a growing popularity of e-readers due to their portability, convenience and storage capacity. But having said that I feel that still there are people who have emotional attachment with books. I’ve taught ESL in adult learning center for couple of years. Despite the fact that older population face challenges but they also have a strong positive attitudes towards the benefits of online information which is becoming part of their daily lives. In one of my ESL class majority of older students were baby boomer belonging to affluent class. They had a great love for reading. Some of them were pretty comfortable with tablets and smart phones. Few of them have been using Kindle and claimed that they read faster from kindle, but still prefer reading from traditional books. According to them they enjoy reading a book in bed at night and they find difficult to hold a hard digital device. Further they miss the feeling of holding a book.
E-books and e-readers are technologies that can proved to be beneficial, however do not allow sharing of books which older people are accustomed to, further many of them are still on the fence about fully adopting this tool into their reading practices.
Thank you for your input, Mehdia! I must admit, I do love to share good books! Often, as soon as I finish a book I am giving it away or trading it with someone else. Mind you, I also used to do that with movies. Now the ability to do that legally is nearly obsolete. I do not want bound books to become a “novelty” or “retro” item. However, I’m worried that in another 20 years that may be the way things look.
Great observation Tina!
The concept of a physical library is becoming more obsolete, this is due mainly to the emergence of technology. I remember as a child growing up in Kingston Jamaica the library was the main source of information. I would visit the library on a Saturday to borrow and read books that would assist me in my lessons, additionally the library served as a medium where one would socialise and have discussions about books that we read. This created an active reading community.
The libraries today are practically empty with more staff than visitors in some cases, students see library as some relic. Students have access to various eBooks platforms which provide millions of boos and materials. Bolter argued that electronic technology provides a range of new possibilities, whereas the possibilities of print seems to be played out . As we look up from our computer keyboards to the books on our shelves we may be tempted to ask “this will destroy that”.
Bolter, J. David. (2001). Introduction: Writing in the Late Age of Print. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. New York: Routledge.