[Libs-Or] Interesting piece: "I'm sorry, but I can't help you..."

[Terry Mackey]

Hello,

Google Books takes the issue to the next level.  Google is creating (has created?)the best library in human history and it is electronic.  The American Library Association did not create it.  That's a bit of a harbinger from the get-go.

Of course, soon Google will sell access to libraries.  We'll probably see the same effect with print books that we've experienced with magazines and journals: as aggregators added titles actual library subscriptions were canceled.

In addition to libraries, it makes sense for Google to sell access to their library to everyone who has a cell phone, or cable.  I'd pay an extra $10. month to have access to the best library in human history, wouldn't you?

Some people won't have computers at home, or in their pocket.  Perhaps they will go to the library to read.  That may become a library's reason for existance.

Terry Mackey
Clackamas Community College
Library Dept. Chair.


________________________________
From: libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Mike Smith [mikesm at ci.hillsboro.or.us]
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 10:27 AM
To: Bob Jones; 'Diedre Conkling'; libs-or; Publib
Cc: SRRT
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] Interesting piece: "I'm sorry, but I can't help you..."

Good point but the cost of the reader pales compared to the cost of feeding it.
And worse: no library can afford what it cannot buy.  The core problem in this exchange is that publishers may not want to sell e-content to libraries for normal library use, period.
That bodes the end of what we do.
What can we do about that?

Mike Smith, Hillsboro Public

From: libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Bob Jones
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 2:39 PM
To: 'Diedre Conkling'; libs-or; Publib
Cc: SRRT
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] Interesting piece: "I'm sorry, but I can't help you..."

Interesting, indeed.  Unfortunately, we have many tiny, grossly underfunded public libraries here in eastern Oregon, who literally cannot afford to purchase even one e-book reader for staff or public use.

Don’t believe it?  Peruse the statistics available from the State Library.  You might find it hard to understand how anyone can run a library on such minimal funding.

Even the comparatively well-off libraries in this end of the state are almost poverty-stricken compared with libraries serving similar populations on the west side.

It’s not that the residents here are cheapskates.  They simply have much lower average incomes than their counterparts west of the Cascades.

-Bob Jones, MA, MSLS, CAS
Milton-Freewater Public Library
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