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84 Against the Grain / April 2008 <http://www.against-the-grain.com>
continued on page 85
Technology Left Behind — Throwing Kindling
on the eBook Fire
Column Editor: Cris Ferguson (Electronic Resources/Serials Librarian, James B. Duke Library, Furman University, 3300
Poinsett Highway, Greenville, SC 29613; Phone: 864-294-2713) <[email protected]>
I
n November of 2007, Amazon released
Kindle, its own proprietary eBook reader,
providing new and stiff competition for
other eBook reader products, like the Sony
eBook Reader and iRex iLiad.
Designed to be book-like in its dimen-
sions, the Kindle weighs only 10.3 ounces
and, at 7.5 inches tall, 5.3 inches wide, and
less than one inch thick, is about the same
size as a paperback. The Kindle even tapers
along its width from left to right, making it
comfortable to hold and emulating the bulge
of a bound book. (Levy 2008) The bottom of
the Kindle is a soft rubber for easy handling.
The screen is six inches long and makes use of
E Ink electronic-paper display
technology, which is designed
to eliminate the eye strain as-
sociated with computer moni-
tors and PDAs.
Below the screen is a
fully functional QWERTY
keyboard, which facilitates
searching of the Kindle store.
The keyboard can also be used
to search for words or phrases
within books or to link out and
search Wikipedia.
The Kindle is outfitted
with 180 MB of built-in memory, which is
reputed to hold about 200 eBooks, and will
accommodate SD cards for additional storage
space. The battery has a long life, and it can be
recharged fully in just two hours. According
to the Kindle product page on Amazon, the
battery will need to be recharged every other
day if wireless is left on, but if wireless is
turned off users could read for a week or more
without recharging.
Equipped with the New Oxford American
Dictionary, Kindle makes it easy to look up
the denition of any unknown words on the
y. It will also remember the last page you
viewed and automatically open the book to
that page. Other user-friendly features of the
Kindle include adjustable font size, the ability
to bookmark pages, and the annotate feature,
which allows users to insert their own notes
and comments.
The Kindle Store
Perhaps the most distinct advantage of
Kindle over other eBook readers is in the
robust library of content Amazon makes
available to users. As of late March 2008,
Amazon boasts that over 110,000 books are
available for download from the Kindle store,
including the majority of New York Times Best
Sellers. Prices for the books vary widely, but
most NYT Best Sellers and new releases are
$9.99. Some classics are available for much
less. Steven Levy, author of the November
26, 2007 Newsweek cover story on Kindles,
recounted downloading Bleak House for only
$1.99. Amazon offers the rst chapter of most
books as a free sample.
Kindle’s wireless capability allows users
to shop the Kindle store directly from the
device. Kindle uses Whispernet, which runs
over Sprint’s high speed data network (similar
to the technology cell phones use), to establish
a wireless connection. As a result, it is not
necessary to nd a WiFi hotspot, or even use
a computer for that matter, to connect to the
Kindle store. Nor is it necessary to provide
payment information at the time of the transac-
tion, as Amazon will keep payment informa-
tion on le and automatically
charge you for any books
that are purchased. (Nelson
December 10, 2007)
If you prefer to listen to
your books, rather than read
them, Kindle can accommo-
date that as well. Amazon
recently bought Audible.
com, a provider of digital
audiobooks, and Kindle us-
ers are now able to download
audiobooks from Audible.
Because of the large le size,
it is necessary to rst download the audiobook
to a PC, and then transfer it to the Kindle using
a USB cable. Kindle has its own speaker and
it can accommodate headphones.
The content available for the Kindle is not
restricted to books alone. Kindle users can
access magazines, newspapers, and Weblogs,
as well. For a small fee, users can even email
their own personal documents to their Kindle
for easy viewing.
Kindles in the Library
Applications of and uses for Kindles within
libraries are still being explored. As Katina
mentioned in Rumors in the February issue of
ATG, the topic of Kindles has been brought up
on the AcqNet listserv and written about in
several library related publications.
Pioneering the use of Kindles in a library
setting is Sparta Public Library (SPL) in
Sparta, New Jersey. SPL purchased two
Kindles just after they were made available,
and began lending them to patrons aged 18
and over. Diane Lapsley, Assistant Director
of SPL, explains that their 9,000 patrons are
very tech-savvy and the library strives to stay
on the bleeding edge of technology. In the
past, the library has circulated another type
of eBook reader and iPods loaded with audio
books. (Oder January 1, 2008)
For those of you interested in possibly
circulating your own library’s Kindle, SPL
has developed a lending policy that ensures
the Kindle is returned in good condition and
their costs remain under control. The library
makes a copy of the patron’s driver’s license,
and the patron is required to sign “a contract
stating that they are aware of the replacement
costs for each and every component of the kit,
right down to the instructions,” says Lapsley.
The Kindle is circulated in a tote bag, and the
replacement costs are also printed on a tag in
the tote bag.
The Kindle goes out for one week and is
non-renewable. The barcode for lending the
Kindle is placed on the inside of the Kindle
box, which Lapsley says forces the circulation
worker to open the unit and verify all of the
pieces are returned in good condition.
The titles loaded onto the Kindle are a
completely patron-driven collection. Patrons
download books to the Kindle on their own,
and the library foots the bill. Sparta will pay
for one book per patron per check out. If the
patron downloads more than one book while
they have the Kindle, the additional purchase
is charged to the patron’s record. As new titles
are downloaded to a Kindle, they are added to
the Kindle’s record in the OPAC. Each Kindle
will have its own unique catalog of titles, and
each patron will benet from what the patrons
before him have downloaded. The response
from SPL patrons has been enthusiastic, and
Lapsley indicated that, if they could get their
hands on another Kindle, they would put it into
circulation as well.
Terms of Use
One significant kink in Sparta Public
Library’s use of the Kindle are Amazon’s
Terms of Use, which state that users may
not “sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast,
sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to
the Digital Content or any portion of it to any
third party.” (http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/
customer/display.html?nodeId=200144530)
Drew Herdener, Amazon spokesperson,
told Library Journal “that a loan of a Kindle
without content is OK, but sharing a device
loaded with content ‘with a wide group of
people would not be in line with the terms of
use.’” (Oder March 1, 2008)
SPL was unaware of these restrictions
when they purchased and began circulating
their Kindles. Says Lapsley, “We are a re
breathing library here. We tend to leap before
we look and deal with the consequences after-
ward.” She only found out about the Terms of
Use after a phone call from Norman Oder with
LJ. Undaunted, Lapsley is quick to say that
they have learned a lot from their experience
and would do it again in a heartbeat. She is also
hopeful that Amazon will come around and
realize the market it has been shunning.
85Against the Grain / April 2008 <http://www.against-the-grain.com>
Sparta Public Library is certainly in
the spotlight as a result of this innovative
(and potentially legally inammatory) move.
Lapsley says she has been interviewed by
both American Libraries and the New York
Times in the last month, not to mention the
two already published write-ups in Library
Journal. I checked back with Lapsley at the
end of March; despite all of the press, she
says she has not heard a thing from Amazon
to date, and she prefers it that way. As Fran-
cine Fialkoff, Editor-in-Chief of LJ, recently
pointed out in an editorial in the March 1, 2008
issue, “If Amazon is smart, Sparta won’t [hear
from them].” Fialkoff goes on to explain, “As
lenders of hardware and software, including
downloadable audiobooks and eBooks and
their various players, libraries help promote the
very companies that would prevent these same
libraries from disseminating their products.”
If you are not prepared to out Amazon
and their attorneys, there may be applications
for the Kindle within a library setting without
actually circulating the device or the content.
In the Winter 2008 issue of netConnect, Chris-
topher Harris oats the idea of a librarian
offering roaming reference services equipped
with a Kindle, which already includes a dic-
tionary and access to Wikipedia and could
be loaded with additional reference resources
from the Kindle store.
Want your own Kindle? Good luck!
Kindles have been sold out since almost
the moment they went on sale. If you want a
Kindle, Amazon recommends ordering now
to reserve your place in line. I tried to get my
hands on a Kindle for the purposes of this
column. Unfortunately, I am as deep on the
waiting list for a Kindle as anyone else is, and
I could not nd a library willing to interlibrary
loan a Kindle to me. (The next time I have
a baby I am putting a Kindle on the registry.)
There are Kindles to be had on eBay, but there
is a price to pay. While Amazon retails them
for $399, at the end of March Kindles were
selling on eBay for upwards of $500.
Note from the Author: My thanks to
Diane Lapsley of Sparta Public Library. I
would be interested in hearing a publisher’s
perspective on Kindle and their applications
in libraries. If you are a publisher whose con-
tent is available for download to the Kindle,
and you would be willing to be interviewed
for a future issue of Against the Grain, please
contact me, <cris.fer[email protected]>.
References
American Libraries. 2008. “Amazon Re-
leases Kindle.” American Libraries 39, no.
1/2 (January/February): 30.
Baig, Edward C. 2008. “Gotta get a Kin-
dle? Better be patient.” USA Today, March 12,
2008. Academic Search Premier. http://web.
ebscohost.com/ (accessed March 27, 2008).
Costa, Dan. 2008. “A Hopeful Spark in
the Evolution of the e-Book.” PC Magazine
27, no. 3 (February): 38.
Harris, Christopher. 2008. “Product
Pipeline.” netConnect (Winter): 12-13.
Fialkoff, Francine. 2008. “To Kindle or
Not.” Library Journal 133, no. 4 (March 1): 8.
Hastings, Jeffrey. 2008. “The Kindle,
iLiad Reviewed. TechKnowledge.” School
Library Journal 54, no. 2 (February): 18-19.
Levy, Stephen. 2008. “The Future of
Reading.” Newsweek 150, is. 22 (March 12):
56-64. Academic Search Premier. http://web.
ebscohost.com/ (accessed March 27, 2008).
Nelson, Sara. 2007. “Kindle Meets
Grendel.” Publisher’s Weekly 254, no. 47
(November 26): 4.
Nelson, Sara. 2007. “Warming to Kindle.”
Publisher’s Weekly 254, no. 49 (December
10): 5.
Nelson, Sara. 2008. “Now I’ve Lost It.”
Publisher’s Weekly 255, no. 2 (January 14): 3.
Oder, Norman. 2008. “A Library Starts
to Lend Kindles.” Library Journal 133, no. 1
(January 1): 20.
Oder, Norman. 2008. “Is It OK to Lend a Kin-
dle?” Library Journal 133, no. 4 (March 1): 18.
Perenson, Melissa J. 2008. “Amazon
Kindles Interest in E-Books.” PC World 26,
no. 2 (February): 64.
Technology Left Behind
from page 84
60 percent admitting to copying the work of
other scholars (see Paul Mooney’s “Plagued
by Plagiarism” in The Chronicle for Higher
Education for more on this topic). Whether
the changes vowed by Peking University
administrators and other Chinese academic
ofcials — including threats of ring and the
creation of a master database of plagiarism
charges — adequately address the international
audience’s wariness of Chinese scholarship
will take some time to assess.
How will the scholarly communication
adapt to the Chinese inuence? What will the
composition of academic content creators and
consumers look like in a decade’s time? How
will standards and expectations change in the
face of a more diverse author base? These are
fascinating questions I hope to revisit in these
pages frequently. I am certain I am not the
only one with a vested interest in how this all
plays out.
I Hear the Train A Comin’
from page 86
Rumors
from page 36
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! We have been having trouble
for some reason with our Conference electronic mailing
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deleted from the list. Be assured that we are working on this problem and you will NOT be
deleted from the list. If you have questions please write me <kstrauch@comcast.net>; or
David Lyle <[email protected]>. We are sorry for this, but, hey, you know computers!
And, nally, that’s it for now! Have you gotten your username and password for
the ATG News Channel? Many Rumors were already posted there and some are there
that are not in the print edition. Check it out or contact me or David (above) if you have
issues or problems. www.against-the-grain.com
Much love and see you all in print in June or virtually anytime! Yr. Ed.
