Some Positive Aspects of E-readers…

With e-readers, libraries now have the chance to offer more content to patrons with these new devices. In Sue Polanka’s article “Improving Library Services with E-books” she offers new insights to how e-books improve services for patrons and how they are a positive contribution for libraries.

One of her first arguments is how with e-readers libraries can now let patrons access content anywhere and anytime. Patrons can now check out books any time of the day and are no longer confined to library hours at a physical location. Patrons can access and check out books any time of the day or night. Polanka believes this is good for libraries because instead of materials taking up physical space in the library they can purchase materials that are electronic and available 24/7. She insists that space in the library can go towards more important things. She also mentions with the advancement of e-readers, libraries can focus more on another important factor which is service.

Another plus to e-readers in the library that benefits patrons and libraries is that e-readers often do not go under the physical damage most books encounter. With e-readers, e-books can’t be lost, stolen, they also can’t have pages ripped out and ruined, or be shelved physically in the wrong place in a library. Another plus to having e-books is if libraries have unlimited access, with unlimited access multiple library patrons can check out the same book at the same time, people would no longer have to wait and have a book put on hold for them. People could access e-books from any part of the world as well, they no longer would need to pick up a book, and instead they could also have the content delivered electronically. Patrons would also no longer have to wait for shipping either, when a book was finally published it could be delivered that same day electronically, and no longer have to wait a package to ship, libraries would also not have to wait either for titles to arrive at the library.

One of the biggest advantages with e-books Polanka argues is that e-books let users full text search. Full text searching lets users search the chapters, image captions, along with charts and graphs, which is one of the factors people like and value e-books.
Finally the last point Polanka talks about is virtual reference services. Polanka says, “Using virtual reference services, librarians can successful/y answer questions and provide content to users by sending persistent URLs for the title, chapter, or page of a book, e-mailing articles from encyclopedias, downloading book chapters to a shared network drive, and copying and pasting text. Many librarians use video sharing software like Jing to demonstrate complicated searches or features in online products and make them understandable to remote users. Such software provides visual opportunities for library instruction in a virtual environment.”

Polanka offers a lot of great points on how e-readers can have a positive impact for both patrons and libraries, but I wish she addressed more aspects of new services libraries can offer that don’t involve e-books. I also felt she could have dig deeper into the subject. She also could have explored how these advantages would have on libraries in the long run. I also wished she looked at the negative aspects as well because for every good quality there might be something bad. In general, these positive aspects of e-readers would benefit any library or patron.

Source: Polanka, S.. (2011, July). Improving Library Services with E-Books. Information Outlook, 15(5), 13-15.