Electronic and audio books sure do come in a variety of sizes, styles, and services. The two required articles for this week provided a nice summation and overview of what is available and what librarians should look for in selecting an appropriate e-Book/audio book service. I had not considered how the catalog might look or what it may contain, which I do realize is quite silly. The articles primarily covered Audible, OverDrive, NetLIbrary, TumbleBooks, and TumbleTalking Books. An interesting note on the publishers in relation to the catalog is that some services use the date of a book becoming digital to classify it as a Frontlist title, when really, it may have been originally published in 1957. Overdrive is an example of such a practice in that when hard copy books are digitized and put into their catalog, the date of the digital copy is what the librarian and/or patron sees when searching.
Other considerations a collection development librarian may need to address when selecting a service includes content characteristics, file formats and usability, whether to purchase or lease the content, integration with the OPACs, circulation models, sound quality, and administrative modules. In terms of content characteristics, a librarian should consider abridged vs. unabridged versions and availability, and the narrator/narration style. Is the narrator the author or an actor and can the patron search by narrator? Furthermore, is the narration done by one person, a celebrity, or a cast of characters? It was interesting to think of the digital book as a cross between a motion picture and print book.
Here are the basics for each of the systems that may also address more of the above considerations:
Audible: Some suppliers allow patrons to burn CDs, but not all, which is why it is a good idea to check the content suppliers prior to selecting a service. In terms of circulation, the library must have a player to circulate and only one copy of a title may be checked out at a time. Audible uses a proprietary format, but it is compatible with most mp3 plays and computers. There are no administration modules and about 23,000 titles, but not all suppliers allow access to libraries.
OverDrive: most usable format without proprietary formats, aside from Bill Gates, of course. Titles are delivered in DRM-protected WMA files in 1-hour parts. Patrons may play the titles on a play on a PC with Over Drive Media Console, and depending on the supplier, may burn the files to a CD. The library can decide the circulation procedure and the number of titles a patron may check out at a time. Overdrive offers an unlimited simultaneous users plan as an option for best sellers and also offers leasing in 50 title increments. In addition, libraries can add a title to their collection prior to actually owning or leasing it in order to determine demand. In terms of the catalog and other administrative tasks, Overdrive does provide MARC records, but at $1.50 a title. In terms of administrative modules, Overdrive is great. The purchased title report, in particular, will aid with collection development as the report will state how many titles are checked out, the turnover, and cost per circulation. The report is also available as a spreadsheet, where the librarian could sort by author, for instance. The web site statistics report is also interesting as it tracks what patrons are searching, putting those results into a patron interest reports. However, how is that done and what about privacy? Overdrive also uses 82 subject headings, which come from the suppliers and many books within the master collection have at least two headings. While this seems good, what about controlled vocabulary? Are there several headings that really could be one? Still, this seems a very good option for most libraries.
netLibrary and Recorded Books: this service is primarily useful for academic libraries, although the interface is not the greatest, at least for the eBooks. At the time of the articles, netLibrary had about 850 titles with at least 30 more per month. A library will pay an annual subscription fee, which provides access to all the titles. The pricing fee is based on overall circulation and total population and comes with free MARC records. In terms of formats, the audio books may be played on any media player as DRM protected WMA files and may also be transferred to other devices. Patrons, however, may not burn the files onto CDs. For some reason, patrons must have a personal account with netLibrary in order to use their recorded books. Why? In any case, by doing so, patrons have access to a preview version of the title and two full version: a web browser format and the media player version. netLibrary has its site looked at for accessibility by a third party and representatives who support screen-reading software.
TumbleBooks and TumbleTalkingBooks: both are from Tumbleweed Press and provide animated audio books for children. The first option (TumbleBooks) provides online streaming of the titles using Flash, but no downloading. So, it requires a computer. The titles are also available on CD-ROM. In terms of pricing, there is not a consortial model, but there are group rates. As for TumbleTalkingBooks, a subset of TumbleBooks, libraries may acquire titles for about $20 per book, yet may return poorly circulation books in some instances. The titles still must be read online (no CD-ROM option), but they are building a downloading option. Patrons may not download or transfer the titles to other devices, including CDs. TumbleTalkingBooks provided unlimited simultaneous access, as well as some large print options, up to 34 point font, and some highlighting options. Few of the providers have highlighting or placeholding features, so this was a nice consideration.
I really liked Frank Kurt Cylke’s 3-page strategic plan to approaching audio books, which involved staying on top of the literature and consumer groups (i.e. target audience). I also appreciate their forward thinking approach looking beyond the CD as a medium and using digital books on Flash memory. I wonder what happen now that Flash may be on its way out in lieu of HTML 5. Still, as discussed by the gentleman following Frank (Dan?), I am intrigued by the player used for the Flash memory system. It is about the size of a standard hard cover book, has few, if any, movable parts, which equates to easily repairable and reliable, and has reusable formats. That last point is an important one, especially after learning more about the Playaway, which is essentially a disposable form of reading. Furthermore, how good of sound quality will a disposable system have? Sound quality should be a key consideration point when selecting a service or system.
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