Ebooks

When the notion of Ebooks were first suggested, we seemed to think of specially designed readers with downloadable text to replace our trusty paper copies. The idea of reading an entire book from a computer screen also seemed a bit overwhelming. Ebooks in audio format make a lot of sense given the rise in demand for talking books and the changes to technology. Even in the 8 years I've been in libraries I've noticed that talking books are becoming less and less about providing an option for print disable members and more about finding other ways to squeeze in more 'reading'. Whether it's to have instead of the radio on the daily commute or to have in the background while doing the ironing or housework, they provide a solution for the busy person who "doesn't have time to read". The rise in popularity of Ipods and mp3 players and the conversion of ebooks into compatible formats allows these kinds of people to "read" a range of books without having to carry around the 26cd set or 400 page book. It also removes the need for the Ebook reader we all thought might become a part of our lives.

Given that the books currently being added to things like the Guttenberg project are those in the public domain, it's also kinda cool to see some of the original images from old texts.

And for isolated people without ready access to library collections both Etexts and Ebooks mean they always have 'reading' material on hand.