E‐books: the University of Texas experience, part 2
| Date | 01 December 2001 |
| Published date | 01 December 2001 |
| Pages | 350-362 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000006540 |
| Author | Dennis Dillon |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
E-books: the University
of Texas experience,
part 2
Dennis Dillon
Introduction
The University of Texas at Austin was an early
adopter of the e-book. It participates in three
e-book consortia efforts and its e-book program
has undergone a steady evolution as e-books
have come to occupy more of a mainstream
position in the library's collecting efforts. This
article follows up on a previous article, and
notes changes in e-book usage experienced after
adding records to the online catalog (Dillon,
2001). As thinking about the e-book has
become more sophisticated and e-book efforts
more numerous, libraries have had to become
more careful about which e-book efforts they
support, and consider the long-term
implications of why they should be involved in
any particular program instead of another.
E-book developments are also causing
publishers, authors, legislators, librarians and
the legal profession to think more carefully
about the assumptions and precedents that
surround the traditional printed book, and to
consider carefully how the legacies of the past
are relevant to the e-book.
The printed book
There has always been something special about
the printed book. In a seemingly random and
indifferent universe, the book represented an
attempt to instill order and certainty into a
world of mystery and unpredictability. The very
physical heft and feel of the printed book
suggested that both words and wisdom could be
stored safely between its covers. The physical
object that was the printed book was durable,
and could be counted on to persist into the
future just as it has always persisted in the past.
The book implied a confidence that the world
was knowable and that this knowledge was
important.
The printed word has always spoken to us
with a subliminal assurance that the experiences
of life could be recorded for future generations.
There was a significance and importance to
human thoughts that was appropriate to render
into physical permanence through ink and
paper. Now technology has called this
assurance into question. Who among us can
trust that the arrangements of magnetic forces
The author
Dennis Dillon is Assistant Director for Collections and
Information Resources, The University of Texas at Austin,
General Libraries, Austin, Texas, USA.
E-mail: Dillon@mail.utexas.edu
Keywords
Electronic publishing, Experience
Abstract
This article follows-up on an earlier
Library Hi Tech
article on
the e-book program at the University of Texas. It notes
changes in usage that have occurred with the addition of e-
book catalog records in the library online catalog, and
changes in selection patterns as librarians have gained more
experience with the e-book. It also surveys the current
digital information environment, notes the increasing
commodification of information, details the e-book efforts of
the Association of American Publishers and examines
potential future e-book directions.
Electronic access
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emerald-library.com/ft
350
Library Hi Tech
Volume 19 .Number 4 .2001 .pp. 350±362
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0737-8831
To continue reading
Request your trial