Kindle for libraries research
Ball State University Libraries' staff have expressed an interest in obtaining and lending some Amazon Kindle units. Here is what I learned from a brief effort to learn from other libraries' experiences, and the views of colleagues
Eastern Kentucky University Libraries
Cindi Trainor, the Coordinator for Research and Instructional Services at Eastern Kentucky University Libraries and a blogger on the "ALA Techsource" blog, shared some of her experiences trying to establish and implement Kindle lending at her library.
From her blog posting:
"My library is in the midst of planning how to circulate digital content using Kindles and iPods (Touch). We are very excited about the pilot project, the plan for which is to involve the book that our freshman class will read, as well as books related to major lecture events on campus. One roadblock that I'm not sure we're going to be able to get past is the model under which digital content, including books sold at the Kindle store, via iTunes or Audible.com, is distributed. We are a single institution that wants to buy several copies of the same title, but the software via which these titles are bought only allows the purchase of a single copy. Witness iTunes: if I click on a song that I've already purchased, iTunes stolidly reminds me of said purchase and asks if I want to download the title again without additional charge. If institutional purchase is not being considered at all, have libraries already lost this battle? How can we make our collective voices heard? Libraries *want* to purchase and circulate digital content the "right" way, i.e., legally, but major vendors are currently making this impossible. Constructing impenetrable walls between potential content purchasers (libraries)and potential consumers (our users) drives our users to sites like Pirate Bay."
Email Q & A:
- How is content subscription handled?
"recommendation: content subscription will be mediated by circ staff. a patron will request a book, which will be loaded onto the Kindle by a circ staff member. The kindle is then disassociated from the Amazon account in order to prevent further ordering. This is not the way we wanted to proceed, but it seems the only way to proceed reasonably in this economic climate." - Do you require any sort of security deposit?
"No, but we have the power to place a hold on a patron's account on the university finanical system if a Kindle is not returned. this means they cannot register, get transcripts, etc." - How long is your lending period? "Two weeks, no renewals."
- How many titles do you have on each unit? "This will grow and change as the program evolves."
- Do you have multiple copies of the same title on multiple units?
"We don't know the answer to this yet. the kindles seem to have changed in how they work since we got them. When we first got them, we could use the "sync" feature, which would copy content purchased on one Kindle to another. This no longer happens. Content added manually to Kindle via email or USB is not transferred during sync."
Discussion on LITA listserv
Below are snippets of discussions from the LITA listserv on this topic
- Louise Alcorn: "I agree that libraries seem to be excluded, and in fact I've discussed this with a couple of libraries currently using Kindles. Amazon *seems* to have been turning a blind eye. That could, of course, change as it has with other services when they begin to perceive us as a 'threat'. *shrug* I think there are a number of objections and obstacles to using them effectively in libraries even before the legal issue. (Reference Technology Librarian West Des Moines Public Library)
- Benjamin Daeuber: "Unfortunatly, there's this clause in the Kindle Terms of Service: Use of Digital Content. Upon your payment of the applicable fees set by Amazon, Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Device or as authorized by Amazon as part of the Service and solely for your personal, non-commercial use. Digital Content will be deemed licensed to you by Amazon under this Agreement unless otherwise expressly provided by Amazon. Restrictions. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, you 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, and you may not remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Digital Content. In addition, you may not, and you will not encourage, assist or authorize any other person to, bypass, modify, defeat or circumvent security features that protect the Digital Content. That would seem to exclude libraries... "
