Once you have consciously trained your brain to “be aware,” you cannot
turn it off. You will instinctually notice “new” or “different” things and ask
yourself “How can we use this in the library?” or “How does this impact our
services?” Be the person who thinks of a new or different way to apply
emerging trends and technology to new or current services.
It was this line of thought that led them to explore using the very popular E-Reader.
Since we were pioneers in loaning ereaders, we had to invent the wheel.
Without the right mindset—“I know this is possible, we just have to figure
out the way”—we might have quit at the first hurdle. Not the least of which
was national publicity concerning the legality of loaning the Kindle. Was it a
violation of Amazon’s ambiguous terms of service?
----
In the beginning, about 90 percent of patrons chose the traditional
hardcover, even though they would have to wait. Reasons given for not
using the Kindle included:
“I don’t want to learn a new technology; I already know how to
use a book.”
“I need to be able to photocopy pages.”
“There is no approved citation style for e-books.”
“I want it on my own e-reader.”
All of the above issues have been resolved, even photocopying. (Yes, I
actually tried making a photocopy of a page on the Kindle, and it worked).
Fascinating stuff! Of course different libraries have different capabilities and concerns - legal and otherwise - but wouldn't it be interesting to imagine how this would shake down around here?
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