The only problems with the transition to ebooks from printed books are that at present most publishers don't want to sell to libraries and use a DRM system that prevents loans (but this will change in time), and that Orthodox Jews will still want printed books for Shabbos (based on past practices, I assume Conservative and Reform will have no trouble switching to something resembling tablets) - it would take a change to certain physical laws to produce a tablet that could be used without consuming energy. The DRM issue will probably settle itself since library users have a lot more protectsia than publishers, and a prolonged boycott of libraries by publishers would lead to changes in the copyright law that publishers wouldn't like.
Of course the transition will be traumatic for some people, as was the switch from clay tablets to paper, or from manuscripts to printed books (in most Muslim countries the scribes managed to restrict use of printing so long that the countries went from 1st world to 3rd world). Physically, future libraries will probably look more like internet cafes. Aaron Aaron Wolfe Kuperman Library of Congress, ABA USPL, Law Cataloging Section This is NOT an official communication from the Library of Congress. On Mon, 9 Apr 2012, Amalia Warshenbrot wrote: > Andrea Rapp is right, when designing libraries that will focus on programs > and E-book collection the library should have less shelf space and a nice > multi purpose social hall and story well for children. > What type of technology will you recommend ? > Amalia Warshenbrot > > Sent from my iPad > > On Apr 9, 2012, at 9:06 AM, Heather Lenson <hlen...@jecc.org> wrote: > > > I do not think this is bad for librarians. Programming can still be > > emphasized including book clubs, story times for kids, etc. People still > > want reader???s advisories. E-book collections can be developed as well. > > > > -----------------
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