Print Books vs. Digital Books

Written by Kristen Zenz

After months of hype, the excitement surrounding eBooks may be dying down. Even though eBook sales jumped 112% in October from a year prior, they posted their slowest growth rates yet.¹ These slowing sales leave me wondering if consumers are starting to see through all the publicity surrounding digital books. After scouring through numerous blogs and news articles, I’ve found that no format—print or digital—is perfect, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of both print and digital books? Check out this list of key points you should take into consideration when selecting titles from the two formats for your library.

Availability and Accessibility

Libraries can incorporate new digital material into their collections anytime if purchased through an online digital material vendor. Through these providers, libraries can add eBooks right to their catalog website. Printed materials, on the other hand, while still purchased online, are at the mercy of shipment and delivery.

Unlike books, digital materials never go “out of print.” However, the idea that eBooks remain available indefinitely is a common misconception. Without warning, Amazon has remotely deleted titles like Animal Farm and 1984 from Kindles because the publisher did not have the proper rights. And HarperCollins recently set a license limit of 26 checkouts per title for libraries. After the library reaches the checkout limit, the title essentially expires.²

On the other hand, once you buy a printed book, it can never be revoked. Up until April 2011, rights holders who have eBooks on Google have the ability to pull their books as though the eBook never existed.³ Additionally, Barnes & Noble has been known to delete titles from Nooks if users don’t continually update their software.⁴ There are still other publishers that do not allow for the circulation of eBooks in libraries at all.²

Exclusivity
Whether you prefer print or digital there will always be titles that are not available. It is cheaper and easier for authors to self-publish eBooks, so some have started publishing their work only in this format. However, there are also print books that have not yet been converted to digital, and there’s a chance they may never be.

Cost
Initially, eBooks may be cheaper than printed books because there are no printing costs—some public domain eBooks are even free—but eBooks are not always priced lower than their physical counterparts. On Amazon.com, the price for Ken Follett’s eBook Fall of Giants was $19.99, while the hardcover edition was $18. Additionally, the eBook for Don’t Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan was priced at $14.99. Amazon priced the hardcover at $14—although the price of the hardcover has since gone up to $16.15.⁵

To access an eBook, you need an eReader which can cost anywhere from $99 to over $500. Some libraries preload these devices with eBooks and then loan the device. The cost can add up, though, if your library is buying multiple devices. They also may use Overdrive, a downloadable audiobook program for purchase by public libraries, to distribute eBooks. This service requires a single annual participation fee ranging from $600 to $6,000 based on the population of the library’s service area. Additionally, libraries pay per eBook title, which varies in price. These titles are encrypted with DRM and are therefore only usable on specific devices. Patrons are limited to a certain number of copies of the material, and after the 14-day loan period, the files disappear from the device, requiring a new checkout rather than a renewal.

Portability and Storage
eReaders are capable of storing thousands of eBooks on a tablet smaller than a piece of paper. Therefore, libraries can preload readers with whole series or read-alike books. They can also house entire collections on hard drives, thus saving shelf space and allowing room for other resources like audiovisual materials, Internet-accessible computers, Wi-Fi access points, and reference desk materials. However, digital books lack the aesthetic appeal of stacked books and the refreshing smell and feel of cracking open a physical book. Additionally, browsing via an online catalog doesn’t necessarily have the same appeal as wandering the shelves and stacks.

Quality
Although eBooks aren’t susceptible to the traditional wear and tear of printed books, eReaders can still be dropped, be exposed to extreme temperatures, or experience data corruption. Additionally, DRM makes it difficult to back up eBook files for future retrieval.

Upgrade and Update
eBooks make it possible to update or correct a single file instead of reprinting thousands of copies of printed books. For example, 80,000 print copies of Jonathan Franzen’s book Freedom were recalled because an unedited version was sent to the printers. All of the print versions needed to be reprinted, while only one copy of the digital version needed updated.⁶

However, eBook file formats will constantly change due to advances in technology and proprietary formats. While PDF and EPUB are standard formats now, this could easily change over time, risking the readability of certain works that may not be compatible with future formats. While eBooks may need to be copied or converted in the future, printed books will always remain readable.

Environmental Concerns
Printed books use three times more raw materials and 78 times more water to produce than eBooks.⁷ However, eReaders are not biodegradable like printed books and the incorrect disposal of batteries can wreak havoc on the environment.

Functionality
Basic functions of digital readers make it easy to alter text and read in low or no light. They have the ability to display motion, change the size and style of fonts, use text-to-speech software, and search for key terms and definitions. Digital books also allow the user to highlight, bookmark, and annotate text. If a book has specific formatting, though, it may be lost when converted to a digital file. Of course, without a charged battery, none of these functions are accessible. However, in spite of recent technological advances, it is just as easy to annotate printed texts without eReaders, as long as you don’t mind marking up your books or making copies. In fact, according to the New York Times, students still cling to paper textbooks in today’s digital age.

Because both formats have their pros and cons, it may be best for libraries to lend material cohesively by bundling print and digital books or providing eBooks as a supplement to print copies. An example of this method is Tantor’s Audio & eBook Classics, wherein the publisher bundles companion eBooks on PDF for over 300 of their classic audiobooks. You can find these titles on Midwest Tape’s website by SmartBrowsing Tantor Audio & eBook Classics.

Do patrons at your library prefer one format to the other? What feedback have you received from patrons and librarians?

¹ http://publishing.morgan-james.com/2010/12/ebook-growth-slows-still-up-112-in-october/
² http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889452-264/harpercollins_puts_26_loan_cap.html.csp
³ http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/google-books-settlement-2-0-evaluating-censorship
⁴ http://consumerist.com/2010/10/nook-deletes-all-you-files-barnes-nobles-shrugs.html
⁵ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/media/05follett.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=ebooks&st=cse
⁶ http://www.metro.co.uk/news/842823-publisher-releases-wrong-version-of-jonathan-franzens-freedom
⁷ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book

Subsidizing Public Music Purchases: Freegal and Libraries

According to BusinessWire on Forbes.com, Library Ideas, LLC, “a new media company focused on Public Libraries,” announced in early May that it would “provide its network of Public Library websites in the United States with access to songs” from Sony Music Entertainment’s catalog.¹   This music service, entitled Freegal, enables patrons—using their library card IDs—to download music for free from their library’s website.

In a Library Journal article, Norman Oder explains that “libraries must pre-pay for a minimum number of downloads from Freegal, and each library user will be limited to, at most, 20 downloads per week. Libraries that see a spike in use can limit the number of system-wide downloads in a week or month to ensure wider access, and library card holders can also reserve downloads.”²  In an effort to allow files to work across multiple platforms, Freegal boasts no Digital Rights Management (DRM) policies and delivers content as MP3 files.

While initially Freegal may seem like a worthwhile venture, the service does have its drawbacks:

• Freegal charges libraries per download and requires libraries to pre-pay for a minimum amount of downloads, thus subsidizing libraries’ music and eliminating any sort of permanent collection.
• Over time and especially for popular artists, libraries will end up paying significantly more for Freegal downloads than the initial cost of buying albums on CD.  Additionally, libraries own the content they purchase on CD and can house that content within their collections.  There’s nothing to own with Freegal.
• Because the service simply uses libraries’ websites as interfaces for content download and not content collection or hosting, Freegal forces libraries to become the middleman in what should be their own system—and music collection. 
• Freegal leaves it up to the libraries to determine any sort of rights management.  Therefore, if libraries aren’t savvy about their patron downloads, they could essentially give music away for permanent storage and use on their patrons’ hard drives.  Thus, libraries become mechanisms for free music rather than public sources for lending.

Earlier this year, we posted a blog story on CD albums sales vs. digital album sales based on data culled from Nielsen SoundScan; (check out our blog story Did You Know?  In 2009, Compact Discs accounted for 78.9% of all albums sold).  We noted that CDs accounted for 78.9% of all albums sold, while digital albums only made up 20.4% of sales in 2009, meaning that, by and large, patrons still prefer CDs.  Additionally, we discussed how CD audio tracks are better in quality compared to MP3 and AAC downloads.  This blog discussion from February only amplifies the details elucidated above about Freegal.

While there’s no denying that digital music might be the way of the future, one must wonder: Is Freegal a sustainable service for libraries to consider?  With Freegal, instead of paying for a product once and circulating it 1000 times, the library must regulate downloads and renew monetary commitments when the pre-pay runs out.  Essentially, Freegal forces libraries to subsidize their patrons' music collections.   

What are your thoughts on pay-per-download services like Freegal and digital content?  What issues have you or patrons encountered with DRM and usability?  Post your views here as comments.

¹Public Libraries to Offer Downloadable Music from Their Websites

²PLA 2010 Conference: DRM-Free Downloadable (Sony) Music at the Library