Ebrary Provides New, Paperless Alternative to Hard Copy Books
By Rebecca Han ’10
News Staff Reporter
EbraryTM, an electronic database of “digital books” operated out of Palo Alto, Calif., was introduced to Choate Rosemary Hall at the beginning of 2006, according to Andrew Mellon Library librarian Marie Morch. In many colleges and other institutions, electronic books and textbooks are increasingly used as alternatives or supplements to traditional, hard copy books. According to a 2004 article in the Stanford Daily, students at Stanford will be able to read their texts online and avoid the hassle of buying actual textbooks. Although textbooks at Choate have not become obsolete in favor of electronic readings, the Choate library does supplement its collection with the digital books found on the Ebrary server.
Digital books are accessible on a platform that allows a library to “acquire eContent from leading publishers,” promises Ebrary Web site. The electronic library offers convenience and flexibility, allowing multiple students to view one source simultaneously. A “bookshelf” application allows students to save favorite documents or passages of documents in an easily accessible format that includes pre-written citations for use in bibliographies and footnotes. Ebrary only functions on campus, however. Firewall protection does not allow the electronic material to be viewed from outside campus, which may inconvenience day students unable to access the database from home.
According to Ms. Morch, Choate subscribes to the Academic suite, with topics ranging from literature to science. Other suites include selections for public libraries and business resources. In addition, more than 260 publishers provide content for Ebrary. The books typically cost $1.65 per title, a stark reduction from the expensive academic material bought in hard copy, which can cost up to seventy dollars a book and average about forty dollars per book, Ms. Morch said. Choate does not choose the books included in the academic package individually. Nevertheless, Mrs. Morch, who advocated for Ebrary’s purchase, said she “trusts the selection of the Academic suite—the choices are really very good.” For example, the latest books on science research from Yale University Press and Cambridge Press are uploaded onto Ebrary as soon as they are released. She also said that the school makes an effort not to duplicate; if a book already exists in Ebrary the school will not purchase a hard copy, and vice versa.
Multiple Resources Provided
Books are not the only resource provided electronically. The Academic collection also includes sheet music, maps, journals, and reports. The resources are constantly updated as they are downloaded into the catalog. Students at Princeton University, for example, have access to “many thousand digital books and 19,000 electronic journal subscriptions,” according to the school’s Web site. Ebrary is expanding, and 33,000 books of the approximate 93,000 at Choate are already electronic, Mrs. Morch said.
So far students have had mixed reactions regarding Ebrary. Chris Bakes ’10 says, “I love Ebrary—I’ve used it countless times this year.” Other students appreciate the elimination of problems with books being checked out and with due dates. B. Nikhith Naidu ’09 comments, “It is true that I don't have to worry about books being checked out.” Mrs. Morch also observed that “students like Ebrary a lot … they don’t find the technology intimidating at all.”
Other students, however, find Ebrary less appealing. A December 2004 New York Times article examined the difficulties of reading on a screen. In addition to discomfort from reading on a screen, the article claimed that readers would “miss the feel of holding a “dead tree book.” Purumeh Nam ’10 said that it’s “annoying when I search a book and it turns out to be a digital book … I’d just rather read a real book.” For some, “real” books are easier to use and less frustrating than digital books. “I find it easier to spread out tangible, written sources around me to refer to than to reference multiple resources on my computer screen” said Jack Fallon ’08. Although he doesn’t mind reading online, Naidu suggested that “because it is online, the designers of these digital books should take advantage of that and add more features that could improve the reading experience—video clips, better book organization is possible.” The aforementioned New York Times article observed that many objections raised by old-fashioned readers can be solved by new media technologies.
Digital Component Expanding
As the Choate library continues to add books to its current collection, librarians first check to see if the book is provided by Ebrary, Mrs. Morch explained. If not, the book is bought in hard copy. Fallon said he would rather see the library invest in hard copies. “If I had to choose between more real books and more digital books, I would choose the real books,” he commented.
Despite Ebrary’s mixed reception, there are some advantages to using Ebrary. In addition to improved accessibility, digital books do not take up shelf space, do not wear out, and save large amounts of paper. In a recent interview, Michael Hart, the inventor of eBook, an online digital bookstore, said in an article on DegreeTutor.com that he has confidence that digital resources will become more popular within the coming decades. “The changes will be so great that there will be forces at work beyond what perhaps I will even try to say…let’s just say that there will be 10 million public domain digital books, if not more, by 2021,” he said.
A student takes advantage of the Ebrary database for research. PHOTO/Matt Cheng '10
