Tuesday, September 14 2004
The Evanston Public Library now offers a new online service that lets Evanston residents with valid library cards read books online or download them temporarily in their full-text versions.
Any resident with a valid card may register for the service on the eBooks homepage, using their card's barcode number. They can then log in, search hundreds of fiction and nonfiction book titles, "preview" a book by reading it for 15 minutes, or "check out" a book and read it online or download it for reading with a time allotment of seven days.
To use the eBooks service, a user needs a computer with an Internet connection, a Web browser and Adobe SVG Viewer 3.0 and Adobe Reader 6.0 software, which may be downloaded free of charge. To read a book online after checking it out, a person must be connected to the Internet at all times.
Internet connection is not needed to read a book's downloaded version, which is viewed using Adobe Reader. After seven days, however, the book is no longer available for reading, although the file remains on one's computer until it is deleted.
The eBooks service is free for the Evanston public. Titles in the library's ebooks collection are limited to those for which the library vendor, Baker & Taylor, has acquired eBook rights, as not all published books are available in electronic format.
New access channel
The concept for this new service was developed by library Director Neal J. Ney and Susan Robertson, collection development librarian, to expand library services.
"They decided that using privately donated funds to test this new technology would be a good way to provide library patrons with another channel of access to materials," said Laura Dudnik, head of Reader's Services.
The eBooks service was launched in June. As of Aug. 31, library records show, 148 people have registered, and 227 books have been checked out for reading and downloading.
Continuance of the service depends on, according to Dudnik, its "usefulness and popularity, among other factors."
On the pros and cons of using eBooks compared with manually checking out and reading library books, Dudnik said, "eBooks complement and supplement hard copy books.
"They are useful for people who cannot come to the library in person, for those who want to access titles from their travels (with a notebook computer) or those who want to carry a smaller PDA and have access to a selection of titles."
Due to its online nature, the eBooks service offers several features aimed at enhancing reader convenience. The type size of words may be adjusted for specific vision requirements; pages may be bookmarked; terms may be searched and highlighted; and a limited number of pages of information may be printed or copied into a document.
"Just as some patrons prefer to use recorded books, some may prefer electronic books," Dudnik said. "Good old-fashioned hard copy books will not go out of style any time soon."
More than 600 titles are currently offered in the eBooks collection for adults and older teens. New titles are being added every month, and usage and popularity of subject areas will be evaluated by the library during the year.
The eBooks service is also accessible to people who do not own computers, or who are not computer-literate. Once a patron registers for the service, he or she may access the eBook collection from any computer anywhere. For those not skilled with computers, the site offers easy-to-understand tutorial and help screens.
Evanston is one of a number of libraries around the country offering eBooks, and the service is likely to continue to grow as a resource option, library officials said.
Publishers also are making eBook rights available sooner and to an increasing number of vendors.
"eBooks are an attractive feature for people who use computers frequently, for those who need immediate access to information, as well as to general people who would appreciate the portability possibilities," Dudnik said.
More information about eBooks may be found by calling Reader's Services at (847) 866-0309, or by visiting ebook.epl.org.
The library also offers other online services besides eBooks, including NoveList, a database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations and more for more than 120,000 fiction titles. NoveList also includes other content of interest to fiction readers, such as book discussion guides and feature articles.
Other online features include newspapers and magazines; reference materials, including a database of U.S. obituaries and death notices; medical information; and business resources. A full list may be found at
http://www.epl.org/search/.
