A Podcast About Ebooks from Library Futures is a three-part miniseries that will explore the history of ebooks in libraries, from the earliest ereaders through the rocky days of ebook format wars to the present day battle to preserve library rights in the digital world.
David Moore 00:01
Because we believe ebooks are books, and I'll emphasize that again. We're interested in working collaboratively with libraries and independent publishers to build up ebook practices, because ebooks are books.
Laura Crossett 00:13
A book is a book is a book, except, according to some people, when it's an ebook, and particularly when it's an ebook in a library. I'm Laura, Communications Manager for Library Futures.
Mary Needham 00:26
And I'm Mary, intern at Library Futures.
Laura Crossett 00:30
And in A Podcast About Ebooks, a three part miniseries from Library Futures, we'll take you through some of the history of ebooks, what happened when they entered libraries, and how libraries, library workers, and organizations like ours are trying to preserve library rights in the digital age.
Mary Needham 00:46
You'll hear the story from ebook experts, from the voices of librarians who were on the ground when ebooks first arrived in libraries, and from those who were trying to forge a future where ebooks are books – books libraries can own, preserve and share just as they have with books throughout history.
Laura Crossett 01:02
“We are the People of the Book,” Cory Doctorow once said. “Our books are us.They are our outboard memory banks, and they contain the moral, intellectual and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today. Books are older than copyright.” He says “books are older than publishing. Books are older than printing!” But as he notes, the people who make ebooks have no respect for our books. Quote, They say that when you buy an ebook or an audiobook that's delivered to you digitally, you are demoted from an owner to a licensor, from a reader to a mere user.
I’ve always loved that speech, and we will link to it in the show notes. At Library Futures we believe in readers, and we believe in digital rights, and we believe a book is a book is a book no matter what form it takes.
Mary Needham 01:54
In this podcast, we'll be talking about the history of books and what makes a book a book from the earliest days of printing to the pixels that store so much of our outboard memory today.
Laura Crossett 02:06
And we'll tell you about how libraries are working to make sure we can have access to those books for now and for years to come, no matter what form they take. A Podcast About Ebooks is a production of Library Futures, a project of the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy at New York University. Find us online at libraryfutures.net where you can sign up for our low-volume email newsletter, and follow us on social media @libraryfutures.
Mary Needham 02:31
Stay tuned for A Podcast About Ebooks wherever fine podcasts are found.
Laura Crossett 02:38
Until then, bye, Mary.
Mary Needham 02:40
Bye, Laura.