The HarperCollins row continues apace. There's an excellent video doing the rounds at the moment in which 2 librarians show us how robust HarperCollins physical books are. You may remember that the publisher is justifying the requirement to repurchase the eBook version of 26 loans because that's about how long a physical book can stand up to the wear and tear of a library life. Let's take a look:
Huh. Fancy that - the physical versions are still looking pretty good to me. Of course, this is just the view of some librarians who - y'know, work with books all of the time. I'd be really interested to see the viewpoint from a HarperCollins representative, giving their side of the story.
Needless to say, (though necessary if you're a journalist it would seem), these are my views, and I am not speaking on behalf of anyone else, and it shouldn't be assumed that I am.
The other thing that struck me with 26 loans and then ffft is the difference between a loan and a read.
In the course of 26 loans of an item how many of those turn into actual full reads and how many are just picked up, placed on one side and then brought back again? Or only a few pages? And how does that translate in an electronic environment where it should be very easy to pick up a bunch of stuff and very easy to ignore it.
I had this when debating a potential per use payment model for ebooks with a supplier. If someone accesses an ebook for a few seconds is this a use.
Anyway - you get the idea.
Posted by: Alan Fricker | March 04, 2011 at 09:52 AM