Sorry for the my posting absence, it was the holidays and I was on vacation. When I am on vacation I disconnect from the wired world, and it is nice.


As a medical librarian I am somewhat familiar with the uses PDAs in medical institutions and libraries. But I was wondering how other libriares have jumped onto the PDA train. So I decided to take a look at PDAs in public libraries, academic libraries, and medical libraries.

Today I will explore PDA and their use in public libraries, through ebooks.

A great many public libraries have information pages on how to use a PDA to read online books along with links to download the needed software such as Adobe or Mobipocket. Then there are public libraries who are actively acquiring and promoting ebooks to their patrons. Patrons can browse the library's ebook collection, "check out" an ebook, and read it on their PDA, smart phone, or PC. Only one person can "check out" one copy of the ebook at a time, just like if you were checking out regular printed books. The nice thing is that ebooks are never overdue. Once the loan period expires, the book is automatically "returned" to the ebook collection. What is to stop a person from printing off all of the pages of an ebook? It is kind of impractical to print off all of the pages of an ebook. Most ebook distributors allow you to print off a page or two, but if you engage in printing off multiple pages in a single sitting the distributor sends you a message about copyright and to please stop printing. If you persist, then your account is disabled.

Ebooks enhance the public library's image as being the place to go to get information resources and it further strengthens the idea of a virtual library. From a patron's perspective it is easy to "check out" and "return" ebooks. The patron doesn't have to find time to go to the library. Patron's no longer have to wait for somebody to return a long overdue book.

Ebooks are gaining in popularity. According to eMarketer, "the number of e-books sold worldwide increased by about 130,000 from the first quarter of 2003, from 228,440 to 421,955 e-book units sold, representing an increase of 46%." Wow, that is a huge increase. Granted that total is nothing compared to the traditional print publishing industry, but the percentage increase is quite impressive. It clearly shows that ebooks are on the rise and demand is increasing as people get more tech savvy, have more time constraints, and as the prices of the viewers (PDA, smart phones, etc.) lower.

So what kind of books are these ebooks? Places like NetLibrary (a distributor of ebooks) have over 40,000 titles available for libraries to purchase and they constantly adding titles each day. Some ebook distributors carry only specific subject while others are more general and carry a wide range of subjects. According to eMarketer the top five selling ebooks for May 2004 are: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Van Helsing by Kevin Ryan, Angels & Demons also by Brown, The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul L. Maier, and The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.

Obviously ebooks are just one of the many ways PDAs are used in a public library setting. It is probably one of the most visible to patrons. What are other ways that PDAs are involved in public libraries. I have heard of librarians using them to store book list information, to help in doing inventory, help with scheduling. Email me, let me know how you are using your PDAs in your library.