eBooks in libraries

By Michael Wiebrands 

Image via Digital Trends (source).

There has been a major shift in popular reading formats in the last three years from the paperback book to the eBook. Many people now buy from the Amazon Kindle store and the Apple iBook store. What many people may not know is that public and university libraries provide access to eBooks as well. Curtin Library itself has a catalogue of over 70,000 eBooks. As a result you no longer have to come in to the library to borrow books, you can now access books from the library wherever you are.

Academic libraries have been providing eBooks for about a decade, with them being traditionally designed for access from your computer. To truly enjoy the books though it pays to have a modern mobile device that you can read with on the couch or on public transport. There are two main types of mobile devices you can use to read books from libraries, these are tablets such as the Apple iPad and the Google Nexus 7, and dedicated eReaders such as the Kobo and Sony Reader.

Image by uncafelitoalasonce (source).

eReaders are dedicated book reading devices that use e-ink to display text. eReaders are great because they can go for over a month without a battery recharge. Unlike tablets they also work very well in direct sunlight so they’re great for when you want to travel. Unfortunately newer eReaders only work well with modern eBook formats and not so well with all library eBooks. Curtin Library has some specialist collections that you can use with eReaders. Look here for more information.

Tablets let you do much more than read books. With this added power though comes downsides with the need to recharge your device more often and reduced visibility in sunlight. On the other hand you can more easily read both modern book formats as well as more traditional formats. To find out more about how you an access Curtin Library eBooks on your tablet look here for more information.

Image by Jay L. Clendenin (source).

Over the last year I have been reading almost all my eBooks on my iPhone, although most of the books I read are fiction and easily available from eBook stores. It tends to be the device I have all the time and I tend to read lots on public transport. Library materials for phones still have a way to go but progress is being made. All the eBooks usable on eReaders (above) work on mobile phones. Also many of the general library eBooks work adequately on phones with improvements being made every day. If you’re interested in investigating library resources for your phone you might like to check out Curtin Library’s recently redeveloped mobile website at m.library.curtin.edu.au.

About the AuthorMichael Wiebrands is the manager of the Access Team in the Robertson Library. Find out more about him here

Source and Courtesy:  http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/national-year-of-reading/national-year-of-reading/ebooks-in-libraries/