No Shelf Required 2: Use and Management of Electronic Books

Citation

Price‐Ewen, D. (2012), "No Shelf Required 2: Use and Management of Electronic Books", The Electronic Library, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 877-878. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471211282226

Nothing endures but change (Hereclitus, c. 535 BC‐475 BC).

We live in disruptive times. Stability in technology has never been a thing of the past and there is no reason to suppose it will ever be a thing of the future. Which makes No Shelf Required 2 (NSR2) a useful but, not unexpectedly, quickly outdated collection of writings on the use and management of a disruptive technology. However, there are wise tenets within NSR2's pages that will see the placement of sound policies within our libraries on the management, not only of e‐books, but future disruptive technologies. The most important of these is the need for libraries to be informed. Forewarned is to be armed, and a library's ability to be brought very quickly up‐to‐date or even ahead of the game is an essential requirement for its continuing relevance and survival. Although not mentioned within the pages of NSR2, it becomes apparent fairly quickly that if libraries can bring in, or even better, make provision for, an “in house” expert who can anticipate, track and inform on the trends of disruptive technology, a library can place itself on higher ground when it comes to battling for resources.

A strategically planned, as opposed to reactionary, response to e‐book use and management is reinforced within the pages of NSR2 and comes through most strongly in the writings of two authors in particular: Thomas A. Peter's chapter “Libraries as zones for content creation, indie publishing and print on demand” and Joseph Sanchez's “Getting control, staying relevant: how libraries can push the e‐book envelope to their advantage”. The appearance of the seven areas of needed action as advised in the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) report, within Peter's chapter, consolidates and justifies the entirety of writing and reasoning within NSR2's pages. Sanchez's chapter, in turn, serves as a useful predictor for content control and dove‐tales nicely with the current developments effected by the Douglas Counties Libraries' (see their formative open letter: http://douglascountylibraries.org/content/ebooks‐and‐DCL) innovative development of e‐content acquisition, management and control.

This highlights a concern with editorial command: in particular, the placement order of chapters (where Peter's chapter would have set the tone for necessary action, management and control should it have been one of the first chapters); a cross‐over of some information between chapters; a few grammatical errors which were mildly distracting, and inconsistencies in writing quality. Furthermore, the American‐centric perspective, though relevant, is not always globally applicable, and it would be nice to see, should there be a NSR3, a global perspective. NSR2 also reflects a dearth of writings by legal experts in the field of libraries, copyright, and equitable access to e‐content: an area so fraught with uncertainties and vagueness that a leading light would have been useful and applicable.

As a whole, NSR2 is a great predictor of required action and a sage provider of useful management tools. A standout chapter is Ken Petri's “Accessibility issues in e‐books and e‐book readers”, which highlights the need for strong leadership and legal clarification of fair and equitable access to e‐content. Although not demanding a model that surreptitiously strips the restrictive and debilitating publisher control mechanisms from an e‐book (such as DRM), the flexibility required and needed for those with print disabilities and, as highlighted in Amy Kirchoff's chapter, “E‐book preservation: business and content challenges”, preservation requirements, far outweighs publishers’ fears of revenue loss.

NSR2 is therefore an essential addition to any library manager's toolbox and would be a great enhancer of knowledge for those who are becoming experts in the field or who are already experts in the field but require extension. NSR2 also belongs in any international library that has made provision for areas of needed action within the disruptive technologies field, such as those presented by the e‐reading phenomenon.