Today's WSJ has a too cute to bear headline: Libraries Have a Novel Idea. Once we get past that headline, we find a story about libraries lending out ebooks, an inevitable development.
There are several bits in the story that make it very important and I think you should read the entire article but I'll tantalize you with a couple of hors d'oeuvres. [entire story]
First, the estimable Brewster Kahle and his organization, Internet Archive, is behind a Big Chunk of the project.
Second, here's a quote from the still ubiquitous Stewart Brand: I figure libraries are one of the major pillars of civilization, and in almost every case what librarians want is what they should get. Talk about Mom and apple pie!
Third, here's an overview of how it works: To read the books, borrowers around the world can download and read them for free on computers or e-reading gadgets. Software renders the books inaccessible once the loan period ends. Two-thirds of American libraries offered e-book loans in 2009, according to a survey by the American Library Association. But those were mostly contemporary imprints from the last couple of years—say, the latest Stephen King novel.
And, finally, here's the part that knocks me over: Only one person at a time will be allowed to check out a digital copy of an in-copyright book for two weeks. While on loan, the physical copy of the book won't be loaned, due to copyright restrictions. So, there, in a nutshell, is why this particular instantiation of the idea will fail. The implementation flies in the face of the potential of the technology. Just to quote Stewart Brand from 1984, Information wants to be free. And while I might quibble with the absoluteness of Mr. Brand's statement, I call it forth to help illustrate my point: If one has an infinite (digital) copies of a book, then those copies are there to be used. At other times, books were chained to the stacks. That didn't work out so well and, I predict, the notion that one can't check out the physical copy of a book because the ebook version has been checked out -- this is crazy.
