eBooks, etc.

The debate when I was in library school was access vs. ownership. We've moved way beyond that now. Seems that very smart people have made many resources available online in some form (free, not free, searchable, enhanced). I love that we have come this far.

But what about holding it in your hand? Sometimes, getting the information is more important than feeling it. A print book is not searchable. Flip side: what about browsing the shelves for information discovery? Not quite the same when you have an eBook.

I'd heard of NetLibrary, from OCLC, but haven't used it (to my recent recollection). Gary Price is a huge proponent of using the resources of your local public library...many of which are available through the library's website. Logging in with your library card account information may provide access to databases that you thought you could only access from the library itself. You can't always get to the library, but it's more likely you can get to a computer.

In the "how to use NetLibrary" demo, I noticed that the interface was similar to that of ebrary, with which I am familiar. Hope it works better than that one, and it seems to. It is possible to add your own notes, use a dictionary or thesaurus, search, and navigate page by page (or to a particular page).

My own public library has access to NetLibrary. So glad to see that. According to the instructions, I can read, but not download the material in e-books. Audio books can be downloaded. They also offer ebooks, etc., through other databases; OverDrive, LearningExpress Library, and Gale are other sources.

There are a lot of mysteries in the e-audio collection through my library (over 500 choices). I can browse by category, search, or see the whole list (about 2,200 total). Maybe I could download to listen to while driving (maybe I'll get that iPod for Christmas). In the e-books tab, there are over 53,000 books available! I'm sure I won't have a need or interest in most, but there are plenty of cookbooks in there! I'm impressed. So easy...but you have to know it's there.