From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 02:37:46 +0000


>I abstain from naming the e-book platforms because, though there are
>differences, the three are all alike in one important respect, their
>choice to cripple the functionality of the product they sell in order
>to find a business model that will let them sell the product at all.
>I'll talk and write more about that in due course, but for now I just
>want to emphasize that the magical availability of e-book services has
>made the challenge of acquisition more difficult rather than simpler.

No question that these functionality issues are real and serious, but
even with those issues, doesn’t the availability of these titles as
ebooks represent a pretty significant net gain over the old print-only
marketplace in terms of both accessibility and functionality? I think
we would all agree that the ebook marketplace is nowhere near optimum
yet, and it’s certainly more complex and difficult than any of us
would like. But ease and simplicity aren’t everything. Unless having
the option of purchasing these titles as ebooks has made them less
available in print, then don’t the current circumstances represent a
net gain for readers and researchers?

>I *do* think that letting people have one consistent user interface to
>different volumes of the same work is a desirable goal.

All other things being equal, that’s certainly true. But all things
are never equal, unfortunately. If the consistent user interface
that’s available is one that serves users badly, is it necessarily
more desirable, on balance, to have consistency?


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Rick Anderson
Assoc. Dean for Collections & Scholarly Communication
Marriott Library, University of Utah
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