Getting the right experience

One of the most enjoyable aspects of ereaders, is reflowing text. That's when the story or book you are reading automatically fills each screen of your ereader at the size you want, so the text is comfortable to read -- and you only have to turn pages to read the text. From my experience, at that point, the reading brain makes no distinction between perusing the pages of a book and perusing the pages of an ebook. (And the reading brain is very happy.) I was reminded of this today when I went to my local library online and downloaded a book (for a two-week borrowing) to discover that the book was a pdf ebook (from Overdrive) -- in my mind not a real ebook. In other words the pages did not fill my screen. In fact I had to enlarge each page to read the words, and then scroll across each line to read the words. The experience was excruciating. (And I remembered a few years ago, when ebooks were caught in that nightmare state.) In order for a reader to get the right experience an ebook must have reflowable text. In my opinion, any library that is offering pdf ebooks for readers to check out is unconsciously discouraging readers from pursuing this entertainment.

A book-less library

You knew it was going to be recommended eventually: a book-less library. And now it has. According to Education Week, Nelson Wolff, a judge in Bexar County, Texas, where San Antonio is located, and Sergio Rodriguez, commissioner for the county's first precinct, have proposed a plan to create a library called BiblioTech that offers electronic media exclusively. This doesn't mean the books will all be ebooks, but close. The Bexar County Commissioners Court will consider proposals for e-book providers -- the plan is for BiblioTech to deal with integrated library systems vendors like Polaris Library Systems and 3M rather than with publishers or e-book retailers like Amazon. The court will also consider a project budget, construction services and the creation of a seven-member advisory board. BiblioTech intends to start with 100 e-readers that can be loaned out, 50 pre-loaded e-readers for children, 50 computer stations, 25 laptops and 25 tablets, with additional accommodations planned for the visually impaired. But it may not be long before libraries with books seem as unusual as garages with horses. "When you go into a public library today, people are gathered around computer terminals," Wolff observed. Here's the link: http://www.informationweek.com/education/online-learning/a-digital-public-library-without-paper-b/240146262?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Government