Academic Library Directors Shares Her Wish List for Ebooks and Libraries

In a new 1400 word essay published by EDUCAUSE Review, Carrie Rampp, Director of Library Services and Instructional Technology at Bucknell University asks, “why can’t e-books play nicer with libraries?” The focus is on many issues including those with publishers and the use of ereader technology to access material.
Rampp also shares a “wish list” of items she would like to see along with a list of things academic librarians should do today.
Her wish list includes:

For all library e-books, regardless of license terms–whether unlimited use, five uses and then buy, or a temporary collection replaced cyclically—the owning library may loan an e-book to another library. I won’t dictate the technological solution, but this has to happen or libraries as we understand them will be fundamentally altered.

On Rampp’s list of thing that can be done now, she writes:

Copyright and fair use expertise should be a point of pride among all professional library and instructional technology staff. We need to stop making expertise in copyright and licensing a limited specialty role. We do need specialists, for advanced and complex situations. Unfortunately, it seems as if the word “copyright” too often makes us panic and demand a specialist, when a well-educated librarian will do.

Read the Full Text of Carrie Rampp’s Article: “We Love E-Books!” (via EDUCAUSE Review)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, News