Responses to
Letter to the Boston Public Library
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/09/08/1739235.shtml
Overdrive. Our libraries come up short.
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/09/08/1739235.shtml
Re:Overdrive. Our libraries come up short.
(Score:2)
by shalla (642644) on Sunday
September 09, @11:18PM (#20534173)
As a librarian, it absolutely is
your ethical/professional
responsibility to evaluate the
social implications of DRM
technology and potentially take a
stand on the issue.
While I agree that DRM falls
within my professional concerns,
it's not the main concern of my
job, and I'm certainly not going
to treat it as such. I have
complained to eAudiobook reps
about compatibility issues, I've
compiled lists of alternate
sources of eAudiobooks for
patrons, and I've spent countless
hours with patrons trying to get
their downloading and transferring
to their mp3 players to work. And
while that is all a part of my
job, it is still not the essence
of my job, and I have neither the
time nor the inclination to make
it so.
Furthermore, if you want me to
compare the use of DRM on
eAudiobooks to the use of items
owned by public libraries, you
won't like the result.
The model for libraries has always
been that the library actually
controls a copy of the book / CD /
tape and can lend it to anyone at
any time. DRM-encumbered files
give the publisher complete
control - with a default of "deny
access". That default is utterly
incompatible with the mission of a
public library.
Um, that's just not correct.
Public libraries have often owned
or provided access to a great many
items, including books, CDs, DVDs,
periodical articles, and
audiobooks. While many of those
items were physically owned by the
library, not all were. Often the
public library would only have
periodical indexes and would help
a patron find where they could get
a copy of an article--but the
patron would have to secure it
themselves or pay for it. The
electronic databases of the past
15 years are an improvement over
that in that we often have access
to the full text of many articles,
but again, that is leased access
and it is controlled in a number
of ways that the library pays for,
including number of simultaneous
users and whether or not remote
access exists. If the vendor
suddenly decides to shut down or
change access or we stop paying
for a database, that's the end of
access.
As for the purpose of DRM on
library items, let's look at how
your normal library book is
handled. Public Library X buys the
book and makes it available.
Patron A checks said book out.
Patron A must return the book to
the library or pay for it, and
Patron A knows (or should know)
that they cannot just photocopy
the book because that is copyright
infringement. Also, most books are
rather prohibitively large to
photocopy--you might as well just
buy the thing. However, they can
read the book and return it, and
all is well and good. As for CDs,
they can be borrowed and listened
to and returned, but I certainly
wouldn't let you walk in, pick up
one of the library's music CDs and
burn a copy for yourself on one of
our computers without stopping you
and telling you it was a violation
of copyright.
If we move to the realm of
eAudiobooks and attempt to apply
the same expectations of a due
date where the patron must stop
using the item and a restriction
on copying the item, we run into
problems. The file the patron is
downloading is not the one and
only file; if the patron does not
return it, they aren't billed for
it and the library does not have
to buy a new one. Instead, it is
merely one copy of that original
file. In order to make sure that
the copy does not continue to
exist forever without being
checked out again, some form of
control must be used on the file.
That's where DRM comes in on
library eAudiobooks. It also
exists to prevent a patron from
just copying the audiobook for
their own use.
Now if this were my own personal
audiobook, then no, DRM should not
be on it. As a consumer, I am
entitled to make back-up copies of
my own purchase and listen to it
for as long as I want. But as a
library patron, it is not your
book--you are borrowing it for an
amount of time, you do not have
the right to make back-ups, and
this is the electronic way they
enforce that.
To turn this back to OverDrive and
other eAudiobook vendors, my
biggest gripe is not necessarily
that they have DRM on the files
(because as you can see from
above, I can see the uses in a
library setting.) It's that they
don't support multiple platforms.
My first choice would be no DRM at
all. In general I don't like it
and I think it creates more
problems than it solves. That
would be the simplest thing for
library patrons, and it would get
rid of the whole issue of
compatibility. However, barring
that, then I want multiple
compatibility options for my
patrons.
Finally, in a good many cases, the
library DOES own a copy of the
book, the CD, the audiobook, etc.
in addition to the eAudiobook.
That's certainly the case with the
popular titles. Generally we're
trying to serve as many people as
we can.
DRM use today has a direct impact
on the extent to which libraries
can archive information for the
future.
I think you have a misconception
of what libraries do. In general,
we aren't necessarily archiving
information for the future.
Archives archive. Libraries
support various communities with
access to the relevant information
they need, depending on the
mission statement of said library.
While that may include archiving
some information, in a lot of
cases it involves chucking a lot
more to make room for new stuff.
We don't have the physical
newspapers from the 80s or 90s. In
fact, we don't keep more than the
past month. The usage to space
ratio wasn't worth it.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
@
shalla (Score:2)
Starting Score: 1 point
Karma-Bonus Modifier +1
Total Score: 2
*
Re:Overdrive. Our libraries come up short.
(Score:1)
by Paua Fritter (448250) on
Monday September 10, @07:23AM
(#20536675)
To turn this back to OverDrive and other
eAudiobook vendors, my biggest gripe is not
necessarily that they have DRM on the files
(because as you can see from above, I can see the
uses in a library setting.) It's that they don't
support multiple platforms.
One of the main reasons their
titles are platform dependent
is because they use DRM
mechanisms which are platform
dependent. Why are the DRM
mechanisms so tied to
specific platforms? One
important reason is that to
be effective, a DRM mechanism
really have to be built into
the guts of the system; by
contrast, software which is
neatly and elegantly designed
with portability and
interoperability in mind is
virtually impossible to build
a DRM-enabled system with,
because it allows the end
user too much flexibility and
power.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
@
Re:Overdrive. Our libraries come up short.
(Score:2)
by Chandon Seldon (43083) on
Monday September 10, @11:03AM
(#20538949)
(http://www.ferrus.net/)
I think you have a misconception of what libraries
do. In general, we aren't necessarily archiving
information for the future.
Just because you don't
archive all (or even most) of
the stuff you have doesn't
mean that the ability to
archive isn't directly
valuable to you. Further, I'm
100% sure that you would
archive *everything* if you
had the space to do so.
Electronic storage of books
and articles means that you
naturally do have the space
to store everything - DRM
just prevents you from of
taking advantage of that
fact.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
-
Re:Overdrive. Our libraries come up short.
(Score:2)
by shalla (642644) on
Monday September 10,
@01:41PM (#20541641)
Further, I'm 100% sure
that you would archive
*everything* if you had
the space to do so.
Electronic storage of
books and articles means
that you naturally do
have the space to store
everything - DRM just
prevents you from of
taking advantage of that
fact.
IF we had the space and
IF we had the money and
IF we had the staff and
IF we had the time to
convert everything
physical to digital and
IF we had a good enough
search algorithm to get
relevant results from
all the crap that would
then be in the mix and
IF whatever storage and
retrieval methods we
chose didn't go obsolete
almost immediately, then
yes, the library hosting
original files and
backing them up for
every piece of
information it ever
touched would be ideal.
Can I toss in unicorns
and a decent wage for me
while we're dreaming?
The above is never going
to happen. (Well, I'm
holding out hopes for
bits of it, particularly
the decent wage bit, but
the forces of the
universe aligning so
that all the others
happen at the same time?
I can't say I think
that's likely.)
I understand what you're
saying, but I'm afraid
that I work too much
with practicalities.
Items get stolen or
ruined. Web sites close.
Small press publishers
go out of business, and
local businesses decide
to stop putting out
their annual Top Twenty
Places to Go Do Whatever
(which the public
apparently can't live
without). There are very
few pieces of
information that are
considered so rare and
valuable that they will
soon not be either 1)
out of date, or 2) not
used enough by our
patrons that it matters.
It's difficult for me to
get worked up over
whether or not we'll
have access to an
eAudiobook download of
The Devil Wears Prada in
twenty years when I'm
not even sure if anyone
would be able to listen
to it then. Or would
want to.
I should point out that
libraries are generally
not choosing to do
eAudiobook downloads
instead of purchasing
Books on CD or Cassette.
For many, they've taken
only a portion of that
budget (which might have
been spent on, say,
extra copies or abridged
copies) and put it
towards the eAudiobooks.
So instead of getting 4
unabridged versions and
2 abridged versions of
the latest Janet
Evanovich book on CD,
the library might
purchase 3 unabridged
versions and 1 abridged
version. At the same
time, one person can
check out the OverDrive
copy, and if NetLibrary
has a copy, multiple
people can check it out
at once. So in many
cases, it's a format
option for the patrons.
They don't have to use
it.
From a purely
theoretical standpoint,
DRM on items deprives
people from access that
would be useful or
necessary in many
circumstances. From a
practical standpoint, it
can serve a purpose in
the library. (See my
comments about check out
times and copyright
protection in previous
post.)
If my choice is between
providing bad service to
my patrons by ignoring
their requests based on
a theoretical objection
or giving them the
service they're
requesting and educating
them about DRM and
working to try and
change it while we work
with it, then I'm going
for the second option.
I'm more practical than
theoretical in nature.
The second never manages
to calmly get the
hundred people out of
the building during the
fire alarm. ;)
And in the end, I'd
rather not be the nanny
who says, "No, you can't
have this because the
DRM isn't good for you."
Let the people be
educated and decide for
themselves. They can
always ignore the
eAudiobooks and use our
Books on CD instead.
[ Reply to This | Parent
]
*
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Overdrive. Our libraries come up short.
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