Sarah Glassmeyer continues to prove herself a thought leader in the world of librarianship. In a recent post from CALI.org we see her views on “The Enhanced Book”.
She takes the discussion about eBooks to a broader view with her move away from pros and cons and into the world of possibilities. I too taught content not container in the old days of my law firm service so her message resounded. I do think that the methods taught within print created better researchers because the framework was defined.
Often today’s electronic researchers are limited because they think about keywords and miss methods that could open up new avenues of content discovery. If publishers take up Glassmeyer’s challenge and “up their game” in production the possibilities will continue to grow.
And until most traditional publishers – both mass market and legal – up their game when it comes to producing ebooks, this debate isn’t going to end any time soon.
The eBook challenge is about ownership, sharing and consumption. The container offers broad scholarship and research opportunities. From an information management perspective, understanding restrictions, limits and abilities is most definitely a service that information professionals can use to add value to their institution.
Constance Ard, January 30, 2012
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