To buy or borrow?
My husband works for a Japanese based company, and I had the pleasure of going to visit Japan with him for a short while a few years back. Walking around a foreign country and not being able to communicate with or understand anyone was an eye opening experience for me. Even trying to order lunch was a challenge. And ordering my crazy and complicated Starbucks coffee was an absolute disaster. In a moment of Starbucks withdrawal, I promised myself that I would learn how to speak Japanese before I made another visit to the country.
I've gotten the itch to go back sometime in the near future, and I started looking around at some "teach yourself" software packages that are out there. I know someone who used Rosetta Stone and thought it was really effective, so I checked it out on Amazon.com and got sticker shock! It costs around $400+ to purchase the first three levels. Of course, I looked it up on WorldCat.org, and I suprisingly found that there are a few WorldCat libraries that actually hold this item. I also found several similar items that would work for me too, all owned by libraries just waiting to be borrowed. Next step is to see if anyone will interlibrary loan it to me!
I think I just got $400 closer to my next trip to Japan!
On August 16, 2008 at 7:56 AM Paul Capewell said:
I have a similar time with books as I do with music.
Sometimes all I want to do is consume the content - read the book and soak it in, listen to the music to see what I think. The comparison here would be 'borrowing' music online prior to purchase *ahem*, and borriwng a book from a library.
Other times I like to own the thing, to see the book on my shelf, to have the CD or record in my collection. Conversely I do legally download music too...
The trouble for me is working out what I want to own and what I just want to consume.
Being able to borrow it beforehand for free makes that decision much easier.
On August 19, 2008 at 11:38 AM Carol A Guy said:
As an author, of course I'd rather that people buy my books, but I also see the value of having them in the libraries. First of all, not everyone can afford to purchase books on a regular basis. Secondly, by having the books in the libraries, I get lots of exposure. In fact, I get my own reading material at my local library.
Carol A Guy
On August 19, 2008 at 12:38 PM Christie
said:
Thanks Carol. I used to be all about purchasing books. I liked to own my own book, and take my time reading through it, and I loved always having it sitting around as a reference whenever I needed it. Plus, it was nice to know that I didn't have to return it (that looming thing to remember to do). But lately with the economy and concerns about budgeting, the library has become a much better option for me in many cases. I think it would be great if we can spread the word about all the items that the library has to offer, as I was pleasantly suprised to find things in a library that I thought I would have to buy!
On August 19, 2008 at 12:45 PM Bobby Romanski said:
Dear author,
I wish there were a way to send donation money directly to authors whose books we enjoyed via our libraries.
As I understand it, authors receive very little money from each purchased book and I hate to see most of the money pay for paper that was manufactured overseas, gasoline refined by companies connected to the global pyramid scheme, and the rest of it go into employee paychecks subject to federal income tax.
:)
On August 19, 2008 at 12:50 PM Christie
said:
Paul: thanks for your comments. I think many people can relate to how you think. And since now there are so many ways for you to preview music and books online, I'm wondering how this will change how people are using their library? As more and more books get scanned to be freely available online, how does the library keep people coming back?
Christie
On August 21, 2008 at 6:15 AM Paul Capewell said:
Very good point Christie - it is a bit of a concern.
Though, with books at least, I think that people will still be after the physical experience for a long time to come. I'm not at all convinced by the Kindle et al.
Although, coming from an information background, having reference books online to use is a real boon.