E-reading – a library in your pocket

Abstract

The first e-book was written by Michael Hart in 1971, and the last 40 years echo the crisis of the Gutenberg Galaxy. Electronic literature has become part of the life of the net generation, of the homo informaticus (obviously, of their learning and education as well). E-books redirected the attention of masses to reading. The new media does not replace anything, but brings new opportunities. The e-book has been separated from its media, represents already an edited, paginated content. The question is whether libraries should deal with the content only. It is the task of university Libraries to transmit digital literacy which includes several tasks: lending tools, teaching the citation of e-books, as well as advertising freely accessible collections. Libraries, especially academic libraries can use ebooks (and e-readers) as a new tool assisting learning; providing literally – together with faculty – a pocket library for students; taking into account that it is not only the format of books, but also the user needs that are changing. In the present study, through some examples (of the CEU Library and the Debrecen University Information Centre), it is examined how these masses can be attracted to libraries; how is the e-book integrated into the library collection, as well as how libraries can become content developers and supporters in our days.