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Volume 41, Issue 5
October 28, 2003
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October
28, 2003
Database adds books to library
Carly
Schorman
Mesa Legend
“Library MCC purchases eBooks
”
MCC’s Paul A. Elsner Library recently added 1,800 books to its
collection.
However, these books cannot be found on the shelves of the library.
The new collection is comprised of eBooks, electronic literature available
through the internet.
Students can access the new eBooks through the MCC website.
Ann Tolzman, electronic resources librarian for MCC, called the new eBooks,
“cutting edge technology.”
Among the benefits, Tolzman cited easier access to materials for distance
learning students and access 24 hours a day from any computer with an
internet connection.
Many students, according to Tolzman, wait to the last minute to complete
research assignments. With the new eBooks access, students can check out
materials from their home the night before a paper is due.
The eBooks must be checked out like other materials although this can
be done from a remote location.
The book is automatically returned after seven days, eliminating the possibility
of returning materials late.
Wandering the aisles of the library and picking up books to flip through
for needed information might not be an option when dealing with eBooks;
however, an option to browse the book is available.
Students can choose to browse a book which grants them access for 15 minutes
before the book is automatically returned.
More than one student can browse the same book at one time.
However, just like traditionally printed material, eBooks cannot be checked
out if another student has already it.
Copyright laws are still applicable to electronic books. The computer
will prevent a student from printing out the entire book by limiting printing
to one page at a time, according to Tolzman.
The books can be downloaded to computers but will be automatically removed
when the due date passes.
“It’s the wave of the future,” Tolzman said. However,
Tolzman does not believe eBooks will ever replace the real thing.
Donella Eberle, chairperson of MCC’s English department, agreed
with Tolzman.
“I don’t think people will ever take a laptop to bed,”
Eberle said.
Eberle does believe there may be an increase in use of eBooks in the classroom.
“The smell of old books, the tactile sensation,” Eberle listed
reasons she prefers printed material to its electronic counterparts. “I
write in the margins. I never read a book without a pen in my hand.”
The eBooks allow students to search the entire text for keywords. If a
student was researching a particular topic, the subject could be typed
into the computer and every time the word(s) appeared on a page would
be noted.
“It skims for you,” Tolzman clarified.
While some may find the increased convenience beneficial, others might
still be wary of reading on book through their computer.
“I need that interaction between me and the page,” Eberle
explained why she would not read an eBook.
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