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In the world of Education, eBooks exist for a variety of reasons. Some are used for the pleasure of reading and some are used for research and reference purposes. Soon Read An eBook Week will be upon us and many people will read eBooks for the first time, or are trying to figure out what eBooks are all about.
My career has been in Educational Sales for a decade now, not as long as some, but I've seen many changes in that short time. I've worked with publishers and wholesalers selling everything from databases, print books, charts, maps, globes, videos, audiobooks and interactive books (publisher version of eBooks, just didn't call them that). In the educational setting eBooks are becoming increasingly popular, however they still face many challenges for libraries and classrooms as well as with readers. This will be the first in a series of articles discussing eBooks and what they mean to educating students; whether Higher Ed, K-12, those going back to school, or patrons of Public Libraries.
First off I want to talk about the challenges and questions faced by a library, as well as areas you need to look at. There are several questions you need to ask yourself and eBook companies. So below you will find some you need to start thinking about for getting eBooks into your library or classroom. Many I have heard before, and as they say, no question is a dumb question.
I know many of you may look at this and say, "Hey, I wanted help, not more questions." But, as with anything new, you need to understand what it is you want to do and how you want to do it. What your goal is and how to get there.
For the past year I've worked solely with eBooks. I've traveled across the U.S. selling to many of the Higher Ed libraries and some Public Libraries, as well. I worked in K-12 for many years and even though I haven't sold into them recently, I still understand the companies selling to them, and the challenges and questions being asked.
The questions above are to get you started. Perhaps you were waiting for the right time. Well, now is as good a time as ever. eBooks are here and your patrons and students are using them. If not in your library or classroom they soon will be, and they want you to have them. What I want to do is foster communication -- get people talking and asking more questions. I've heard most of them and they've come from public services librarians, collection development, acquisitions and everyone in between. Everyone is involved.
So here's my challenge: look at the questions above. Do you understand them? Do you have answers to them already, but they still don't make sense? Are there other questions you have? If so, I want you to interact with each other, and with the eBook companies you are working with. Start conversations on Linkedin, Twitter or any other social network you may belong to. The more conversations you get going the better for everyone. During those conversations if you have more questions, shoot me an email. Tell me what you want to know more about, what still confuses you or what hasn't been made clear. I can write article after article about eBooks and how they can be used, but let's get unique to specific challenges. You may find yours are similar to others out there.
Erik Christopher
Mr. Christopher has worked in Educational Sales for the past decade, initially as an independent publishers rep. in the K-12 market. He has worked with school libraries, curriculum departments, districts and state contracts selling everything from print to databases, and most recently eBooks.
Most recently he was the National Sales Manager for eBooks in North America for Blackwell North America, working with Higher Ed, Community Colleges and Public Libraries across the country. He worked with 3 of the 4 major eBook aggregators and approximately 30 publishers while at Blackwell and has assisted many libraries with their transition into eBook.
Mr. Christopher -- "I love everything publishing, book related, writing and of course eBooks and technology in education. If people wish to connect with me you can find me at Linkedin. You can also email me directly. You can also follow me on twitter @eBookNoir, talking about everything from metadata, MaRC, eBooks and a variety of other topics. I can also be found writing articles at teleread.org."
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