Libraries, iPods, and the Digital Future
“There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free
Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office,
nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.”- Andrew Carnegie
Public libraries are a great equalizer in American society. They allow universal access to a wealth of information. Unfortunately, libraries are often limited by inadequate funding. Libaries have looked to technology to provide new means of content delivery that are more cost efficient and have greater reach than loaning physical books. The internet has the potential to make low-cost, widescale access to public library content a possibility, but has yet to fully deliver.
Taking libraries online has been a long and hard battle. Interestingly, the technical problems have largely been solved and several ways to make content available online have been developed. The real difficulty is getting libraries and publishers to agree on which method to use. Publishers are worried that patrons will illegally copy works checked out from the library while libraries are concerned that the severe DRM restrictions requested by publishers will prevent universal access to information.
A company named Overdrive has created a software platform that can be deployed by libraries to make audiobooks available online. Their audiobooks are DRM-protected in Windows Media format. Overdrive has already been adopted by several libraries:
A growing list of public libraries are lending OverDrive Audio Books to their patrons including Cleveland Public Library, San Jose Public Library, Cuyahoga County Public Library, King County Library System, Unabridged, Phoenix Public Library, Michigan Library Consortium, The Ferguson Library, Denver Public Library, and others.
The problem is that the libraries have found that most of their patrons that listen to digital audiobooks have iPods. Overdrive’s DRM protected files don’t play on Apple’s iPods because Apple’s FairPlay DRM technology isn’t compatibile with Overdrive’s choice of Windows Media DRM technology. This incompatibility has limited the reach of the program:
“It’s a big problem,” Nashua’s Corbett admitted. “But hopefully if there is enough demand, it will push Apple to license the content. . . . Obviously, we’d all love to get the iPod market.”
And deep down, Overdrive agrees – special window on the Web site tells users: “We urge you to contact Apple and request that they open the iPod to other copy-protected formats.”
Overdrive’s current solution is to encourage libraries and patrons to buy new flash-based mp3 players that are compatible with it’s DRM format to be used instead of iPods. This is a short-sighted answer to a much bigger problem.
Audible.com is the largest online retailer of audiobooks. Last year, Audible.com launched its Audible Education program which allows students to download study materials, audiobooks, and other educational content online. Through partnerships with universities like Seton Hall, Audible provides some content free to students and other paid content is used as part of the class curriculum:
All of Seton Hall’s more than 1,100 incoming freshman will receive an audio download of former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins reading his work at Peter Norton Symphony Space. Published by Random House Audio, the recording will serve as the keystone to the University’s Progressive Freshman Reading Program.
Seton Hall Adopts Audible’s Technology for Audio Learning Initiative
Audible.com also is the supplier of audiobooks for Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Audible files work on the iPod and several universities have decided to supply thousands of incoming freshman with iPods to be used for education. None of these new iPods will be able to play back books from libraries using Overdrive’s software or similar software.
Wherever you look across the country, there are similar examples. Content providers insist of protecting their content with DRM systems that don’t work while libraries do their best to meet the needs of as many patrons as possible given the current DRM situation. Given the rate that DRM systems are changed or abandoned, many more dollars might be wasted on shorted-sighted programs before a long-term solution is found. Until then, the battle for digital libraries will continue.
technorati tags:ipod, digital, library, overdrive, mp3, audible, drm
2 Comments so far
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It’s DRM on digital documents (such as journals) as well as audio which is going to be an enormous problem in the years to come - e.g. the British Library’s head of archiving calls DRM the “biggest threat” to preserving information for the future (http://architectures.danlockton.co.uk/?p=90 ).
I don’t know what the situation in in the US, but in the UK there are certain libraries which have a legal entitlement to receive a copy of every ‘work’ that’s published. If those copies are in a useless format (DRM) or one which becomes useless, then the exercise is pointless.
Libraries should demand DRM-free copies, just as when they receive books, anyone can take them off the shelf and read them, make notes from them, and so on.
DRM system will prevents unauthorised acess,but it lose user friendlyness,it can downloaded into ipods only,mp3 players doesn’t support some file formats due to DRM system.