There has been a lot of talk lately about
Amazon, Overdrive, and privacy issues.
When I first heard that Overdrive was adding Amazon I thought "good
now it won't matter which device patrons own, they will all have equal
access." (Obviously this was wrong. I'm not even going to go into the
various Overdrive catalogs out there).
The central issue is Amazon's policy of
collecting information from Overdrive users. This shakes the many librarians to
their very core. I mean we're all about freedom of information and being free
from undue influence in the things we choose to read. About a week ago I
checked out a book using a Kindle. No problem; it was easy to complete the process.
I started reading it not worrying about the due date (which is one of the best
things about checking out library eBooks). Then I got the message "Your public
library book will expire in 3 days. If you ~purchase~ [emphasis added] Battlefields of the Civil War [A
Guide for Travelers Volume I] from the Kindle Store or borrow it again from
your local library, all of your notes and highlights will be preserved." Having my notes saved is a cool
feature, but what really burned my pipes was the sales pitch. I liken this
practice to the answering the doorbell
on a Saturday morning by some zealous salesman.
Is this something that we can all unite
under and get it changed? Is it even worth trying? Is this another side effect
of living in a capitalist society? What’s a librarian to do!
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