Last year, during a teen book club meeting at the local high school, the subject of e-readers came up … who has one, who wants one, what do teens think, etc. But one of the teens shared something interesting: having an e-reader has changed what she reads. Why? Not because of the anonymity an e-reader lends, and only a bit because of the limited availability of digital downloads through the library. Instead, her reading choices have changed mainly due to (the lack of) browsability. Instead of being able to peruse the stacks, physically handle books, and look at their covers, she was stuck trying to determine her choices from itty-bitty thumbnail shots of book covers and too-laborious-to-access descriptions. To avoid all the trouble, this particular student began to read digitized classics because their titles, and covers, were recognizable. Her points made sense because — let’s face it — thumbnail shots of book covers leave much to be desired, especially if that is all one sees when “browsing” digital materials online. Read more ...
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