THE PENDULUM

by Cailtin O'Donnell, November 3, 2009

Imagine walking into the library to study and instead of being greeted by rows of books, seeing only small screens and electronic text. According to a recent USA Today report, this has become is daily life for students at Cushing Academy in New England where the library has traded paper and ink for e-books provided by Kindles.

Though Elon has not completely abandoned traditional books in favor of a digital collection, Belk Library has purchased two Kindles for evaluation by librarians and staff.

"We have been trying them out and we will be discussing how we might utilize them more broadly," Dean and University Librarian Kate Hickey said.

Professors and students have questioned the benefits of putting students' research needs in the hands of a relatively new technology.

Many books are not yet available on Kindle, and there is no way to highlight or make annotations, Assistant Vice President for Technology Chris Fulkerson said.

"I like books. I like the feel of books. I like to read books," Fulkerson said. "If I read for enjoyment, then I would rather read a paper book than an electronic book."

Senior Melanie Johnson recommends the Kindle for students who enjoy technology and who also read a lot.

"The cost of books are $10 each, which is cheaper than in bookstores, but the cost of the Kindle itself is pricey ($300-400)," she said. "So you would have to read a ton of books to ever offset the cost of the Kindle."

Hickey said she believes Kindles have the potential to become a significant tool for students if improvements are made to the technology.

"Once Kindles improve their screens, incorporate color and graphics and moderate their price, I do see Kindles as great repositories for textbooks," she said. "There are also a lot of copyright issues which would have to be resolved."

Fulkerson said he agrees the future for Kindles could be bright.

"I can foresee the point where a Kindle is light enough, has a long enough battery life, has a color display, allows for highlights and annotation and has the ability to access the Web," he said. "Think of having all your textbooks and reference books, as well as access to the Web, in a lightweight device that you can take notes on."

Johnson said she believes an entirely digital collection of resources would not be beneficial for students.

"I'm not sure if it would make sense to have Kindle-filled libraries because hundreds of books can be stored on a single Kindle," she said. "I would be in favor of it if you could somehow ‘rent' a book on your Kindle from the library for a certain amount of time."

At this point, Belk Library has no plans to modify its resources, especially with so many kinks remaining in Amazon's technology.

"I certainly would recommend giving this new technology a try," Hickey said. "But students will probably find, at this point, only a few of the titles they need available electronically."

Sophomore Chelsea Erskine said she believes the Kindle holds potential for students.
"I think that Kindles provide convenience and easy access for students who are on the go," she said. "However, they should not be the only resource for research and reading."