@library.edu the newsletter of the Swarthmore College Library
Spring 2010 Vol. 12, no. 2
How would you like that book? In print or on an e-book reader? Readers share their preferences by Terry Heinrichs
You may see more and more people these days reading books on a Kindle or another kind of e-book reader.
Walter Stromquist with his Kindle.
These compact devices can store thousands of books and let you read the latest issues of newspapers and magazines that you subscribe to. Some people on campus own one and some don’t, and they shared their reasons. Ellen Monsees, director of donor relations, loves “being able to have many books with me at all times” on her Kindle. Besides reading novels on it, Walter Stromquist, visiting associate professor of math, uses his Kindle to “store reference documents so that they’ll be handy when I need them.” Associate Professor of Astronomy Eric Jensen uses his iPhone for “interesting web pages” that he wants to read later. “I clip them via an app/site called Instapaper (http://instapaper.com/) and then they get synced to my iPhone.” Meg Spencer, science librarian, says her Kindle “will never replace my paper books, but it always attracts attention!” The convenience of “carrying” many books without the weight makes an e-book reader especially well suited for traveling or commuting, commented several responders to the newsletter’s survey. “Last summer, I carried it all over Europe and Asia while doing research – and didn’t need an extra suitcase for the books,” writes Erin Mee, assistant professor of theater, continued on page 2
E-book readers are popular items by Annette Newman
They were the hot gift for the holidays. E-book readers are the stand-alone devices that consumers can use to read, store, and access electronic books as well as magazines and newspapers. They are about the size of a book yet can store thousands of titles and with prices starting at $250. The devices make use of a technology referred to as electronic ink, giving their screens sharp contrast that mimics the printed page. The appeal to bibliophiles is obvious: you can take your whole library with you wherever you go in a slim portable device. Amazon’s Kindle leads the pack as the first widely purchased e-book reader. Approximately 1.5 million Kindle devices have been sold to date. The Kindle allows the user to download materials over a 3G wireless network and comes in two sizes. You can be sitting on the beach and order up another book or magazine from Amazon to read without ever leaving the shade of your umbrella. Kindle uses a proprietary file format that isn’t used by other e-book readers but is able to read PDF files also. One of its popular features, not found on other readers, is its ability to read aloud. continued on page 4
Admission, by Jean Hanff Korelitz, is available as a print book and a Kindle book.
How would you like that book? continued from page 1
Mattie Gregor
Jeff Lott
Meg Spencer
about her Kindle. She adds, “You don’t get an e-book because you want it to feel like a book. You get it because you can carry so many books wherever you go. And because it saves paper.” Parth Lakhani ’10 “can’t imagine life without” his Kindle. He notes that reading on the Kindle screen is, as advertised, much easier on the eyes than reading on a laptop for a few hours. And, he says, “It also definitely doesn’t hurt to have the ability to check train schedules or get directions on the go for free, without any monthly fees (like with a smartphone).” Although he appreciates the ease of traveling without having to carry “large, ungainly bags of books,” another Kindle owner says he “much prefers reading proper books. It frustrates me that on a Kindle the typography of every single book is identical and I cannot easily count pages to track my progress.” Christopher Geissler ’13 notes the drawbacks in a Kindle when needing to see pictures, diagrams, and charts and when “checking back or looking ahead in the text.” But it’s “far easier to read than a computer screen because, like a real book, it’s not back-lit.” Samantha “Herbert” Tanzer ’10 likes her Kindle a lot (she named it “Bradbury”). One downside she found is the inability to read some pdfs that are two page spreads on one 8.5” x11” format because she doesn’t have the larger DX model. Yoga instructor Mary Anne Anderson appreciates the “great book selection” and “wonderful” customer service at Amazon. But she finds it “cumbersome” for resource books that have illustrations with descriptions and finds a physical book more useful then. She says, “For my pleasure reading, it’s wonderful.” Survey respondents who don’t own an e-book reader cited the features of print books that they liked and the cost factor of e-book readers as reasons for not taking the plunge into the new technology. Mattie Gregor ’10 says, “I like books! There’s just something really tactilely satisfying about them, and they’re a lot easier on continued on page 3
Suzanne Winter
Rachel Buurma
@library.edu Editors: Pam Harris, Terry Heinrichs, Annette Newman All photos by Annette Newman with exception of photo of Jeff Lott by Ted Kostans Thank you to all who contributed to this issue. Ellen Monsees
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Email: libnews@swarthmore.edu Swarthmore College Library 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081
How would you like that book? continued from page 2
the eyes for long periods of time than a screen is.” Most of her reading now is for class and when she’s reading a print book, “My progress and the amount I have left to read are tangible. It feels less overwhelming to start with, because I can see that what I have to read is finite. When I’m reading from an electronic source, I have the sense that whatever I’m reading could just go on forever and ever and it’s a little daunting sometimes.” Writing Associates Program Intern Chelcie Rowell isn’t planning on buying an e-book reader anytime soon, but she’d “love to receive one as a gift.” She thinks a “significantly lower cost” would entice her to buy one. Jeff Lott, editor of the Swarthmore College Bulletin, probably won’t be buying an e-book reader soon, but he’s not just attached to reading print books. He also likes audio books “because you can listen to them while driving.” He thinks ebooks would be useful if he “spent a lot of time on planes or trains.” Bringing up another issue, he writes that “If important books become available only in electronic form,” then public libraries should “hand out e-book readers to people who could not afford one of their own – just as they do now by providing free Internet access.” Suzanne Winter ’10 likes the “book smell and the feeling of accomplishment when you turn the pages” and thinks the new Kindle still feels “unnatural.” She can envision getting an e-book reader in the future, though, for “ease of commute, etc. I don’t like to be weighed down with much stuff and my bags are usually dictated by the size of the book I’m reading.” Owners of e-book readers wish there were a few more features on them. Color for graphs and images was at the top of the wish list. Also desired are a faster page-refresh rate, a manual backlight, hyperlinks, and a better way to take notes. Responses were mixed about textbooks on an e-book reader. Walter Stromquist points out that “People read textbooks and reference books differently from the way they read fiction; they jump around and search a lot.” Meg Spencer thinks “It would be great if cheaper textbooks were made available electronically, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around using e-book readers and iPhones for reading a textbook. So I would think being able to use e-book applications on a laptop would be important. And again, color is a major issue, especially in science textbooks where diagrams are particularly important.” Eric Jensen doesn’t think science books would work well as e-books because they “depend heavily on graphics and/or equations.” It’s hard to say what the future holds for e-books and print books, but it looks like there’ll be room for both.
Samantha “Herbert” Tanzer
Chelcie Rowell
Swarthmore has many e-books The college library offers thousands of e-books – reference sources, academic titles, popular reading - that can be viewed on laptops and computers. About 45,000 titles (from all the major publishers like Oxford, Cambridge, and Elsevier) are obtained through Ebrary. The library provides rare book e-books – nearly 300,000 titles - through Eighteenth Century Collections Online and Early English Books Online. Reference e-book providers include Credo Reference and Oxford Reference Premium. (Use Tripod to access e-book titles and providers.) Both Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College Libraries have purchased a Kindle and are experimenting with how to lend it to patrons. Haverford loaded several e-books used for courses on a Kindle DX. Bryn Mawr is using its Kindle for pleasure reading.
Eric Jensen
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E-book readers are popular items continued from page 1
Barnes and Noble’s Nook was just released in time for the holidays. It has a two-screen interface and runs Google’s Android operating system. In addition to 3G wireless, it has Wi-Fi capabilities for downloading and accessing materials and uses the industry standard EPUB format so you can read e-books from other sources than Barnes and Noble. The Nook also allows you to lend e-books to your friends for up to 14 days for free. Sony, one of the first e-reader providers, offers three different e-book readers. All Sony readers use the EPUB standard and allow you to borrow e-books from libraries, such as the New York Public libraries. The newest Sony reader, the Daily, will have wireless capabilities while the two older models require connection to a PC to download and access publications. These three are the most popular and visible of the e-book readers with others being introduced continually. Other vendors include Samsung, iRex Technologies, Plastic Logic, and Netronix, among many. In addition to the stand-alone devices, there is software available for PCs and handheld devices that allow them to be used as e-book readers. Both the Kindle and Nook offer software applications that run on PC’s, iPhones, and iPads. Sony has similar software in development, and Apple has iBook software for the iPhone and iPad. Kurzweil Blio made its debut the beginning of this year at the Consumer Electronics Show. The free software currently only runs on the PC platform but other platforms are under development, including Mac, Linux, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and iPhone operating systems. Blio offers a full-feature interface that more closely resembles a book with pages that turn and is in color. It has advanced graphics, read-aloud capability, and features easy highlighting, note-taking, and sticky notes for the student. Kurzweil has partnered with Baker and Taylor booksellers to offer over 1.5 million titles. Adobe Digital Editions software offers an engaging way to view and manage e-books and other digital publications. Use it to download and purchase digital content, which can be read both online and offline. Transfer copy-protected e-books from your personal computer to other computers or devices. Organize your e-books into a custom library and annotate pages. Digital Editions also supports industry-standard e-book formats, including PDF/A and EPUB. The college bookstore is participating in a pilot program for delivery of digital content to college and university communities using Digital Editions software. Adobe is working on software improvements with students in mind. 2010 might be the year of the e-reader. The established Kindle is going to be challenged by the Nook, the iPad, and other platforms such as the iPhone, while PC based software comes of age and demonstrates its functionality. Readers will have a lot to choose from.
Are e-book readers green?
Schools testing Kindle DX
by Annette Newman
by Terry Heinrichs
Kindles are cool, but are they a green technology too? They could be. The environmental impact of books not only includes paper and ink production but energy expended on printing, shipping, and disposal. According to Cleantech.com, “purchasing three e-books per month for four years produces roughly 168 kilograms of CO2 throughout the Kindle’s lifecycle, compared to the estimated 1,074 kilograms of CO2 produced by the same number of printed books.” Their report notes that an Amazon Kindle’s carbon emissions are fully offset after the first year of use when compared to printed books. Of course, books last a long time and can be passed from person to person and most can even be composted at the end of their life. Electronic devices become obsolete, require replacement and disposal. Electronic publications standards will no doubt change frequently while the printed page will not.
In a pilot project with Amazon that started last August, seven colleges and universities are testing the Kindle DX for textbooks. Using the wide-format e-book reader in selected classes, the schools are looking at its value in learning and teaching, its potential to save paper and textbook costs, and how it compares to traditional textbooks. There has been mixed response so far as students learn to adapt to the devices, especially with using the note-taking and highlighting features. Some have asked for their print textbooks back. Others appreciate the convenience of the Kindle DX and think it has a lot of potential, especially when improvements are developed. Schools participating in the project are: Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Pace University, Princeton University, Reed College, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and the University of Washington.
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Alumni donate Geneva Bible to collection by Amy McColl The library was honored in December with the gift of a Geneva Bible from alumni W. Marshall Schmidt (Class of 1947) and Cornelia Schmidt (Class of 1946). The Bible had belonged to the Schmidt family for many years, and it is an important addition to the library’s Rare Book Room collection. This particular Bible has 36 pages of manuscript material inserted before the printed text begins. Here are some details about this edition, which was printed in 1579 in London by Christopher Barker, printer to Queen Elizabeth I: “In several important respects the 1560 version marked a new departure in Bible printing. It was a “first” in at least three noteworthy features. Instead of the heavy and clumsy-looking Gothic or black-letter type, which had always been used previously for Bibles, the 1560 version was printed with Roman type … It was the first English Bible to introduce numbered verses, each set off as a separate paragraph. It was also the first Bible to use italics to mark those words which the translators added because of English idiom, but which are not represented verbatim in the original. Unlike the format of previous English versions, published as huge, unwieldy folios and suited only for liturgical use in church, most printings of the Geneva version were issued in small, conveniently-sized quarto editions (6 1/2 X 9 3/4 inches) and were sold at a moderate price. Furthermore, this Bible was furnished with a number of helps for the reader not previously available in English Bibles. The margins contain numerous explanatory comments on difficult passages…” (from “The Geneva Bible of 1560,” an article by Bruce Metzger originally printed in Theology Today, v. 17, no. 3, Oct. 1960) The Geneva Bible is often called the “Breeches Bible” because the translators chose the term “breeches” for the coverings referenced in Genesis 3:7: “Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig tree leaves together, and made them selves breeches.” It is also known that the Geneva Bible was among the Bibles brought on the Mayflower to America by the Puritans.
All in a day’s work: SnapShot PA Librarians from all types of libraries, public and academic libraries, school and special libraries, hospital libraries and government libraries, from the tiniest facility to the largest county systems participated in documenting a day – October 28 - in the life of Pennsylvania libraries. Over 500 libraries responded, including Swarthmore College, and the numbers are impressive: 179,702 people walked through the libraries’ doors, 208,171 materials were circulated, and librarians answered 22,487 reference questions, all in one day.
Tripod’s on mobile phones Self check-out available at McCabe Scan in the barcode on your i.d. card, scan in the barcode from the book, put the due date card in the pocket - it’s as simple as that!
New this year, TripodMobile (beta) is a version of Tripod designed for use from your smartphone or other web-enabled, handheld device. You can use it to search for items in the catalog; to text, email, and save records; and to request and renew items. Try it from your own mobile device: http://m.tripod.swarthmore.edu. @library.edu Spring 2010
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Conspiracies revealed in recent exhibit
Events last fall in McCabe Library included the Conspiracy Walls exhibit (above left), presented by students from the Film and Media Studies course Conspiracy taught by Assistant Professor Bob Rehak; the celebration of Edgar Allen Poe’s 200th birthday (above right); a party to honor the release of the Swarthmore Literary Review; and the Twisted Tales and Sinister Scribes exhibit.
Seiden presents at conference
Student wins prize for finding answer by Pam Harris
Peggy Seiden, college librarian, recently presented at LYRASIS library directors’ forum on Introducing the Strategic Planning Toolkit for Libraries. The forum focused on the importance of long-term planning for libraries, how to adapt to changing environments, and what trends are on the horizon. Seiden discussed how to perform the difficult task of cutting operation, materials, and personnel budgets, while continuing to think strategically about the future. 6
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What do pileated woodpeckers eat? (answer below) Finding the answer to that question and others by using sources in Tripod won James Abbott ’10 a prize of $100. President Obama officially declared October as Information Literacy Month. His support for information literacy is significant, recognizing the importance of having an educated citizenry in an increasingly complicated world of information. Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, and ethically and legally use information, as well as competency with communication technologies. With so much information and technology available today, it is difficult to know how to separate what is trustworthy from what is false and/or biased. It requires both skill and practice. The President urged libraries, educators, and institutions of learning to provide students with the “tools required to take advantage of the information available to them.” McCabe Library celebrated with a scavenger hunt featuring increasingly difficult questions over the course of a week. The correct answers were then entered into a drawing for $100. (Answer: carpenter ants and wood boring beetle larvae)
Mary Phelan | The Working Process McCabe Library exhibition, January 26 – February 27 Artist lecture and reception: Thursday, February 25, 12-1 pm, McCabe Library Mary Phelan | The Working Process is Swarthmore College Library’s opening exhibition of 2010 and part of the first presentation of Philagrafika 2010. In addition to teaching book arts at Swarthmore, Mary Phelan is associate professor at the University of the Arts and the coordinator of the Fine Arts, Printmaking/Book Arts undergraduate department. Phelan is known for both her prints and letterpress printing and has collaborated with many other artists to create books and various art projects. Philagrafika 2010 is an international festival celebrating the role of print in contemporary art, the first of what will become a recurring event in Philadelphia. Involving more than 300 artists at more than 80 venues throughout the city, including Swarthmore College Library and the List Gallery, the exposition runs from January 29- April 11. For more information visit: http://www.philagrafika2010.org.
Mary Phelan (Irish Pig Press); image from “Tail section” of Exquisite horse : a printer's corpse (Silver Buckle Press, University of WisconsinMadison Libraries, 1997)
Artists in Wartime: Bearing Witness/Shaping a Response This symposium and two related exhibitions explore the role of contemporary artists who focus on war, related international health issues, and other crises of politics. A series of events at Swarthmore College made possible by the William J. Cooper Foundation, the Department of Art, the List Gallery, and Swarthmore College Library. Printmakers go to War: Works by Daniel Heyman in collaboration with Nick Flynn, Eric Avery, Damian Cote, Michael Reed and Ehren Tool McCabe Library exhibition, March 4–April 9 Reception: Saturday, March 20, Noon-1 pm Leveraging both the documentary and diaristic aspects of printmaking and bookmaking, the featured artists critique institutionalized violence and reassert imaginative space for compassionate endeavors. Poetry Reading by Nick Flynn Saturday, March 20, 1:00 p.m.—McCabe Library Lobby Nick Flynn has published his works in The New Yorker, The Nation, Fence, The New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, and NPR’s This American Life. He is the author of A Note Slipped Under the Door with Shirley McPhillips. His awards include “Discovery”/The Nation Award, the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award, the Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship, and fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation and The Library of Congress. Related events include: Bearing Witness, Recent Works by Daniel Heyman List Gallery exhibition, March 4–April 9 Artist’s lecture: Thursday, March 4, 4:30 pm, Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema Symposium: Artists in Wartime: Bearing Witness/Shaping a Response Saturday, March 20, 9:30 am, Lang Performing Arts Center continued on page 8
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Back to Black Film Festival
Poetry Reading with Kevin Young
All films are screened at 7 pm in SC199. Sponsored by Black Studies and College Library February 9: Homecoming: Sometimes I’m Haunted by Red Dirt and Clay Allison Dorsey, associate professor of history, discussant February 16: Living the Hiplife March 16: Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai Mark Wallace, professor of religion, discussant April (date tbd): Standing at the Edge: We Dance: The Story of Philadanco Sharon Friedler, professor of dance, discussant May 4: Alma’s Rainbow Sydney Carpenter, professor of studio art, discussant
March 22, 7:30 pm, Scheuer Room Kevin Young, who stands high among the most celebrated and respected of younger African American writers, has authored five books of poems, including the book-length sequences To Repel Ghosts, based on the life and work of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Black Maria; and, more recently, the ironically titled For the Confederate Dead and Dear Darkness, books of elegies that often come at the bereavement indirectly, as in his poems extolling Southern food—crawfish, grits, okra, cat fish, fig preserves—written in the wake of his father’s passing. Poetry reading made possible by the William J. Cooper Foundation, the English Department and Swarthmore College Library.
2010 A. Edward Newton Award Exhibition McCabe Library exhibition, April - May Upholding the tradition of the longest-running collegiate book collecting competition in the nation, this year’s winners are invited to display their prized collections in McCabe Library. Started in the 1930s by a renowned Philadelphia book collector, A. Edward Newton, the competition awards cash prizes to the top three Swarthmore students who submit the best essays and annotated bibliographies of their book collections.
English Department and Library Sponsored Readings Fiction writer and alumnus Joe Gangemi - April 5, 7:30 pm, Scheuer Room Poet and alumna Keetje Kuipers - April 12, 7:30 pm, Scheuer Room
Finding Freedom: Swarthmore College’s Founders and the Anti-Slavery Movement Friday, April 9, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, McCabe Library A walking tour of the Swarthmore College campus, led by Christopher Densmore, curator of Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, who will tell stories of the Parrish, Magill, Bond, Clothier, and Lang families and their connections with abolitionism, African-American education, and the Underground Railroad.
McCabe Library Spring Book Sale Friday April 9, 12:00 – 5:00 pm: Open to Swarthmore College Faculty/Staff/Students and their families ONLY Saturday April 10, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Open to the PUBLIC Sunday April 11, 12:00 – 5:00 pm: Open to the PUBLIC Don’t miss this favorite tradition of family weekend. McCabe Library Book Sale offers bargains for every age, but specializes in the scholarly, artistic, and unusual. This year we offer lots of natural history, literature, foreign language, and curiosities. Not to be missed: the free table.
Rebecca Chopp Inauguration May 8: Exhibit and Symposium - “Leadership, Liberal Arts, and the Common Good” 8
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