SirsiDynix

I had a bit of interesting feedback on a blog post from last week. I said, "The days when people look to the things on the shelves to give them information are numbered." Someone responded, "They're called 'books', Jared." In other words, as I read it, it seems premature, even a little ridiculous, to predict the demise of books.

And I agree. Even as libraries offer databases, music, movies, and unique digital collections, In the minds of most people I know, a library still means books. 

My prediction is maybe better framed with a rhetorical question: What is a book? 

• If a patron downloads it and reads it on an iPad, because that's easier than trekking downtown to pull it off the library shelf, is it still a book?
• If the download has video clips and sound recordings mingled with the text, is it still a book?
• If the user interacts with it by jumping into maps, exploring references, searching for keywords, or even influencing the plot, is it still a book?
• If it is offered in electronic format only, is it still a book?
• If it bypasses publishers and is sold directly to consumers on the Internet, is it still a book?
• If some of the most interesting text has been contributed by other readers, is it still a book?  
• If a student downloads just a chapter from a larger work because that's all she was assigned to read, is that a book?
• If a professor buys the rights to 7 chapters from 6 different works, and distributes that with his syllabus, is that a book?
• If those of us in the library business decide to call it a work, an expression, or a manifestation, will people generally take any notice?

My prediction is that, as the scenarios above are already becoming realities, books with bindings and pages will occupy an ever shrinking share of what people are looking to for information. Hence, we're building tools at SirsiDynix to help libraries manage more than just the things on the shelves.