A new digital textbook system has made its way to LBCC’s library this July, which allows students to check out textbooks in an online format at no cost.
This process, known as controlled digital lending, transfers hard copy textbooks into a mobile format so students can utilize specific course books for a limited time.
Controlled digital lending is already being used by colleges across the nation and the goal is to be able to make textbook fees disappear.
Vice President of academic affairs, Lee Douglas, has maneuvered the $50,000 budget provided for print textbooks in order to purchase the DRM software for this system. This software enables the school to copy published works.
Librarian, Jeff Sabol, has taken one of the lead roles in implementing this program and is excited to see it grow. He states, “I believe the future is digital for lending out textbooks.”
The school began officially setting up this program in August, but was lacking in the staff needed to digitize all course books by the start of fall semester. Throughout the upcoming semesters, the library staff will continue scanning textbooks through a high speed book scanner.
Currently there is a limited number of textbooks uploaded to the libraries online resources on the schools website under the ‘electronic textbooks’ tab. Only English and Culinary sections are available on this page. There are six books displayed under English, but there aren’t any e-textbooks available for culinary classes yet.
While the library completes this digital catalog students are welcome to scan required textbooks themselves, and can be given a flash drive if needed in order to access their copy from any computer.
Student Diana Palma used the book scanner for the first time on Thursday. Although this process is available to all LBCC students, there has been little to no advertising.
Palma says, “My professor introduced it to me as another resource if you don’t have the book, or while you wait for the book. So I took it upon myself to come to the library… Reaching out and asking for help is the only way you can find out about these things.”
However, legality questions do come into play in this process, as they do for every process in the professional world.
Currently there is nothing legally stopping the school library from digitizing an already published book as they have purchased the DRM software. Unfortunately, there have been concerns from publishers who might not want their book in an e-textbook form.
For now, these concerns remain concerns and legally nothing stands in the way of creating costless textbooks for students.
Transferring these paper books to a digital format does require tedious work as each page must be flipped through and scanned one by one.
Sabol describes the process as being as easy as, “You flip the page, hit the button, flip the page, hit the button, flip the page, hit the button.”
This process has enabled certain schools to have their entire library digitized.
Providing an online system for students to study whenever and wherever they want, truly is the future of education.
This new system is a blessing for Palma as she states, “For me personally, I am a full time student right now and I’m not really working, so I think this is perfect if you’re like economically struggling.”
Sabol advocates strongly for this system as it provides around the clock access to library texts. He says, “There are students who maybe get off work at 8oclock when the library is closed. They can use these digital versions 24 hours a day 7 days a week.”
There are hopes for having between 30 to 50 e-textbooks by next spring.
The library will begin adding more textbooks to the catalog with high-enrollment classes in mind, but any professor can get their textbooks digitized sooner by submitting a request.
Professors are being encouraged to add links to these books on their canvas page and promote this online lending, so that the process can keep moving forward.
For further understanding “Internet Archive” has composed a video to help others grasp this forward thinking movement.