Results of the "Global E-reader Program" project for the loan of reading devices in the Library of the International Institute
The Library of the International Institute, in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States in Madrid, has participated as a pilot center of the "Global E-reader Program" from June 15 to November 15.
To this end, it has made available to a small group of users (11 people in total) two electronic book reading devices with which it is possible to read 59 classics in English preloaded in digital format on the screen.
The loan of said electronic book readers has required the agreement and signature of each participant regarding the following:
The duration of the loan had to be a maximum of 15 non-renewable days following the reservation order for the assignment of times.
It was necessary to answer a user experience assessment questionnaire that will be sent to the Embassy as a result of the project.
The borrower was responsible for the kindle and agreed not to install or download anything other than the pre-installed collection.
The reader model is the Kindle (in its third edition) from the Amazon company. Along with the device, a quick use guide was included that could serve as an orientation but also from the library it was possible to advise on its operation.
With the acceptance of the participation conditions, a Kindle IIE Quiz which included an explanation of the presentation, the list of available titles and the questionnaire.
The results of the experience evaluation surveys have been prepared by combining them with the gender variable (male/female). RESULTS OF THE KINDLE IIE PROJECT
The general assessment of the project has been very positive by the users involved. As a library, the balance leads us to consider digital loans from legal content download platforms more appropriate than through the loan of preloaded portable reading devices themselves.
At the Library we were concerned that once the e-readers were borrowed they might not be returned or they might be damaged. To try to avoid this, it was decided to offer them to selected users who had been linked for a long time and who, due to their behavior up to now, had proven to be responsible users. We were able to confirm that this doubt about the risk involved in lending it to those who were less tied was reasonable.
The possibility of offering devices with pre-selected content has prevented the end user from having to search for, download or pay for it, but it also has the disadvantage that the content may not be sufficiently interesting or appropriate for those who use it.
Since they were all in books in English, it has been an incentive for users who were native speakers or were learning the language as a second language, but at the same time an obstacle if their reading level did not correspond to that of the contents (most required a advanced and were for adults).
We believe that the time given for the loan has been valued positively, considering that it was a matter of testing it, but in some cases the 15 days have not been given to read the complete work or it has conditioned the choice, preferring stories or reference texts instead of novels or biographies. longer.
Our thanks to the Embassy of the United States in Madrid for having our Library to participate in this initiative and to Maria Jesús Ramos Vilela, a student at the Carlos III University, for her collaboration in the project.
Nuria Segui and Ana Alonso
