評(píng)論
打印
Business.
商業(yè)。
Libraries and e-books
圖書館和電子書
Literary labours lent
文學(xué)勞動(dòng)力已借出
The uncertain economics of lending virtual books
難以預(yù)料的實(shí)體書借閱經(jīng)濟(jì)
LIKE a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been reassuringly dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital wares if they are to remain relevant, but many publishers are too wary of piracy and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six, only Random House and HarperCollins license e-books with most libraries. The others have either denied requests or are reluctantly experimenting. In August, for example, Penguin will start a pilot with public libraries in New York.
就像是一個(gè)令人疲憊的婚姻，圖書館和出版商之間長(zhǎng)期存在著無(wú)聊的關(guān)系。然而，電子書的出現(xiàn)引起了它們的心痛。圖書館知道，如果它們想保持自己存在的價(jià)值，就需要數(shù)字化的設(shè)備，但對(duì)于許多出版商而言，由于在盜版和失去銷量問題上太過謹(jǐn)慎的態(tài)度，而不予合作。在最大的六家出版商中，只有蘭登書屋和哈珀?柯林斯出版社授予了絕大多數(shù)圖書館電子書的許可。其它出版社或是拒絕了這項(xiàng)要求，或是在勉強(qiáng)進(jìn)行試用。例如，在八月份，企鵝出版社將在紐約的公共圖書館開始試驗(yàn)。
Publishers are wise to be nervous. Owners of e-readers are exactly the customers they need: book-lovers with money (neither the devices nor broadband connections come cheap). If these wonderful people switch to borrowing e-books instead of buying them, what then?
出版商感到緊張是明智的。電子閱讀器的所有者們恰恰是他們需要的顧客：有錢（而既不是設(shè)備或是便宜的寬帶連接）的愛書人。如果這些了不起的人們由借閱電子書而變?yōu)橘?gòu)買電子書，將會(huì)怎樣呢？
Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles from where you live, book files can be downloaded at home. Digital library catalogues are often browsed at night, from a comfy sofa. The files disappear from the device when they are due (which means no late fees, nor angst about lost or damaged tomes).
電子借閱非常方便。與印刷版書籍不同，電子書籍文件在家就可以下載，而不需要去離家?guī)子⒗锿獾膶?shí)體圖書館借閱和還書。人們常在晚上在舒適的沙發(fā)里瀏覽數(shù)字圖書館目錄。當(dāng)文件到期時(shí)，它們將自動(dòng)從設(shè)備上消失（這意味著沒有滯納金，也無(wú)需擔(dān)心丟失或損壞煌煌巨著）。
Awkwardly for publishers, buying an e-book costs more than renting one but offers little extra value. You cannot resell it, lend it to a friend or burn it to stay warm. Owning a book is useful if you want to savour it repeatedly, but who reads "Fifty Shades of Grey" twice?
這對(duì)出版商而言卻很尷尬。購(gòu)買一本電子書比租用一本的花費(fèi)更多，然而帶來(lái)的收益增加卻相當(dāng)微小。你不能把電子書二次售出或是借給朋友，甚至不能將它燒了以取暖。如果你想重復(fù)品味一本書，那么擁有一本書是非常好的，但誰(shuí)愿意讀第二遍《格雷的50道陰影》？
E-lending is not simple, however. There are lots of different and often incompatible e-book formats, devices and licences. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, a global distributor that secures rights from publishers and provides e-books and audio files in every format. Some 35m titles were checked out through OverDrive in 2011, and the company now sends useful data on borrowing behaviour to participating publishers. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by OverDrive's market dominance, as the company can increasingly dictate fees and conditions.
然而電子借閱并不簡(jiǎn)單。電子書的格式、設(shè)備和許可證之間有極大不同，并常常不能互相兼容。大多數(shù)圖書館所采用的是OverDrive公司提供的電子書，這家全球性經(jīng)銷商確保了來(lái)自出版商的版權(quán)，并提供所有格式的電子書和音頻文件。2011年，高達(dá)三億五千萬(wàn)的條目通過OverDrive公司借出，這家公司現(xiàn)在正通過輸出借閱行為相關(guān)的有用數(shù)據(jù)參與到出版商中來(lái)。OverDrive的市場(chǎng)占有率讓出版商和圖書館擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)檫@家公司可以提高授權(quán)費(fèi)用和條件。
Publishers were miffed when OverDrive teamed up with Amazon, the world's biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon's Kindle e-reader who want to borrow e-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon's website, where they must use their Amazon account to secure a loan. Amazon then follows up with library patrons directly, letting them know they can "Buy this book" when the loan falls due.
去年，當(dāng)OverDrive公司與世界上最大的在線圖書銷售商——亞馬遜合作之后，出版商們有點(diǎn)惱火。亞馬遜Kindle閱讀器的所有者們現(xiàn)在如果想從圖書館借閱電子書，就將被帶入到亞馬遜的網(wǎng)站上，在那里，他們必須使用他們的亞馬遜賬戶來(lái)為他們的借閱提供擔(dān)保。亞馬遜還進(jìn)一步與圖書館的老主顧們直接交涉，告訴他們?nèi)羰墙栝嗊^期，則他們可以直接"購(gòu)買這本書"。
This arrangement nudged Penguin to end its deal with OverDrive earlier this year. The publisher's new pilot involves 3M, a rival distributor that does not yet support the Kindle. "Ultimately Amazon wants to control the library business," says Mike Shatzkin, a publishing consultant.
這一約定迫使企鵝出版社在今年早些時(shí)候終止了它和OverDrive的合約。這家出版商的新合作者包括3M公司，OverDrive的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手之一，一家尚未支持Kindle的經(jīng)銷商。"亞馬遜最終想控制圖書館事務(wù)。"出版業(yè)咨詢師麥克?肖特金說。
Library users-nearly 60% of Americans aged 16 and older, according to Pew, an opinion researcher-are a perfect market for Amazon. It woos them by making loans on the Kindle uniquely easy. Late last year Amazon also unveiled its Kindle Owners' Lending Library, which lets its best customers (called "Amazon Prime" members) borrow free one of thousands of popular books each month.
根據(jù)民意調(diào)查研究機(jī)構(gòu)皮尤的數(shù)據(jù)，16歲以上并占美國(guó)人口數(shù)近60%的圖書館使用者，是亞馬遜最好的市場(chǎng)。它通過在Kindle上極其便利的借閱程序，從而取悅了他們。去年晚些時(shí)候，亞馬遜還推出了Kindle所有者的借閱圖書館，這個(gè)圖書館允許亞馬遜最好的客戶（被稱為"亞馬遜會(huì)員"的成員）每月在上千本暢銷書中免費(fèi)借閱一本。
Library boosters argue that book borrowers are also book buyers, and that libraries are vital spaces for readers to discover new work. Many were cheered by a recent Pew survey, which found that more than half of Americans with library cards say they prefer to buy their e-books. But the report also noted that few people know that e-books are available at most libraries, and that popular titles often involve long waiting lists, which may be what inspires people to buy.
圖書館的支持者認(rèn)為，借閱圖書者也就是購(gòu)買圖書者，而圖書館則是這些讀者發(fā)現(xiàn)新作品的重要根據(jù)地。許多人為皮尤研究機(jī)構(gòu)最近的調(diào)查而感到歡欣鼓舞，這項(xiàng)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，超過一半擁有圖書館卡的美國(guó)人說，他們更喜歡購(gòu)買他們的電子書。但是這項(xiàng)報(bào)告也指出，幾乎沒有人知道電子書在大多數(shù)圖書館都是可借閱的，而那些暢銷書籍常常有著很長(zhǎng)的等候借閱名單，這也許將促進(jìn)人們的購(gòu)買行為。
So publishers keep tweaking their lending arrangements in search of the right balance. Random House raised its licensing prices earlier this year, and HarperCollins limits libraries to lending its titles 26 times. Penguin plans to keep new releases out of libraries for at least six months, and each book will expire after a year. Hachette is engaged in some secret experiments, and the others are watching with bated breath. In Britain the government will soon announce a review of the matter. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.
因此出版商在不斷微調(diào)他們的借閱合約以找到最恰當(dāng)?shù)钠胶恻c(diǎn)。蘭登書屋在今年早些時(shí)候提高了授權(quán)價(jià)格，哈珀?柯林斯出版社限制圖書館借閱條目的次數(shù)為26次。在企鵝出版社的計(jì)劃中，新書從出版后到進(jìn)入圖書館，至少要等六個(gè)月的時(shí)間，且一年后就到期。阿歇特出版社正在進(jìn)行一些秘密實(shí)驗(yàn)，而其它出版社則在屏息觀望。在英國(guó)，政府不久將宣布一份這一事項(xiàng)的報(bào)告。電子圖書館的故事實(shí)在是一個(gè)令人高度緊張的故事。
