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Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 11:01 am
by msfry
Here's a book published 1825, not available on Gutenberg or IA, but available for download as a Kindlebook for $1.99 from Amazon.
What's the problem with reading from this text?
https://www.amazon.com/Instructions-Young-Sportsmen-Relates-Shooting/dp/B000J32TFM
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 11:07 am
by TriciaG
That exact edition is here:
https://archive.org/details/instructionstoyo00hawkuoft
Kindle placed a shadow image over some handwriting on the title page, but otherwise it's the same edition.
The Kindle preview said "This book made available by the Internet Archive". I'm not sure why you couldn't find it there.
But in general, if there were a book available on Kindle but not elsewhere, we'd need a copy/photo of the title page with the copyright/printing date, just like if it were a hard copy being recorded. A regularly rendered text would not work, but this one was a scan of the original pages, so it would have been OK.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 11:21 am
by mightyfelix
I wouldn't ever want to use a for-cost text for a group reading. It sets a bad precedent. Sure, 2 dollars isn't much, but it goes counter to our free and open culture, I think, to open a project, but tell people they can only participate if they want to spend real money.
I think that if a soloist wanted to use it, that would be their prerogative. But I think it would only be fair that they understand that their DPL has no obligation to check against the text, and I don't think we would link to the online text in our catalogue. It would be just as if they had read from a hard copy in their own possession.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 11:32 am
by msfry
TriciaG wrote: ↑December 13th, 2020, 11:07 am
That exact edition is here:
https://archive.org/details/instructionstoyo00hawkuoft
Kindle placed a shadow image over some handwriting on the title page, but otherwise it's the same edition.
The Kindle preview said "This book made available by the Internet Archive". I'm not sure why you couldn't find it there.
But in general, if there were a book available on Kindle but not elsewhere, we'd need a copy/photo of the title page with the copyright/printing date, just like if it were a hard copy being recorded. A regularly rendered text would not work, but this one was a scan of the original pages, so it would have been OK.
Good sleuthing! Thanks. I didn't think to "look inside" before I asked my question, and my internet search did not bring up the book on either IA or Gutenberg. I relied on that, rather than actually searching those platforms. In any case, it wouldn't have changed my question.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 11:35 am
by TriciaG
For the record, I agree with Devorah regarding using a pay-to-view text for a group project.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 11:55 am
by msfry
mightyfelix wrote: ↑December 13th, 2020, 11:21 am
I wouldn't ever want to use a for-cost text for a group reading. It sets a bad precedent. Sure, 2 dollars isn't much, but it goes counter to our free and open culture, I think, to open a project, but tell people they can only participate if they want to spend real money.
I think that if a soloist wanted to use it, that would be their prerogative. But I think it would only be fair that they understand that their DPL has no obligation to check against the text, and I don't think we would link to the online text in our catalogue. It would be just as if they had read from a hard copy in their own possession.
Thanks. This is interesting information to know, and certainly expands the reading possibilities for a soloist for whom a Kindle book purchase would not cost much. The DPL could sign up only if they don't mind spending $1.99, not an outrageous scenario if they buy Kindle books already and this one interests them. As a group project, I do see the difficulty.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 12:24 pm
by mightyfelix
Thanks for understanding, Michele. I would like to restate one part of my initial reply that I think you may have missed or misunderstood, though.
mightyfelix wrote: ↑December 13th, 2020, 11:21 am
I think that if a soloist wanted to use it, that would be their prerogative.
But I think it would only be fair that they understand that their DPL has no obligation to check against the text, and I don't think we would link to the online text in our catalogue. It would be just as if they had read from a hard copy in their own possession.
Just as it's counter to our culture to expect readers for a group project to pay for a text, the same thing goes for potential DPLs. A text like this, just like a hard-copy text, would be standard PL, meaning the DPL would not be required to use or access the text. A soloist should not reject an interested DPL just because that person isn't willing to buy an ebook from Amazon or anywhere else.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 1:03 pm
by msfry
mightyfelix wrote: ↑December 13th, 2020, 12:24 pm
A soloist should not reject an interested DPL just because that person isn't willing to buy an ebook from Amazon or anywhere else.
I totally understand that, of course. Likewise it is not hard to imagine that someone might be perfectly willing. If I DPL anything, for instance, I always follow the text, not just to check for accuracy in the recording, but because I enjoy the audio so much better with accompanying text, and vice versa. For me, it's a vastly enhanced experience, and might be true for some other people too.
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 2:37 pm
by annise
We do not allow any links to commercial sites no matter how cheap or how worthy the project .
Anne
Re: Reading from Kindle books
Posted: December 13th, 2020, 3:12 pm
by msfry
annise wrote: ↑December 13th, 2020, 2:37 pm
We do not allow any links to commercial sites no matter how cheap or how worthy the project .
Anne
Understood.