Silvia Gstrein from University of Innsbruck spoke engagingly on Thursday at Internet Librarian International about the E-books on Demand (EOD) Network. Established in 2007, the network now involves over 20 libraries in 10 European countries (not the UK though – why not, I wonder). I loved hearing about this project – it seems to be meeting a real niche need.

Silvia explained very clearly how the network works. A user finds a book of interest on the online catalogue of one of the 20 participating libraries, and clicks to request to digitise the book.

If the number of pages is present in the metadata, then a price can be given immediately (member libraries set their own pricing).

The library then receives the order, and scans the book. The digitised copy is then sent to the central server at University of Innsbruck.

An email is sent to the user, and payment can now take place. Card processing is also managed centrally at University of Innsbruck.

The user can either download the PDF or have it sent on CD.

User can follow progress of the order throughout the process.

The service has attracted favourable feedback from users, who would nonetheless also be interested in 20^th century, something that is not possible under current copyright legislation.

Silvia made the important point that many 15^th – 17^th century books would otherwise only be accessible via visits to physical libraries. The electronic library has largely freed up academics from spending inordinate amounts of time travelling around from one library to another amassing physical research materials, but not surprisingly, antiquarian books are lagging behind. And cultural artefacts are, of course, for sharing. I’ve got an early 17^th century prayer book stored in an acid-free box in the wardrobe of my spare room where no-one else can see it, which is not ideal. One of the most amazing things about it is the graffiti written by what I imagine are rebellious choir boys down the ages. It would certainly be great to share the pleasure I get from looking at it. Maybe this is a candidate for some kind of citizen-cataloguing project, along the lines of Peter Murray Rust’s ideas.

Operationally, the service doesn’t pose any problems for the participating library, with the three top libraries receiving one request per working day on average. For some libraries who have never digitised their materials, it’s an opportunity to embark on digitisation, and they appreciate the guidelines and ready-made workflow provided by the EOD network.

So far about 3200 books have been digitised to 1900 customers, and the average price of an order is €50. €50 for 400 year old graffiti? A bargain, I’d say.