Lots of good advice on managing the workflows surrounding ebooks from people involved in doing just that. My main takeaway was how different ebook management is from that not only of physical books but of electronic journals. User behavior differs as do their expectations. Libraries face the challenge of integrating ebooks into the collection so they can be found and read.

The other takeaway was that some types of books will always be physical — and should be physical. Children’s books is the prime example. Kids need those tactile elements implicit in childrens’ books. And reading to your kids just isn’t the same if you’re looking at a screen instead of the printed page.

This also reminded me of my long-standing gripe about bibliographic control. Why do databases like ABI/INFORM provide me with 15 descriptor terms for a 3 page article while a 500 page book has only 3 subject headings? Wierd.