Leggere in digitale. E-book e altri media elettronici nelle biblioteche siciliane

Amongst the preservation issues that deserve better consideration and development, we consider those associated with long-term fruition of the content of books. Such an opportunity is aided by the new technologies, thank to different ways in which the users can access and study the digital copies of historically valuable paper materials that constitute a good portion of the invaluable library and archive heritage preserved in memory institutions throughout Sicily. This issue raises the equally important and related matter of the ability of our libraries to guarantee, in the same manner, a significative offer of digitally-born materials - e.g. e-books, audiobooks, digital music tracks, video streaming, electronic newspapers, etc. - already largely in use. Such an approach, in fact, places the library again at the forefront of innovative services for the citizens, and better aligns our institutions with the principles of the Digital Agenda promoted by the European Union. To state the concept differently, we have to re-evaluate the mission of contemporaneity of public libraries with regard to the promotion of digital reading, alongside traditional reading. Reading digitally is an access-to-knowledge modality option that is comfortable and appealing for everybody, youngsters and teenagers included - users that are traditionally distant from our libraries - as it allows users to access library materials without temporal and spatial restrictions: wherever one is, access is granted 24/7 and with any kind of reading device (PC, laptop, tablet, e-book reader, smart phone, etc.). The game that libraries have to play to succeed in delivering innovative services such as digital lending and digital interlibrary loan to their users does not concern only broadband access to the Internet, but also the interlibrary cooperation to acquire digital materials with appropriate licenses. In Italy, digital platforms and services such as ‘Media Library On-Line’ (MLOL) and ‘Indaco’ are two tentative examples of development of library networks to welcome the appealing opportunities brought forth by the market of contemporary digital publishing services. We shall, therefore, introduce a small number of examples of digital lending and digital interlibrary loan services already developed and in use in a number of Sicilian libraries.