難以預料的實體書借閱經濟

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.
就像是一個令人疲憊的婚姻，圖書館和出版商之間長期存在着無聊的關係。然而，電子書的出現引起了它們的心痛。圖書館知道，如果它們想保持自己存在的價值，就需要數字化的設備，但對於許多出版商而言，由於在盜版和失去銷量問題上太過謹慎的態度，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圖書館電子書的許可。其它出版社或是拒絕了這項要求，或是在勉強進行試用。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。

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爲購買電子書，將會怎樣呢？

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，而不需要去離家幾英里外的實體圖書館借閱和還書。人們常在晚上在舒適的沙發裏瀏覽數字圖書館目錄。當文件到期時，它們將自動從設備上消失（這意味着沒有滯納金，也無需擔心丟失或損壞煌煌鉅著）。

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?
這對出版商而言卻很尷尬。購買一本電子書比租用一本的花費更多，然而帶來的收益增加卻相當微小。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。如果你想重複品味一本書，那麼擁有一本書是非常好的，但誰願意讀第二遍《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.
然而電子借閱並不簡單。電子書的格式、設備和許可證之間有極大不同，並常常不能互相兼容。大多數圖書館所採用的是OverDrive公司提供的電子書，這家全球性經銷商確保了來自出版商的版權，並提供所有格式的電子書和音頻文件。2011年，高達三億五千萬的條目通過OverDrive公司借出，這家公司現在正通過輸出借閱行爲相關的有用數據參與到出版商中來。OverDrive的市場佔有率讓出版商和圖書館擔憂，因爲這家公司可以提高授權費用和條件。

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OverDrive公司與世界上最大的在線圖書銷售商——亞馬遜合作之後，出版商們有點惱火。亞馬遜Kindle閱讀器的所有者們現在如果想從圖書館借閱電子書，就將被帶入到亞馬遜的網站上，在那裏，他們必須使用他們的亞馬遜賬戶來爲他們的借閱提供擔保。亞馬遜還進一步與圖書館的老主顧們直接交涉，告訴他們若是借閱過期，則他們可以直接"購買這本書"。

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的競爭對手之一，一家尚未支持Kindle的經銷商。"亞馬遜最終想控制圖書館事務。"出版業諮詢師麥克?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.
根據民意調查研究機構皮尤的數據，16歲以上並佔美國人口數近60%的圖書館使用者，是亞馬遜最好的市場。它通過在Kindle上極其便利的借閱程序，從而取悅了他們。去年晚些時候，亞馬遜還推出了Kindle所有者的借閱圖書館，這個圖書館允許亞馬遜最好的客戶（被稱爲"亞馬遜會員"的成員）每月在上千本暢銷書中免費借閱一本。

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.
圖書館的支持者認爲，借閱圖書者也就是購買圖書者，而圖書館則是這些讀者發現新作品的重要根據地。許多人爲皮尤研究機構最近的調查而感到歡欣鼓舞，這項調查發現，超過一半擁有圖書館卡的美國人說，他們更喜歡購買他們的電子書。但是這項報告也指出，幾乎沒有人知道電子書在大多數圖書館都是可借閱的，而那些暢銷書籍常常有着很長的等候借閱名單，這也許將促進人們的購買行爲。

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他們的借閱合約以找到最恰當的平衡點。蘭登書屋在今年早些時候提高了授權價格，哈珀?柯林斯出版社限制圖書館借閱條目的次數爲26次。在企鵝出版社的計劃中，新書從出版後到進入圖書館，至少要等六個月的時間，且一年後就到期。阿歇特出版社正在進行一些祕密實驗，而其它出版社則在屏息觀望。在英國，政府不久將宣佈一份這一事項的報告。電子圖書館的故事實在是一個令人高度緊張的故事。