Portable eReading: 
Prospects and Possibilities - Tom Peters

The portable reading of eBooks and digital audiobooks may be transforming the way many people read.  Visual and auditory portable eReading is possible on a wide array of small, lightweight devices.  Granted, printed books are portable, too, but the ability to purchase, download, and begin reading any of over 1 million eBooks in less than a minute from just about anywhere creates a new calculus for reading.  Are libraries being written out of the equation?  Tom Peters will explicate recent trends and developments in portable eReading, then explore possible deeper meanings.  Reading already encompasses a wide range of human behaviors, from deep immersive reading to rapid skimmy dipping.  The growth and diffusion of portable eReading may expand the horizons for reading in general and create new types of reading, new genres, and new reader expectations.  The balance of power between authors, readers, and all the intermediaries (including publishers, booksellers, and librarians) may shift, too. 

Tom Peters is the CEO of TAP Information Services (www.tapinformation.com), a small company he founded in 2003 to help libraries and other organizations innovate. Tom has worked previously at the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC, the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago), Western Illinois University in Macomb, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Minnesota State University at Mankato, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Tom did his undergraduate work at Grinnell College, where he majored in English and philosophy. He earned his library science degree at the University of Iowa. His second master’s degree (in English) was completed at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. His library experience includes reference service, library instruction, collection management, and administration. His current interests include downloadable digital audio book services, mobile libraries, eBooks, library services in virtual worlds, and online events using web conferencing software. Maxito Ricardo is his avatar in Second Life.