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I’ve been thinking about this post for a couple of weeks. At first it was going to be a rant about the importance of accepting reading in different formats as reading. But, I’ve done that. Then it was going to be a post about how reading isn’t about format but about content. But, I’ve don’t that. Then it was going to be a post about lending clubs for digital devices. I just kept having different ideas about what a post related to technology and reading should focus on. Instead of selecting just one topic, I decided to write a post that covers a variety of topics related to the world of reading in the digital age. Here goes.

• A little less then two years ago I wrote on this blog about the fact that I was reading more than ever because I was reading books using the Kindle app on my iPhone. Since that post I have only read one book in traditional physical form – a manga title that wasn’t available as an ebook at the time I needed to read it. That means in almost two years I have pretty much solely read digitally. I actually enjoy telling people that because I like to see the reactions I get. I get everything from no reaction at all, which is great, to “How could that be? Don’t you miss the feel, the smell, the whatever of the physical book.” The answer is “No, I don’t miss anything about the feel, the smell, the whatever of the physical book.”

  Where am I going with this? Two years ago I was more unique, as a non-physical book reader, then I am today. But yet, I still talk to librarians who are amazed by the fact and possibility of reading solely on devices. The amazement is something that has to go away. More and more teens are reading this way – check out this article from last week’s New York Times – and this survey from O’Reilly (both also just posted in the Tweets of the Week) and librarians need to be there too. Even if you don’t have a device or stil like to read a physical book, it’s important to not judge the non-physical book reader for his or her preference. And, it’s important to try it out just to see how it works. (You can’t knock it before you’ve tried it, right?)

• Recently Overdrive, a popular vendor of digital content for libraries, made it possible to read their books on a variety of devices – including Droid devices and Apple devices. This is a great thing as it means that teens can access library materials on the devices that they carry around in their pockets. But, I’ve found that for many libraries, when it comes to this Overdrive expansion, the focus is primarily, if not solely, on the mechanics of using Overdrive – how do teens check out a book and get it on their device? There is nothing wrong with that. We do need to know the how.

  However, there is so much more to pay attention to related to what’s going on with ereading that if the focus becomes just the device and the circulation we are missing important opportunities. I equate this to teen librarians only focusing on the circ. system used for checking out physical books. But, with physical books there is a lot more than the circ. system that teen

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Title: Copia
Platform: Desktop, iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7 (iPad features differ from features available for other devices.)
Cost: Free (Books need to be purchased.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately talking with librarians and thinking about the world of digital reading beyond the need for libraries to make books available for checkout and download to digital devices. One of the reasons for this is that I’ve been looking at apps that provide users with opportunities to be social within the digital reading environment. Copia is one such app.

As with traditional ereader apps, Copia makes it possible to read books inside of the app. The app contains a searchable catalog of titles and users can put titles on a wish list as well as purchase them within the app. It’s also possible to search the catalog from the Copia website and add and purchase titles from the web for reading on a device or desktop.

What makes Copia different than other ereading apps is the ability to share notes with friends from right inside the app. For example, I could be reading Before I Fall on my iPad and have a thought about something that happens in the story. I write a note about what I’m thinking in the section where the thought comes to me. A friend of mine is reading the same book and gets to that section and sees my note. He can read the note, add his own note, and even reply to specifically what I wrote inside my digital copy of the book. I will then see the note that he added.

Think about teens writing notes to each other about what they are reading while they are reading – a new form of IM perhaps. Or, consider members of a book discussion group reading a book for their next face-to-face meeting. As they read they collect notes to bring to the discussion. But, they aren’t private notes they are notes available to everyone in the discussion group. Wouldn’t that be a good way to prepare for and expand the discussion of the book? A pre-discussion group discussion?

The user of Copia can decide who notes are shared with. I invite my friend Renee to join me on Copia and give her permission to see what I write inside my book. She can do the same with me. That way our in-book sharing is private and not open to the world at large.

Copia is one app that demonstrates the present and future of reading on digital devices; it’s definitely the type of reading experience we are going to be seeing more of. Teens and librarians will want to consider the features of apps like Copia and think about the use of social reading features in order to expand reading experiences and gain better understanding of the written word.