Lookybook

Last semester, one of my classmates shared a link to Lookybook, a site that puts picture books online. You can preview some relatively new titles, or view old favorites. The site also allows you to embed your selected title in a blog, website, etc. like I've done here:


(click on the "eyes" to go to a larger version of the book at Lookybook.)

The site also allows comments by registered users, and registered users may create virtual bookshelves as well. It's still in beta version right now, and I'm not sure how they plan to expand. (Although by mid-08, they want to have 1000 titles online.) However, they seem to want to use their site to promote books you might not otherwise come across. On their About page, Lookybook says, "Libraries and bookstores have limited space, so the only book covers you see are generally best sellers. But what about all of those other books—new books, obscure books, undiscovered gems that are stuck sideways on the shelf, or worse, in a warehouse somewhere. Since we have infinite shelf space, every book on Lookybook is displayed cover out and searchable by a number of different criteria." You can browse books in a number of different ways from the "tumble" feature that puts out a random selection, by author, illustrator, most viewed, and more.

Lookybook seems to be interested in marketing books and encourages authors, illustrators, and publishers to put their books online so that they can be seen by many more people (especially if the books are embedded in other websites). I think this is really interesting, given the fact that some copyright holders are afraid to place content online. (The controversy surrounding Google books is an excellent example.) The difference between Lookybook and other sites (like Amazon's preview system or Google books) is the fact that the books are actually quite small. While you can preview the entire book, you certainly wouldn't use such a small image to replace the actual book. I'd be curious to know whether any of the books on Lookybook have sold more copies because of their appearance on the site.

I also think this could be a great tool for libraries' websites. Adding previews of titles might encourage people to check out additional books. Or, create a virtual book list on your website using Lookybook titles. Right now, Lookybook doesn't have any ads, and they allow the placement of books for free for the first year. After that, they "may" charge the publisher/rights holder "an agreed upon fee" to keep the book on the site.

I am not sure how some librarians would feel about putting this content on a website. Is it promoting reading or is it promoting a certain author/publisher? Is it ok if we are promoting a publisher? How is it different to publish a list of recommended titles vs. publishing a list of recommended titles along with their previews on Lookybook? In answer to my last question, the main problem I see is the limited content - would you limit your recommendations only to titles on Lookybook? Then that's probably not in the spirit of what libraries usually do. On the other hand, you could do some previews and some "traditional" listings - but would people skip over the regular lists and just click on what almost appear to be featured titles? A tough call, but still worth investigating.