Yesterday’s post took a look at the library’s growing collection of electronic cookbooks. After browsing the collection, a curious librarian might wonder how using a print copy differs from using an ebook? With the help of a willing participant and a few pieces of technology, an experiment was conducted comparing use of the same title in both formats. The title selected was:
Ethan Stowell’s New Italian KitchenBold Cooking from Seattle’s Anchovies & Olives, How to Cook A Wolf, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, and Tavolàta (2010)
Currently, a patron cannot load an ebook to more than one device at a time so copies of the ebook were checked out to two people and loaded on two different devices.
The first notable difference was in acquiring the book. While securing the print copy took a few days, downloading copies from the library’s website took almost no time at all. As with many ebooks, the library owns fewer copies, but the holds list, if there is one, is generally short.
Once the books were in hand, the next test was finding a recipe. When at work, tables of content and indexes prevail. Away from work, a more personalized classification system based on likes/dislikes and general associations takes over. For instance, 
recalling the recipe for “Pappardelle with Tomato Sauce and Marinated Pecorino Sardo” is on page 102 is replaced by remembering a favorite recipe is on the backside of the page with the picture of the big bowl of green pasta. While many new ebooks have searching capabilities, many do not. Therefore, finding a recipe on an iPad or iPhone may mean literally perusing each page – not a bad price to pay for good pappardelle. This also provides a great opportunity to review recipes previously missed like “Essence of Artichoke Soup” on page 42.
One reason Stowell’s book was selected for this experiment was the wonderful pictures. While those that are more tactile/visual will probably miss the experience of turning the pages and the rich texture of the photographs, those that are less tactile or have vision issues, may appreciate the ability to easily enlarge the picture with the touch of two fingers.
The next step was gathering ingredients, which meant a trip to the grocery store. For the print copy, a shopping list was created. The ebook version, however, journeyed to the store via iPhone and proved to be a bit of a lifesaver when it was realized a key ingredient had not made its way to the shopping list. Additionally, some patrons have reported the ebook version was very handy in helping to identify an ingredient one was not familiar with.
Computers, flour, sauce, water and a novice cook in a small kitchen generally do not make a good combination, so using the iPhone and the iPad while cooking required extra care. Patrons planning on using ebooks in the kitchen might want to research the growing number of number of products specifically designed to protect devices from common mishaps. The print copy, on the other hand, took the poofs of flour, a few splatters of sauce, sprinkles of water, and being knocked on the floor (three times) pretty well and lived to see another kitchen adventure.
In conclusion, this rather curious librarian found both formats had positive attributes. Acquiring the ebook took less time, encouraged looking through the book (resulting in the discovery of new recipes) and saved the day while grocery shopping. Using the print version appealed to a more tactile individual, resulted in finding the recipe faster, and took a not so atypical beating. Best of all, both contributed to a lovely dinner for two.
~ Valerie, Central Library
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