Today I finished digitising the set of 111 paperbacks. It’s been a slow seven week haul but I speeded up as I got more practice and was eventually doing about eight books a day. I started out with the paperbacks as a trial for the main hardback sets; but having done them I realise that they do mean a lot to me, and that they represent a valid investigation in their own right. This is what I think I’ve learned so far:
1. Looking at each of the paperbacks reminded me of how interesting some of them were and has renewed my interest in them.
2. Having the books on my iPad gives me immediate and easy access to them, and makes it perfectly feasible to just dip in and out of them at will – something I have already been doing.
3. It’s good to have the book covers visible on the iPad – on the bookshelves only the spines were visible.
4. I’m luxuriating in the knowledge that I’ll be able to have access to these books always wherever I am – whether it’s in a new house, on holiday, in the house of my children, or in a care home or hospital.
5. Having freed up one whole bookshelf I realise that it opens up the possibility of putting other things on it- both things I don’t have enough room for elsewhere or things which have been stored and which I’d like to make visible.
6. On the down side, I’ve had to destroy the books to digitise them, so I won’t be able to handle the physical items any more. For the most part that’s not a problem, but for one or two, (such as the copy of the Travels of Marco Polo which I covered with takiback some 50 years ago) it’s a shame.