The Rare e-Vent: Concepts of Rarity and Scarcity in e-Books

Sarah M.Ward is a second-year Master of Information candidate in the Book History and Print Culture collaborative program. Her research interests revolve around ways in which value has been and continues to be physically ascribed to books, such as in the design of library furniture. Sarah currently interns as a cataloguer and researcher in a corporate library, but hopes to work as a rare books librarian after graduation. This paper questions the concept of rarity in electronic publishing. It begins by outlining traditional criteria for a book to achieve the valued status of rarity and asks whether they can be applied to electronic books. After deconstructing common assumptions about this form of publishing, it suggests several ways in which an e-book can be considered rare. The essay concludes that the value of a rare book extends beyond supply-and-demand. Above all, the essay is an appeal for more research to be conducted in this area of study