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by Ariana Stone: We are in the midst of a major shift at school libraries thanks to technology innovation. Here are a dozen of those tech tools responsible. 1. INSTANT MESSAGING 2. MOBILE DEVICES 3. WYSIWYG TUTORIAL-MAKERS FOR LIBRARIANS 4. MATERIAL CROWD-SOURCING FOR RURAL SCHOOLS 5. CUSTOM APPS 6. SCREENCASTS 7. CLOUD-BASED STORAGE 8. PORTABLE ENERGY METERS 9. ITUNESU 10. E-READERS AND E-BOOKS 11. AVAILABILITY ALERTS 12. BETTER RESOURCES FOR DISTANCE LEARNERS
Librarians and the book industry have different interests. But without getting future generations into the book-reading habit, both will perish, says Stuart Hamilton of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Library lending plays a big if unquantifiable role in nurturing a love of reading. Some even wonder if e-lending is in the libraries’ interests, since it encourages people to stay at home, rather than use them as a public space (one reason why they enjoy taxpayers’ backing). One critic privately calls e-lending the “Librarian Unemployment Act of 2013”. But Pew, a research firm, reckons 62% of American libraries are the only source of free internet access and computers in their communities. Many patrons also come in to ask for help with learning to use their e-readers. The libraries’ story has plenty more pages yet.
By Kathy Ishizuka: The acquisition and management of digital content is becoming increasingly critical. And given their background in collection development, librarians are uniquely suited to assume this task. But there are pitfalls, according to Michelle Luhtala, the department chair of the New Canaan (CT) High School Library.
Six concerns about trends in digital collection development: http://mluhtala.blogspot.com/2013/02/six-concerns-about-digital-collection.html
Mary Cosper Leboeuf: The Terrebonne Parish Library System is one of 16 finalists for the Institute for Museum and Library Service's National Medal, one of the nation's highest honors conferred on libraries for service to... The programmes that made the award possible: 1. Future Leaders of America's Gulf, or FLAG, is an innovative program for teens that the Library System helped implement. The nonprofit organization is a leadership and environmental group for teenagers who advocate and educate for the future of Louisiana's coast and address issues facing the state. 2. “Tools for Teachers,” a series of workshops developed by the Library System's reference staff to help teachers meet their grade-level expectations for their classrooms. The workshops present to teachers what the Library System has to offer to help in the classroom. 3. LEGO robotics 4. Touch-a-Truck 5. Book sale 6. Adult classes 7. VITA - free tax preparation services 8. Library App 9. Digital Magazines made available to patrons 10. e-readers 11. 24 hour access
This column is the first in a two-part series about libraries and their role in the marketing and readership of books. This first part addresses the present conflict.
Do libraries increase book sales or cannibalize them? This is the issue at the heart of the struggle between libraries represented by the American Library Association (whose president is Maureen Sullivan) and the Big Six publishers.
When it comes to digital rights, librarians can be awfully cranky—just look at the debate around HarperCollins ebooks. Librarian educator Terry Plum, Assistant Dean of Technology at the Simmons Graduate School of Library ...
"[...]there are more than a few ways to kill a library. For example: √ Stop believing in the libraries mission. Do we really believe in the freedom to read, learn and discover? √ Spend less time with the board. The ideal public library board would meet 4 times per year and agrees with everything the CEO recommended. √ Stop talking to your customers. What do they know any way? And on the same topic, stop consulting staff. It is a huge time waster. √ Don’t worry about the future and how you will get there. Sustainability is not an issue with which libraries need to be concerned. After all, we’ve have survived for hundreds of years. √ Stop telling the library story. Everyone has heard our story. √ Accept that the library building is old and you don’t need to keep renovating, painting, and updating it. It is what it is. √ Accept that just like instant coffee killed the coffee bean, the e-book will kill the printed book. √ Stop promoting the product; everyone knows about literacy and lifelong learning. √ Stop empowering staff, and stop training them. They should come to us fully trained. √ Stop all this talk about innovation. It just makes for more work. √ And, for heaven’s sake, stop changing the rules and our traditions. It’s annoying!"
BY SCOTT MCLEOD: "October apparently was ‘Library Month’ for me. I was the keynote speaker for the Minnesota MEMO conference and did a breakout session for the Iowa Library Association (ILA) conference. I also brought Dr. Mike Eisenberg to Iowa for three days to talk with school administrators about technology and information literacy. As a result, I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on books, reading, and the future of libraries and librarians…" "Random questions What constitutes a “book” these days? When books become electronic and thus become searchable, hyperlinkable, more accessible to readers with disabilities, and able to embed audio, video, and interactive maps and graphics, at what point do they stop becoming “books” and start becoming something else?"...
"Public Services Librarian Emily Couvillon took the time to share her opinions and observations of technology's role in engaging students, teachers, and administrators alike. And, of course, some books she thinks students should pick up and check out." ———
"Chris Galloway is a friend of mine who works as a library manager at University of Houston who also kindly shared his expert opinions on the topics at hand. He even queried some of his coworkers for a more in-depth look at what other Coogs think of M.D. Anderson's present and future! Perhaps I'm biased when I say this, but Chris also boasts pretty great taste in literature, so it's probably a good idea to listen to his recommendations." Questions that were answered: 1. "How popular are ebooks at Doherty? Do you provide readers for students? 2. What are some of your recommended reads for students? Any for freshmen and non-traditionals in particular? 3. Where do you see things at Doherty headed within the next few years? 4. What upcoming releases are you and the other librarians excited about? Will they be recommended to the acquisitions department? 5. What are some of your favorite holdings in the University's special collections?"
There's a text version and 2 videos totaling 24 minutes below. There’s a phrase that I use every now and then; “It’s like dancing on quick sand” and never was it more appropriate than right now in respect of the eBook arena. "Let’s look at the latest news. A new low cost eBook reader has been unveiled by txtr, a German eBook retail platform... Oyster, which is a new startup has raised $3 million in order to become the ‘Spotify of books’.... HarperCollins is launching a new global publishing system which will provide them with an infrastructure that allows them to maximise it’s catalogue of books, eBooks and apps... The final news item that’s caught my eye, and I assume has also caught yours is that Amazon is going to launch their lending service in the UK by the end of the month..." [...] "We are at an absolutely pivotal point within both our profession, and within the library service in the UK. I recently talked to an ex-librarian who has since left the profession, and she said ‘I’m glad I got out, we’re finished’. That is so patently not the case it’s painful. This is a superb time to be a professional, or to have a love of libraries, of reading, books and knowledge. This is because we are going to be able to shape the development of all of those things into the future. What we do now is going to set a pattern for the next 50 or 100 years. We just need to believe in the power that the information professionals have, and the key role that libraries play in society. But – and this is a big but, we can only do it if we all work together, because it’s only by holding out our hands to one another in trust that we can help drag ourselves out of the quicksand, rather than push each other under faster."
Marc Bodnick: "Will public libraries become extinct? This question was originally answered on Quora by Erica Friedman and Marc Bodnick." [...] "the obvious: Libraries provide many services, yes, but the most important service is lending books. Tablets & eReaders are a much better way to get a book than borrowing it or buying it at a bookstore. You can get the book right away, the split second you want it! More, and more, and more people are going to buy tablet devices & eReaders over the next ten years. Power readers are disproportionately more likely to buy tablets & eReaders. Anyone who really loves reading, buying, and borrowing books is likely going to buy an eReader. Once you really start enjoy reading on a Kindle or iPad, your interest in visiting a bookstore or library goes down precipitously. Buying a book cheaply on your Kindle or iPad is so much better than (1) go to a library, (2) cross-fingers hope they have the book in stock, (3) borrow the book, (4) read it, (5) remember to return it, and (6) drive back to the library to return it. That’s a lot of work."
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Penguin Group USA revealed today that, as of April 2, it will remove the six-month embargo on ebook titles licensed to libraries and instead offer new titles immediately after they are released in the consumer market.
Mark Coker: Libraries are uniquely qualified to orchestrate community resources and talent to help local writers become professional self-publishers. By holding seminars and classes, and by bringing local authors together face to face with readers and aspiring authors, libraries can help unleash the talent locked inside the minds and fingertips of their local community's writers. They can also help ensure a steady future supply of library-friendly authors who will want to supply their ebooks to libraries.
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/17571498#
Bookmobile due in San Luis to expose readers to digital reading
Yuma Sun
The OverDrive Digital Bookmobile, a 74-foot-long semi tractor-trailer, allows patrons to climb aboard and check out exhibits of electronic readers, e-books and books on audio.
Tom Gauld has created a new fantastic cartoon. This time we can see how he imagines the library of the future.
In the case of e-book lending, the model that prevails in Sweden was drafted over a decade ago by representatives from the library sector and the Association of Swedish Publishers. Whilst the dominant model internationally is based on the idea of licensing ‘copies’ of e-books, in Sweden the library treats e-books as a ‘service’ with titles available concurrently to any number of patrons, for free. In Sweden you never have to wait for an e-book to become ‘available’ which of course means you can borrow as many as you want, simultaneously.
Via Miguel Mimoso Correia
By Bob Al-Greene
"Print -- literature, journalism, you name it -- has experienced an extended obituary over the last decade, alongside the rise of digital media.
But a recent Pew study found that even as sales of e-readers like Nook and Kindle grow swiftly, young people still frequent libraries more than you might think, and print books remain popular. Even the most plugged-in lit fans are not ready to abandon print as a dead medium. In fact, e-book readers consume more books annually, no matter the format."
"I'm happy to announce the publication of my e-book, The Battle for the Books: Inside Google's Gambit to Build the World's Biggest Library. This is a 50 page tale of gossip and rivalries between lawyers and librarians, and shows a cultural collision between Silicon Valley and the east coast over control of books and knowledge." Available here: http://pro.gigaom.com/books/the-battle-for-the-books/
American Libraries Magazine, the magazine of the American Library Association, delivers news and information about the library community. Submitted by George Eberhart:
"A majority of the 57 state and regional chapters of the American Library Association have signed a joint statement in opposition to the practices of publishers and distributors that have established unfair pricing in the sale of ebooks to libraries.
ALA President Maureen Sullivan commented, “This joint statement underscores how critical this issue is for the public. Librarians across the country daily face questions from their readers about why access to ebooks is restricted. ALA fully supports this grassroots effort.” So far, 33 ALA chapters (see list below) have signed on to the statement, and Indiana Library Federation Executive Director Susan Akers expects that a few more will join in the next few weeks." List here: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/inside-scoop/ala-chapters-issue-joint-statement-e-content-pricing
Even if you have an e-reader, a new survey shows you probably still visit the library. "According to a study by the Pew Research Center published Tuesday, 16-29 year olds are reading more often, largely because of the mass amounts of e-content that is available to them on mobile devices. They’re not just reading short blips of content, either — people under 30 are reading more long-form content on their smartphones and tablets, but also continuing to visit their local libraries. Eight in 10 Americans ages 16-29 read a book this past year, and more than six out of 10 used their local public library. Of the people who read this past year, 75 percent read a print book while 19% read an ebook, and 11% listened to an audiobook. Forty six percent used the library for research, 38 percent borrowed books (print books, audiobooks, or ebooks), and 23 percent borrowed newspapers, magazines, or journals." Study: http://mashable.com/2012/10/23/embargo-oct-23-1201-a-m-et/
"Last week, Amazon announced that it was extending its controversial e-book lending scheme, the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, to the UK. In its current state, Kindle Lending Library is a value-added service to Amazon Prime, the premium delivery service for which the e-commerce giant charges £49 a year here in the UK. It allows users to ‘borrow’ one of a selection of 200,000 Kindle e-books at a time for free each month (or for the equivalent sum of £4.08 per e-book if you don’t make use of Amazon’s delivery service that month)."
"Technology is helping students learn better and is demicratizing the way the access the knowledge. Teachers are no longer the sage on the stage , their role is only coaching and coordination. Another amazing aspect of this technology is the wide possibilities it open for us in education. Now using iPad for instance , teachers can create ebooks for their students or even help them create ebooks for themselves. I have actually compiled a list of such apps below. I hope you can try them with your students and take your teaching a step further. 1. Book Creator for iPad 2. eBook Magic 3. Demibooks® Composer 4. Story Patch 5. Creative Book Builder"
Via Susan Bainbridge, Jenny Smith, Pippa Davies @PippaDavies
> From the perspectives of authors: Joe Konrath: "The problem is organization. We need someone to act as a liaison between publishers and libraries to run something like this on a big scale. And I believe that person should be paid. How big a job this will be, and how much of a cut they deserve, can be discussed in the comments section. But indie authors need to come together to offer libraries their books, and dealing with 9000 different library systems would be a full time job.
As for my personal view on how publishers deal with libraries, I think Librarian X heaped an appropriate amount of scorn upon them. Greed is hurting libraries, and authors. The Big 6 seem to think they still have control over the industry, and readers, including librarians, will pay whatever high price they charge.
The Big 6 are wrong. More and more libraries are going to stop buying your expensive, expiring ebooks. And that will accelerate the end of the bestseller I predicted years ago.
Libraries want ebooks. As authors, we may soon be in a position to give them our books at fair prices."
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