Library Computers Used by a Third of Americans

Here are some interesting stats from a study paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  The study shows that a third of Americans – about 77 million people – use public library computers to look for jobs, connect with friends, do their homework and improve their lives, according to a new study released Thursday.

While this is good news for libraries right now, I hope library usage does not decline significantly as the “digital divide” narrows.  I would hope that people would still see the value of libraries even if they have Internet connectivity at home.  If the public sees the library as simply a place to gain free Internet access, there could be serious implications for public libraries.  For the entire article, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/25/library-computers-used-by_n_512681.html

Logan Library to Celebrate National Library Week with “READ” Poster contest

To celebrate National Library Week ( April 11-17th), Logan Library will having a “READ” poster contest.  The “READ” poster project is a program that the American Library Association created and attempts to promote libraries and reading by all segments of the population by showing celebrities reading or posing with a book that they like.    Libraries have tapped into this program by either displaying these posters in their libraries or by creating their own of people in their community.  For example, colleges and universities have created their own posters but by using their own staff, faculty and students.

This week, Logan Library has kicked off a contest to see who can come up with the most creative poster.  Anyone in our community is free to send us a picture of themselves or student group reading and we will place it within a template that shows a standard “READ” heading made from Rose-Hulman lettering, “@ Logan Library” and their name or the name of their group.  The winner of the most creative poster will win a prize.  These posters will not all be printed, but rather placed on our Facebook page where our “fans” will be able to vote for their favorite.  The winner of the contest will be chosen by the poster with highest number of “likes” by our fans.  So far we have two posters, one of the entire library staff posing around a Civil Engineering “sculpture” and one of myself.  Mine shows me in the library, leaning on my congas (yes, I lugged them into work for this picture) and reading “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac.  We hope to use this as a means of promoting the library at Rose-Hulman, promoting reading, and increasing our Facebook page membership.  Details can be viewed at http://www.rose-hulman.edu/drc/library_contest/

In addition to the poster contest, on the afternoon of Friday April 17th, we will host a “Library Rocks” celebration at the library.  We will have music and food outside and inside we will have several workstations showing off what we do.  For example, our library director will be demonstrating a new tool we have subscribed to “Noodle Tools.”  I will be either showing off LibGuides or our Digital Archives project.  I will post more information about this event as it develops.

How to use a book

In case your forgot, here is a quick refresher as to how a book works.  Watch it!  learn it!  Use it!  Have a great week. Medieval Helpdesk on how a book works

Amazing Libraries Around the World

Here are some pictures of some incredible libraries from around the world.  Rose-Hulman has SOMEWHERE on it’s radar for new building projects, a new library facility.  I’ll have to make sure to present these ideas when the planning actually takes place 

Digital Piracy Hits eBook Industry

http://thisthatotherthing.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/digital-piracy/
Digital piracy that has plagued the music industry for the last ten years has now hit the eBook industry.  We’re talking major numbers from a major author.   When Dan Brown’s novel “The Last Symbol” went on sale in September, it sold more eBook editions for the Kindle than it did for the hardback edition.  However, almost immediately it appeared in file sharing-sites such as Rapidshare and BitTorrent.  Within days, it had been downloaded for free more than 100,000 times.  Ouch!  I admit, I know much more about digital music protection than I do eBook protection.  Not because I am into music piracy, but I am into digital music and kind of iffy about eBooks.  I thought the Kindle was supposed to have good rights protection in place.  Some publishers think that the piracy issue is overstated since they claim “that consumers who purchase an e-reader buy more books than those who stick with traditional bound volumes. Amazon reports that Kindle owners buy, on average, 3.1 times as many books on the site as other customers.  Amazon reports that Kindle owners buy, on average, 3.1 times as many books on the site as other customers.”

That may be true, but what does that have to do with anything?  100,000 copies is a heck of a lot of lost revenue for both publishers and authors.  And you can bet your bottom dollar that this trend will multiply.  While the rise of eBook purchases may represent a paradigm shift in book sales, it also indicates that the book publishing industry has entered into the messy world of digital piracy.  My advice, learn from the music industry and get ready to sue like there’s no tomorrow!
Information was gained from CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/01/ebook.piracy/index.html

Book 99 years overdue returned. Fine =$361.35

Here’s a good one.  A man was going through his deceased mother’s stuff and found a book belonging to the New Bedford, MA Public library.  It was due on May 10, 1910.  He did the right thing and returned it, and found out the fine was $361.35.  He didn’t have to pay it of course and the book was placed in the library’s special collections.  To read more about it go to http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_350104611.html

If that was my library, I would enforced the fine with someone like Mr. Bookman from the NY Public Library.  He collects his fees and never forgets a name.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9PC1bNFtvs

eBook Readers and Student Text Books

While I have never been a big advocate of eBook readers, I have found value in them. The value I have found tends to be more or less, the opposite of what the author in this article states. If I had the desire to read the epic novel, “War & Peace,” I would want to read it in a paper copy and then have it to place in my library. Back in 2000 when I started at Rose-Hulman, I was given the duty of experimenting with numerous eBook readers. The conclusion I came to then, I still hold today. I don’t see them replacing the type of book you would want to read cover to cover, at least not for most people, but I do see their advantages as a means of delivering text books to college students. The author of the article states that text books purchased for a class should be held onto when the class is over as part of their education. It’s an academic thing. He finds the idea of students not highlighting or annotating a text book so as to not degrade the resale value appalling. I can certainly relate to this notion as I held onto almost all of my text books. There were a few here and there that I sold, but most I kept. But the fact of the matter is, text books are extremely expensive, bulky, heavy, and for general education classes, will more than likely never be opened again. With students strapped for cash, it only makes sense to sell back these books that otherwise may one day be used as door stops or as I have used them, to prop up the head of my bed during times of sinus infections so I could breath at night. So what I said nine years ago, I still say today. Ebook readers would make a nice alternative for student text books. Being a laptop campus, our students walk around with back packs that hold their laptops, numerous textbooks, notebooks, and other items. You would think they were hiking the Appalachian Trail rather than walking across a small campus to attend a few classes the way these backpacks stick out two or three feed from their backs. I can envision a model where students could be given the option of either purchasing the eBook for permanent ownership, or by leasing it for a specific amount of time for a lower cost. There are barriers to this of course. While the Kindle has been the most successful eBook reader so far, the technology still needs some tweaking and the business model has a long way to go. Recently, Amazon removed copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from their website and from their Kindle reader devices, copies these users assumed that they owned. The alarm caused by this development has caused people to once again to lose faith in the eBook concept. Call it good timing, or good luck, but that same week, Barnes & Noble announced the launch of its eBook store and its reader, the Plastic Logic eReader device which will be released in early 2010. The eBook industry is still unstable, but as we grow closer to standardization and more and more mediums of communication (books, news, articles, audio/visual) are accepted into the digital realm, there will be a place for eBook readers. And while textbook publishers may be a late adopter, I still expect there will be a place for them in the future world of eBooks.
Reference: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/11/03/golub

Instant Books by the Book Machine

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/09/17/eod.espresso.bookmachine.cnn

This a fascinating concept for book stores, but is there any practical use for libraries?  I suppose if you have a big enough book budget and work it into your collection development policy that it could work, more so for public libraries.  But for academic libraries I can just see it now, an entire year’s budget being blown out in one month by a relatively small number of users requesting books on demand.  This Expresso Book Machine can print a book in 5 minutes and draws from over 400,000 out of print books.  There are only 22 of these machines in the world.  Books cost $15 plus $.0.03 a page.