by: Harriet Baskas
It's appropriate that a book celebrating the 75th anniversary of Nashville International Airport includes a page -- and a charming photo -- documenting the library branch that opened on-site in 1962.
Staffed by a librarian who received an extra $4 in her paycheck to cover airport parking, the Nashville Public Library reading room was the first time a public library was ever established in a municipal airport.
In addition to books, the library offered reproductions of well-known artwork for check-out. "I guess (it was) for that big dinner for the boss," said Elizabeth Odle, photo archivist for the special collections division.
There's no word on the longevity of the "Booketerias" the Nashville library opened in the aisles of local supermarkets in the mid-1950s, but they were likely gone by 1969, when the airport library branch was shuttered.
Today, just a few airport terminals have anything resembling a traditional library. But airports are finding other ways to offer travelers plenty of reading material for free.
E-books and 'real' books
As celebrated in a recent issue of Library Journal, many U.S. airports are partnering with local libraries to expand reading opportunities for passengers who often have plenty of time on their hands while waiting for a flight. Many of these partnerships take advantage of complimentary airport Wi-Fi and the fact that so many people now travel with an e-reader, tablet, smartphone or other mobile device.
In 2011, Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and the Broward County Libraries Division joined forces to create the first airport program offering free e-book downloads to passengers. Screens found in all airport baggage claim areas now display QR codes that can be easily scanned to give travelers access to an e-library of more than 15,000 free titles.
No library card is needed and so far almost 1,000 people have used the FLL QR code to check out free books. "Readers can choose from nonfiction, fiction, children's titles, classics and more -- free," said Catherine McElrath, a publication specialist with the library, and "the book titles never expire."
Library-sponsored airport e-book download programs are also underway in Kansas, where the Kansas State Library has brought its Books on the Fly campaign to Manhattan Regional Airport and in Pennsylvania, where the Free Library of Philadelphia has set up a special free Wi-Fi spot in the Terminal D/E connector to lead passengers to a splash page that provides access to free e-books, author events podcasts, historic city photos and other resources.
In March 2012, Michigan's Traverse Area District Library brought its Books on the Go program to the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City. Signage with QR codes and instructions are posted in the airport's baggage claim and terminal areas with links to a collection of literary classics that can be downloaded for free. No library card is needed and airport director Kevin Klein reports that library e-book usage has increased 211% per month since the partnership started.
Of course, with thousands of titles available for free download, it can be difficult to settle on what to read. To help out, Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania searched the more than 42,000 free e-book titles on Project Gutenberg and hand-picked 15 for the airport's e-book library. Suggested downloads include From Sea to Sea by Rudyard Kipling, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe, The Aeroplane Speaks by H. Barber, and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. (Notice a theme?)
And this summer passengers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) may download free e-books or take home free paper books and magazines from Quick Reads Shelves set-up beside rocking chairs, thanks to the King County Library System's (KCLS) award-winning Take Time to READ program.
County librarians take turns going to the airport to help travelers choose reading materials or sign up for a library card. The librarians also re-stock the shelves with books that are all new and all donated from sources that include the library's foundation, a local newspaper book reviewer and area booksellers.
This is the second summer the free book program has been offered at SEA and this year books are leaving the airport with travelers at the rate of 15,000 a month, according to Julie Brand, the KCLS community relations and marketing director. "Not many people have left their books behind, but we have had some people who have gone out of their way to send back the books they take off the shelves," said Brand, "Although that is not necessary."
After spending a long time on a security line at SEA last Friday, Kari Kenall of Olympia, Wash., was delighted to find a rocking chair and books that she could read to her two children, ages 5 1/2 and 16 months. As they headed to the gate for their flight to Minneapolis, Kenall put the books back on the shelf. "I didn't know they were free," she said, "But we have some books in our luggage so we'll leave these here for the next people to use."
Airport libraries and book swaps
Since December 2000, passengers have been invited to pull up a chair in the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library, which is inside the aviation museum in the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport. The collection includes 8,000 aviation-related books as well as periodicals, photographs, technical drawings, oral histories, and archival materials. Most books are kept in locked glass-fronted cabinets, but research requests are honored and browsing tables with some books and periodicals are laid out in the public reading room.
Checkouts are also not permitted at the 24-hour, self-service reference library that opened in 2010 at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, but a librarian is on duty about an hour a day to re-shelve books and help passengers choose something to read during a layover.
The library's collection of books, video and audio files celebrate and reflect Dutch culture and "Yes, sometimes people steal a book," said airport librarian Jeanine Deckers, "But we have approximately 300,000 visitors each year and only about 5 to 10 missing books each year, so that's not too much."
Some books removed from the Schiphol Library show up a few weeks or months later and passengers sometimes leave extra books behind. But because the library focuses entirely on Dutch art and culture, "I can't accept the Dan Browns and Stephen Kings; we put those in a special book-swap corner," said Deckers.
A dedicated 24/7 book swap area was established at Finland's Helsinki Airport in 2012 for passengers to pick up a book, drop one off or just spend time sitting and reading.
"Book Swap gives a peaceful moment and there is the idea of recycling and spreading joy, since quite often people either throw away or leave the book in the seat pocket," said Johanna Metsälä, customer experience manager for the Finavia Corporation, which manages the Helsinki Airport.
Harriet Baskas is the author of seven books, including Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can't or Won't Show You, and the Stuck at the Airport blog. Follow her on Twitter at @hbaskas.
from: USA Today
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
A Game About What Really Matters in Life
by: Jason Schreier
from: Kotaku
Most video games, it's safe to say, revolve around fighting: whether you're a soldier shooting up terrorists or a plumber stomping on Koopa Troopas, there's almost always going to be combat of some sort.
And then there's The Novelist, a game created not to satisfy primal bloodlust, but to tell a story about a single family's struggles.
In The Novelist—which will be out for PC by the end of the summer—the player is tasked with guiding an author named Dan Kaplan and deciding how he will spend his days. There are no bullets or rocket launchers here: the core conflict revolves around Dan's ability—or inability—to balance his career, his marriage, and his relationship with his son.
You, the player, don't directly control Dan; instead you are a ghost who inhabits his house. You can watch, observe, and manipulate at your discretion. One day, you might direct Dan to sit and work on his novel, boosting his career at the cost of neglecting his wife and son. Another day you might have help out his wife at an art show, or take his kid to the beach. Every time you go down one branch, the other two could suffer.
The idea, designer Kent Hudson says, is to make us all think about how we approach our own major life decisions.
"There’s no winning or losing," Hudson told me during a lengthy phone chat a few weeks ago. "You play through and get a story that my hope—and this sounds so pretentious—but my hope is that as you’re presented with the same fundamental question in nine different ways over the course of the game, that you start to learn about your own values. And by the end... maybe your guy has written the greatest book ever but his wife left him and his kid is getting in trouble at school at the time. Well, I guess when push comes to shove you’ve decided that career’s more important than family. Or vice versa."
Whoa. It's an intense, appealing premise—video game as psychological test—but it evokes caution: aren't games supposed to be, you know, fun? "I didn't know it was even possible to make a game without guns," I told Hudson. I was joking, but there's something of a serious question buried in there. How do you get satisfying interaction out of a game that seems so... mundane?
Hudson's solution: stealth. As the player-ghost in The Novelist, one of your goals is to ensure that Dan and his family don't see you and get spooked. So you can possess light fixtures and sneak your way around the house as you watch them all go about their days, The Sims-style.
But that's all secondary. The core gameplay loop of the game—which unfolds over the course of nine chapters—is making mundane choices like "should Dan work on his novel or go on a date with his wife?" So maybe, as smart game critics and pundits have been arguing for years now, "is this fun?" isn't even the right question. Maybe that doesn't even matter.
"There's lots of games that I love where a lot of times you're not having quote-unquote 'fun,'" Hudson said, "but you're making better decisions or you're grappling with different issues."
Hudson, a longtime designer who has worked on games like BioShock 2 and Deus Ex: Invisible War, subscribes to the player-driven narrative school of storytelling. In other words, he believes that a video game's story should emerge from the player's decisions, rather than from a set of predetermined plots. (Hudson gave a GDC talk on player-driven stories a couple of years back.)
Consequently, Hudson decided to randomize the order of The Novelist's chapters. There are a bunch of events, and they'll all happen to each player, but the sequence will progress differently every time you play.
This randomization's purpose is to ensure that the emotional peaks and valleys of each relationship aren't tied to any specific event, like they might be in a more traditional narrative-focused game.
"Let’s take the example of the wife leaving you," Hudson said. "In a traditional branching plot game, that’d be a moment that happens somewhere in the game at a specific part of the story—maybe at the end of Act Two, you’ve got this one decision with the wife: whether she leaves you or not. That’s like a crafted thing you build toward. Even though you get a choice, it’s still a heavy authorial component from the game creator, because they're saying, 'When I get you to this point, I'm gonna give you this choice.'
"In my game, this relationship stuff under the hood is more of a sort of a dynamic simulation of these relationships, and so your wife could leave you after the fourth chapter or she could leave you in the very last chapter of the game. That's only ever gonna react to you as the player making choices in a different sequence.... I don't know if she’s gonna leave you in chapter four, if you decide not to help out with the art show, or if she’s gonna leave you in chapter seven because you decided not to go to her grandma’s funeral with her or some weird thing like that. And further, the arc of how you got there is all up to the player."
Your Dan Kaplan could be the writer who published a great book, had an okay relationship with his son, and did just enough to stave off divorce. Or maybe your Dan Kaplan is an amazing father and husband who just lost his book deal because he missed all his deadlines.
It's a conflict we all have to deal with, in some way or another, and it's not something you often see in a video game. But this is still a video game, and so the player's ability is a factor: there are methods in which you can perform "better" as you play.
"There are ways for you the player to kinda spin things out of control in either a positive or negative direction," Hudson said. "You can either sabotage the relationships if you want to and see what happens there, or if you play really well and don’t get spotted, there are ways you can sort of, I don’t wanna say, 'have your cake and eat it too,' but there are ways where you can gradually improve things through time. My goal is not for it to be nihilistic or for it to say there’s no way to have it all."
So what is Hudson's goal? He says he wants to get us thinking. How much time should we spend with our families? Working on our careers? What's the right balance?
"I've only got so many years to do this. I wanna feel like I’m doing something with my time—with my limited number of years."
I asked Hudson to share a bit about his own personal experiences, and he recalled his first few years working in gaming, at companies like Ion Storm and Midway Austin. He said he spent about four of his first seven years working on games that were cancelled or shut down. Finally, in 2011, after some time on an unannounced (cancelled) game with designer Clint Hocking over at LucasArts, Hudson decided to call it quits and go indie.
"I started to put it into a larger context of well, crap, I’ve only got X number of years to work in the industry and just friggin' be alive as a human being," Hudson said. "I've only got so many years to do this. I wanna feel like I’m doing something with my time—with my limited number of years. Even if my game bombs, I will take a lot of pride in the fact that I at least tried something. I took a risk, I quit my job, I tried to make something different. If it bombs or if it’s not as good as I want it to be, or doesn’t sell—all the bad outcomes that can come from it—I’ll still take that over never having tried."
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Ten authors you have to read (if you're a Canadian student)
by: David Berry
The idea of a canon, or at least an imperative list of books (some people don’t like that other word), isn’t really about objective quality so much as subjective experience: Those stories that resonate most with us also define us. If you want to know what it’s like to be a human (technically) or a Western European (in practice) or an English-speaking Canadian (for our purposes), well, read these.
Even if you have slightly less lofty ambitions, though, it’s still helpful to know what makes up primordial alphabet soup: Whether you want to admit it or not, there is going to be a collection of books that form a kind of literary vernacular, a shared experience that we all draw on that in some sense sets our parameters for discussion and understanding and reflection.
Surely we’ve all got our own opinions of what those might be. But rather than sit here and argue about them — doesn’t seem very Canadian, if you ask me — I thought it might be worthwhile to try and get some objective sense.
So I turned to the experts, or the closest we have to them: Canadian universities’ literature departments. They are, after all, paid to think about how our stories define us, and unlike the fickle bestseller charts, they are prone to taking the long and in some cases esoteric but potent view. Plus it seems fairly likely to me that people who are willing to take English are the ones who are going to end up discussing it later (and it’s still a requirement at most universities, so the books will still resonate with those who don’t ever plan on reading when they’re off-campus).
To that end, English chairs, professors and adjuncts from across the country responded with curricula, syllabi, entrance exams, recommended readings and personal preferences. They cited more than 170 writers, and books ranging from anthologies of pre-1800s poetry to last year’s Giller nominees. I compiled them, counted them and came up with the list below. It represents, if nothing else, what your 18-year-old niece is probably going to think of as CanLit for the rest of her life.
THE CORE TEXTS
Michael Ondaatje
Not only was Ondaatje the most mentioned author, but his Toronto immigrant story In the Skin of a Lion was handily the most taught book. Although it seems worth noting that a curious kind of division emerged: Southern Ontario schools leaned on that one heavily, whereas selections from the rest of the country tended to be more diverse, split between Lion, The English Patient and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid.
Margaret Atwood
A smattering of works were mentioned, but for the most part the instructors lean toward either the dystopian The Handmaid’s Tale or the return-to-home-template Surfacing. Some informal comments suggested that the former is loved (and tended to be the one taught abroad), whereas the latter is good but also just really thematically rich if you’re looking to talk about Canadian identity.
Alice Munro
Individual stories were chosen from across the spectrum, but the most cited of Munro’s books, by far, were the Governor General’s Award-winning Who Do You Think You Are? and the story cycle Lives of Girls and Women, with female teachers (perhaps unsurprisingly) leaning toward the latter. Stick with the classics, I guess.
Thomas King
As I was gently reminded, this list might be skewed, because Aboriginal literature is often taught in a different, separate context than the wider Canadian variety. Either way, enough people avoid the distinction that Green Grass, Running Water is taught in CanLit courses across the country.
Stephen Leacock
If you know Canadian humour at all, you are probably well acquainted with a dozen books just like Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Leacock’s humorous slice of Mariposa life remains surprisingly resilient a century after its publishing.
Robert Kroetsch
Though The Studhorse Man had its defenders, including one who was fairly emphatic about it being the best Western (regional, this is Canada) novel, it’s Seed Catalogue that most students are going to be parsing this fall: it was the most-cited book of poetry (or, well, poem).
Mordecai Richler
The strange thing about Richler is that, though many of the other top authors had broad lists with a few obvious preferences, almost everyone that taught a Richler book picked The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (fourth most cited overall). A man without a classic novel of Jewish life in Montreal is nothing.
Sinclair Ross
As For Me and My House, Ross’s most-taught work, isn’t just a great example of bleak prairie landscapes, it’s a model for Canadian success to this day: it was published and popular in New York before it caught on here.
Margaret Laurence
There was an almost an exact split between The Stone Angel and The Diviners, with apparently no rhyme nor reason besides personal preference. I wonder what your choice of Laurence novel says about you as a teacher?
Eden Robinson
Her debut novel Monkey Beach has the rare distinction of being the only book published since 2000 (just barely, but still) to make it into the 10 most-taught. Someone should tell her to write more.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Dionne Brand
Toronto’s poet laureate was one of the most-cited poets, although curiously there wasn’t much consensus on which book or poem you should lean toward. I read a bunch of No Language is Neutral in my CanLit class, for what it’s worth.
Lucy Maude Montgomery
Yes, students are still getting their Anne of Green Gables, but it may be more of an eat-your-vegetables thing: Montgomery rarely showed up in courses above a freshman level.
Howard O’Hagan/Susanna Moodie
Depending on your particular flavour of taming the Canadian wilderness, you’ll be reading O’Hagan’s wild man myth Tay John or Moodie’s autobiographicalish pioneer tale Roughing It in the Bush. But probably both.
Joy Kogawa
Apparently some things don’t require research: Obasan is enough of a staple of CanLit courses that that’s the second fact on its Wikipedia page.
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
It takes time for consensus to form, but if anyone is likely to be pushing their way onto that top list in the near future, it will probably be either Joseph Boyden or Lawrence Hill. The First World War narrative Three Day Road and the slave tale The Book of Negroes were both heads and tails above other contemporary novels in the classroom.
That said, one thing that came up consistently was a complaint that today’s students weren’t nearly as well-versed in Canadian literature as they used to be, with declining emphasis on Canadian authors in high school (or even university, if the complainant was teaching sufficiently advanced classes) usually cited as the culprit. Maybe that’s just a bit of “kids these days” curmudgeonry, but it’s worth keeping that idea about stories and identity in mind — and noting that, of all the storytelling mediums, Canadian literature is by far the most deep and diverse. Or, at the very least, read In the Skin of a Lion, so you have something more interesting than “How’s school going?” to ask that niece of yours.
from: National Post
The idea of a canon, or at least an imperative list of books (some people don’t like that other word), isn’t really about objective quality so much as subjective experience: Those stories that resonate most with us also define us. If you want to know what it’s like to be a human (technically) or a Western European (in practice) or an English-speaking Canadian (for our purposes), well, read these.
Even if you have slightly less lofty ambitions, though, it’s still helpful to know what makes up primordial alphabet soup: Whether you want to admit it or not, there is going to be a collection of books that form a kind of literary vernacular, a shared experience that we all draw on that in some sense sets our parameters for discussion and understanding and reflection.
Surely we’ve all got our own opinions of what those might be. But rather than sit here and argue about them — doesn’t seem very Canadian, if you ask me — I thought it might be worthwhile to try and get some objective sense.
So I turned to the experts, or the closest we have to them: Canadian universities’ literature departments. They are, after all, paid to think about how our stories define us, and unlike the fickle bestseller charts, they are prone to taking the long and in some cases esoteric but potent view. Plus it seems fairly likely to me that people who are willing to take English are the ones who are going to end up discussing it later (and it’s still a requirement at most universities, so the books will still resonate with those who don’t ever plan on reading when they’re off-campus).
To that end, English chairs, professors and adjuncts from across the country responded with curricula, syllabi, entrance exams, recommended readings and personal preferences. They cited more than 170 writers, and books ranging from anthologies of pre-1800s poetry to last year’s Giller nominees. I compiled them, counted them and came up with the list below. It represents, if nothing else, what your 18-year-old niece is probably going to think of as CanLit for the rest of her life.
THE CORE TEXTS
Michael Ondaatje
Not only was Ondaatje the most mentioned author, but his Toronto immigrant story In the Skin of a Lion was handily the most taught book. Although it seems worth noting that a curious kind of division emerged: Southern Ontario schools leaned on that one heavily, whereas selections from the rest of the country tended to be more diverse, split between Lion, The English Patient and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid.
Margaret Atwood
A smattering of works were mentioned, but for the most part the instructors lean toward either the dystopian The Handmaid’s Tale or the return-to-home-template Surfacing. Some informal comments suggested that the former is loved (and tended to be the one taught abroad), whereas the latter is good but also just really thematically rich if you’re looking to talk about Canadian identity.
Alice Munro
Individual stories were chosen from across the spectrum, but the most cited of Munro’s books, by far, were the Governor General’s Award-winning Who Do You Think You Are? and the story cycle Lives of Girls and Women, with female teachers (perhaps unsurprisingly) leaning toward the latter. Stick with the classics, I guess.
Thomas King
As I was gently reminded, this list might be skewed, because Aboriginal literature is often taught in a different, separate context than the wider Canadian variety. Either way, enough people avoid the distinction that Green Grass, Running Water is taught in CanLit courses across the country.
Stephen Leacock
If you know Canadian humour at all, you are probably well acquainted with a dozen books just like Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Leacock’s humorous slice of Mariposa life remains surprisingly resilient a century after its publishing.
Robert Kroetsch
Though The Studhorse Man had its defenders, including one who was fairly emphatic about it being the best Western (regional, this is Canada) novel, it’s Seed Catalogue that most students are going to be parsing this fall: it was the most-cited book of poetry (or, well, poem).
Mordecai Richler
The strange thing about Richler is that, though many of the other top authors had broad lists with a few obvious preferences, almost everyone that taught a Richler book picked The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (fourth most cited overall). A man without a classic novel of Jewish life in Montreal is nothing.
Sinclair Ross
As For Me and My House, Ross’s most-taught work, isn’t just a great example of bleak prairie landscapes, it’s a model for Canadian success to this day: it was published and popular in New York before it caught on here.
Margaret Laurence
There was an almost an exact split between The Stone Angel and The Diviners, with apparently no rhyme nor reason besides personal preference. I wonder what your choice of Laurence novel says about you as a teacher?
Eden Robinson
Her debut novel Monkey Beach has the rare distinction of being the only book published since 2000 (just barely, but still) to make it into the 10 most-taught. Someone should tell her to write more.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Dionne Brand
Toronto’s poet laureate was one of the most-cited poets, although curiously there wasn’t much consensus on which book or poem you should lean toward. I read a bunch of No Language is Neutral in my CanLit class, for what it’s worth.
Lucy Maude Montgomery
Yes, students are still getting their Anne of Green Gables, but it may be more of an eat-your-vegetables thing: Montgomery rarely showed up in courses above a freshman level.
Howard O’Hagan/Susanna Moodie
Depending on your particular flavour of taming the Canadian wilderness, you’ll be reading O’Hagan’s wild man myth Tay John or Moodie’s autobiographicalish pioneer tale Roughing It in the Bush. But probably both.
Joy Kogawa
Apparently some things don’t require research: Obasan is enough of a staple of CanLit courses that that’s the second fact on its Wikipedia page.
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
It takes time for consensus to form, but if anyone is likely to be pushing their way onto that top list in the near future, it will probably be either Joseph Boyden or Lawrence Hill. The First World War narrative Three Day Road and the slave tale The Book of Negroes were both heads and tails above other contemporary novels in the classroom.
That said, one thing that came up consistently was a complaint that today’s students weren’t nearly as well-versed in Canadian literature as they used to be, with declining emphasis on Canadian authors in high school (or even university, if the complainant was teaching sufficiently advanced classes) usually cited as the culprit. Maybe that’s just a bit of “kids these days” curmudgeonry, but it’s worth keeping that idea about stories and identity in mind — and noting that, of all the storytelling mediums, Canadian literature is by far the most deep and diverse. Or, at the very least, read In the Skin of a Lion, so you have something more interesting than “How’s school going?” to ask that niece of yours.
from: National Post
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
To Stay Afloat, Bookstores Turn to Web Donors
by: Julie Bosman
For years, independent bookstores have taken creative steps to fight off challenges from Amazon and the superstores by building in-house espresso bars, hosting members-only lunches with authors and selling birthday cards, toys and trinkets.
In 2013, it has come to this: Asking their customers for donations.
But owners of independent bookstores also reason that if they cannot compete with Amazon on price, they will attract customers by having a more carefully chosen selection. If Barnes & Noble has uninformed salesclerks, theirs will have the fluency of a Ph.D. candidate in literature.
And if their customers have a fierce attachment to their local neighborhood bookstore, as many claim to do, then bookstore owners reason that they should test that loyalty by making a direct appeal for donations.
from: NY Times
For years, independent bookstores have taken creative steps to fight off challenges from Amazon and the superstores by building in-house espresso bars, hosting members-only lunches with authors and selling birthday cards, toys and trinkets.
In 2013, it has come to this: Asking their customers for donations.
Crowdfunding is sweeping through the bookstore business, the latest tactic for survival in a market that is dominated by Amazon, with its rock-bottom prices, and Barnes & Noble, with its dizzying in-store selection. It’s hardly a sustainable business model; but it buys some time, and gives customers a feeling of helping a favorite cause and even preserving a civic treasure.
In San Francisco, a campaign for Adobe Books successfully raised $60,000 on Indiegogo.com in March after the store faced a rent increase and nearly went out of business.
In Asheville, N.C., the Spellbound Children’s Bookshop collected more than $5,000 when it appealed to customers for help moving to a new location.
In the Flatiron district of Manhattan, Books of Wonder raised more than $50,000 in an online campaign last fall after the recession and other losses depleted its financial resources.
Web sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter, originally made for the public financing of creative projects, have simplified the logistics of raising money, and bookstores facing financial distress are seizing the opportunity. They can set up a Web page explaining what their fund-raising goal is, why they are asking for it and what the deadline is. Donors pitch in as little as $5 or $10 with a few clicks and a credit card number.
Peter Glassman, who owns Books of Wonder, said he turned to a fund-raising campaign only as a last resort.
“I thought, given the financial strains we’re under at the moment, perhaps this is the way to prevent us from getting into a really desperate situation,” Mr. Glassman said.
He said it was the first time in 30 years that he was willing to admit that the store needed help.
“You never tell people your problems,” he said. “The worst you say is, ‘Business is a little tight.’ ”
But that kind of tough-it-out attitude seems to have gone the way of the Book-of-the-Month Club. The independent bookstores that remain have taken a hard-nosed approach to their business, more willing to experiment with new technologies and to tap the carefully cultivated loyalty of their customers.
Josh Mills, the longtime manager of The Bookstore in Chico, Calif., made a public appeal for $35,000 on Indiegogo when the owner decided to close the store and Mr. Mills stepped up to buy it.
In less than two months, he had collected $36,068, mostly in chunks of $15 and $25 from locals who were outraged at the thought of the bookstore shutting down. Donations seemed to come from everywhere: Mr. Mills received $25 from one former customer in Hawaii who heard about the store’s plight via e-mail from a friend in France. Acquaintances threw local fund-raisers, serving wine, crostini and deviled eggs, and then funneled the money into the online campaign.
“I felt strange about asking for money that way — baring my soul and sharing my personal business is not what I do,” said Mr. Mills, who now owns the store. “Bookstores are sort of an endangered industry for lots of reasons. But it would have left a huge hole in our little community if we had gone away.”
Independents have seen their business suffer in recent years for all of the usual reasons. Many customers have shifted their purchases from print books to e-books. Amazon’s market share keeps growing, making it the biggest seller of books in the country. And the price of rent has gone up in city centers.
A price war between Amazon and Overstock.com, another online retailer, that flared up last month resulted in print books being discounted even more steeply than usual — sometimes close to 60 percent — a price cut that a small bookstore cannot match. (Amazon and Overstock can make up for their losses on books by selling jewelry, furniture and diapers.)
But owners of independent bookstores also reason that if they cannot compete with Amazon on price, they will attract customers by having a more carefully chosen selection. If Barnes & Noble has uninformed salesclerks, theirs will have the fluency of a Ph.D. candidate in literature.
And if their customers have a fierce attachment to their local neighborhood bookstore, as many claim to do, then bookstore owners reason that they should test that loyalty by making a direct appeal for donations.
“I think it’s an indication of the emotional connection that many customers have with their bookstores,” said Daniel Goldin, the owner of the Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee. “Every customer who buys a book at an independent could do it in a different way, a cheaper way. A lot of customers position us in their head like the nonprofits they support, like a humane society or a park.”
The American Booksellers Association, a trade group, says the number of bookstores it represents has grown slightly in the last several years, despite an overall drop in the last decade — they currently have 1,632 members, down from about 2,400 members in 2002.
“Amazon obviously continues to grow,” said Oren Teicher, the chief executive of the association. “It’s not like we’re without challenges.”
Seeking financial support from customers, he said, is an example “of how a combination of technology and localism is helping stores get funded that 20 years ago would have been impossible to do.”
Many independent bookstores said that despite the challenges to their business, they were doing just fine. Some of them are crowdfunding not as a means of survival, but as a way to expand.
BookCourt, a neighborhood fixture in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, is one of the stores that has been thriving despite competition from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. (A two-story Barnes & Noble is just three blocks away.) It recently started an ambitious online campaign to help pay for the purchase of a new bookstore space in the Catskills that will open next spring.
Zack Zook, the events and development director for the store, said he was inspired by other online fund-raising campaigns for short films and art projects that he had occasionally participated in for the last several years.
“There’s something that feels really neutral about throwing a hundred bucks in a pot,” Mr. Zook said. “People like to be affiliated with a mission. And with any independent bookstore, it’s almost like a nonprofit — there’s really no money to play with.”
Mr. Glassman, of Books of Wonder, said he had been gratified by all of the support.
“It was very touching to know how much people care,” he said.
He acknowledged the fund-raising campaign was a short-term fix. “It helped, but it didn’t solve it,” he said. “But we’re not in danger anymore of closing tomorrow.”
from: NY Times
Monday, August 26, 2013
Quebec government considers regulating book prices to help out struggling small bookstores
by: David Rockne Corrigan
The Quebec government is considering a plan to regulate book prices in an effort to save small bookstores that have been impacted by large chains and Internet sales in recent years in an increasingly competitive environment.
CTV Montreal is reporting that the province has been under pressure from independent booksellers to help alleviate the worsening situation.
One solution that is now being floated around is to sell all books — even those sold at large chains and online — for approximately the same price, as overseen by the provincial government.
As it stands, large chain bookstores are able to negotiate discounts from publishers in order to offer discounts at their retail outlets. Smaller bookstores, that would be ordering smaller numbers of books, are unable to offer those same deep discounts to their customers.
The Parti Québécois government is considering a plan that would prohibit booksellers from offering more than a 10% discount on new books.
The Union of Quebec writers (UNEQ) supports the efforts to regulate the market, worrying that unless measures are taken to do so, it could lead to a “cultural impoverishment” for the province with the loss of smaller stores.
In 2006, Quebec’s independent bookstores accounted for 35% of the market share, a number which slipped to 28% in 2010.
from: National Post
The Quebec government is considering a plan to regulate book prices in an effort to save small bookstores that have been impacted by large chains and Internet sales in recent years in an increasingly competitive environment.
CTV Montreal is reporting that the province has been under pressure from independent booksellers to help alleviate the worsening situation.
One solution that is now being floated around is to sell all books — even those sold at large chains and online — for approximately the same price, as overseen by the provincial government.
As it stands, large chain bookstores are able to negotiate discounts from publishers in order to offer discounts at their retail outlets. Smaller bookstores, that would be ordering smaller numbers of books, are unable to offer those same deep discounts to their customers.
The Parti Québécois government is considering a plan that would prohibit booksellers from offering more than a 10% discount on new books.
The Union of Quebec writers (UNEQ) supports the efforts to regulate the market, worrying that unless measures are taken to do so, it could lead to a “cultural impoverishment” for the province with the loss of smaller stores.
In 2006, Quebec’s independent bookstores accounted for 35% of the market share, a number which slipped to 28% in 2010.
from: National Post
Friday, August 23, 2013
For Disaster Preparedness: Pack a Library Card?
by: Joel Rose
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, libraries in New York helped the storm's victims turn a new page. Librarians helped thousands of people fill out relief forms, connect to the Internet and make plans to rebuild.
The New Dorp branch of the New York Public Library in Staten Island wasn't damaged during Sandy. But just a few blocks away, houses were inundated with as much as 16 feet of water. And days after the storm, many of the library's patrons still lacked the most basic services.
"We even had people asking if they could use the restrooms to clean up a little bit," says Barbara Byrne-Goldie, a librarian at New Dorp. "They still didn't have running water, or hot water. So we came in very handy as community centers, that's for sure."
Byrne-Goldie, who has been at the New Dorp branch for nearly 20 years, says she and the other librarians knew many of those patrons personally and went out of their way to help. "People registering for FEMA — we showed them after we learned how to help them to register online for FEMA. That was a big request. And then just being an ear to listen compassionately. And maybe hug someone if you've known them from working with them for years here."
Later, the library hosted free financial-planning seminars for Sandy victims. And it wasn't just local residents who used the New Dorp library in the days after the storm. "We had groups of FEMA workers," Byrne-Goldie says. "We had groups of Red Cross workers using our facility as a gathering place, and also to print out information about streets and what house had they knocked on the door of yet."
Across the city, libraries were packed in the days after the storm as New Yorkers struggled to get back on their feet. New York Public Library President Anthony Marx says he'd never seen anything like it.
Like hundreds of New Yorkers, Marx spent the week after the storm at the library's mid-Manhattan branch because the flagship Fifth Avenue building — the one with the lions in front — still didn't have power. "We had twice as many people as we would usually have, despite the fact that the subway wasn't working — it was hard to get here. You could just see that New Yorkers love their library," he says.
And it's not just New Yorkers. Across the country, in places like Louisiana and Oklahoma, libraries have served as crucial hubs for information and help in the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes. And federal emergency planners have noticed. "The Federal Emergency Management Agency classified libraries as an essential service — like one of the things that would get early funding so that communities could recover," says Jessamyn West, a librarian in Vermont and a moderator of the popular blog MetaFilter.
"People are finding in the wake of the natural disasters that we've seen — lots and lots of flooding and hurricanes and storms and tornadoes — that getting the library up and running with Internet connectivity or air conditioning or clean bathrooms or a place that you can plug in your phone really has benefit to a community that's in a recovery situation," she adds.
At the tiny South Beach library branch in Staten Island, staff members like Kathleen McKenzie found themselves working as de facto therapists for patrons who were hard-hit by Sandy. "They'd stop and speak for hours to us. Just pour their hearts out," she says. "So what we did was offer what the library offered and that was to not charge any fees or fines and excuse anything that was lost in Hurricane Sandy. But we also asked if we could do anything on a personal level."
In one case, the librarians went beyond NYPL policy and reached into their own pockets to help longtime patron Rosalind Gutierrez. "They really felt bad for me," she says. "And I didn't want to take anything, 'cause I'm not like that. But I had to take."
Gutierrez is something of a legend inside the New York Public Library. Over the years, she's gathered tens of thousands of signatures to protest cuts to the NYPL's budget. During Sandy, her home in Staten Island was flooded. She ended up having to sell the ruined structure for just $50,000. Gutierrez — and her family of five people and two dogs — had nowhere to stay, so the library staff pooled their resources to give her some money to sleep in a hotel.
Gutierrez is returning the favor. "I already lost everything," she says. "I didn't want to lose this place either. I just didn't want to lose something that I've been working for." After the storm, she redoubled her advocacy for the library — with some extra inspiration from a famous underdog.
"Before I go out, I prepare myself. I listen to the Rocky theme song. And it works me up. I do my warm-up, you know, mentally, physically. And then I go out and do it. ... No matter how hard you get hit, it's how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward," she says.
Gutierrez estimates she has gathered more than 4,000 signatures since Hurricane Sandy. It's her way of paying the South Beach library back for everything it's done for her — and her community — since the storm. And this year, there were no cuts to the NYPL's budget.
from: NPR
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, libraries in New York helped the storm's victims turn a new page. Librarians helped thousands of people fill out relief forms, connect to the Internet and make plans to rebuild.
The New Dorp branch of the New York Public Library in Staten Island wasn't damaged during Sandy. But just a few blocks away, houses were inundated with as much as 16 feet of water. And days after the storm, many of the library's patrons still lacked the most basic services.
"We even had people asking if they could use the restrooms to clean up a little bit," says Barbara Byrne-Goldie, a librarian at New Dorp. "They still didn't have running water, or hot water. So we came in very handy as community centers, that's for sure."
Byrne-Goldie, who has been at the New Dorp branch for nearly 20 years, says she and the other librarians knew many of those patrons personally and went out of their way to help. "People registering for FEMA — we showed them after we learned how to help them to register online for FEMA. That was a big request. And then just being an ear to listen compassionately. And maybe hug someone if you've known them from working with them for years here."
Later, the library hosted free financial-planning seminars for Sandy victims. And it wasn't just local residents who used the New Dorp library in the days after the storm. "We had groups of FEMA workers," Byrne-Goldie says. "We had groups of Red Cross workers using our facility as a gathering place, and also to print out information about streets and what house had they knocked on the door of yet."
Across the city, libraries were packed in the days after the storm as New Yorkers struggled to get back on their feet. New York Public Library President Anthony Marx says he'd never seen anything like it.
Like hundreds of New Yorkers, Marx spent the week after the storm at the library's mid-Manhattan branch because the flagship Fifth Avenue building — the one with the lions in front — still didn't have power. "We had twice as many people as we would usually have, despite the fact that the subway wasn't working — it was hard to get here. You could just see that New Yorkers love their library," he says.
And it's not just New Yorkers. Across the country, in places like Louisiana and Oklahoma, libraries have served as crucial hubs for information and help in the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes. And federal emergency planners have noticed. "The Federal Emergency Management Agency classified libraries as an essential service — like one of the things that would get early funding so that communities could recover," says Jessamyn West, a librarian in Vermont and a moderator of the popular blog MetaFilter.
"People are finding in the wake of the natural disasters that we've seen — lots and lots of flooding and hurricanes and storms and tornadoes — that getting the library up and running with Internet connectivity or air conditioning or clean bathrooms or a place that you can plug in your phone really has benefit to a community that's in a recovery situation," she adds.
At the tiny South Beach library branch in Staten Island, staff members like Kathleen McKenzie found themselves working as de facto therapists for patrons who were hard-hit by Sandy. "They'd stop and speak for hours to us. Just pour their hearts out," she says. "So what we did was offer what the library offered and that was to not charge any fees or fines and excuse anything that was lost in Hurricane Sandy. But we also asked if we could do anything on a personal level."
In one case, the librarians went beyond NYPL policy and reached into their own pockets to help longtime patron Rosalind Gutierrez. "They really felt bad for me," she says. "And I didn't want to take anything, 'cause I'm not like that. But I had to take."
Gutierrez is something of a legend inside the New York Public Library. Over the years, she's gathered tens of thousands of signatures to protest cuts to the NYPL's budget. During Sandy, her home in Staten Island was flooded. She ended up having to sell the ruined structure for just $50,000. Gutierrez — and her family of five people and two dogs — had nowhere to stay, so the library staff pooled their resources to give her some money to sleep in a hotel.
Gutierrez is returning the favor. "I already lost everything," she says. "I didn't want to lose this place either. I just didn't want to lose something that I've been working for." After the storm, she redoubled her advocacy for the library — with some extra inspiration from a famous underdog.
"Before I go out, I prepare myself. I listen to the Rocky theme song. And it works me up. I do my warm-up, you know, mentally, physically. And then I go out and do it. ... No matter how hard you get hit, it's how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward," she says.
Gutierrez estimates she has gathered more than 4,000 signatures since Hurricane Sandy. It's her way of paying the South Beach library back for everything it's done for her — and her community — since the storm. And this year, there were no cuts to the NYPL's budget.
from: NPR
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Digital Reading: not so discreet after all...
E-readers are virtual gold mines for data-hungry corporations. So should we be worried?
by: James Bridle
As recent weeks of revelations have shown, there's a pretty wide gap between our expectations of privacy, and the privacies that an increasingly digitised world actually affords us. Whatever your feelings about your own privacy, the complexity and opacity of technology means it's often hard to know exactly what information you might be sharing at any given time. And while browsing in a local library, buying a book – with cash – on the high street, and reading at home or on the bus are pretty anonymous activities, as soon as ebooks are involved they're not.
At the end of 2012 the Electronic Frontier Foundation published the latest edition of its E-Reader Privacy Chart, and the results aren't great. Almost every service tracks searches for books, meaning not just what you read, but what you're interested in, is stored. Every book you purchase is linked to your account: trying to change your history is frustrating and in most cases impossible. Because books are tied to a user's account, removing them from one's library on most services means you won't be able to read them any more – and the purchase record will probably still exist in any case. Finally, every e-reader is, by design, capable of tracking your reading page by page: bookmarks, highlights and all. Individual policies about the retention of this information, and who it might be shared with, are worryingly unclear.
It's this lack of clarity and awareness around ebooks that should be of some concern. In the very long list of pieces of information about us that corporations and governments seem so interested in acquiring, what, how and when we read may seem trivial, but the apparent simplicity of such information, and its invisibility, stands in for much more which we do not see or fully understand.
from: The Guardian
by: James Bridle
As recent weeks of revelations have shown, there's a pretty wide gap between our expectations of privacy, and the privacies that an increasingly digitised world actually affords us. Whatever your feelings about your own privacy, the complexity and opacity of technology means it's often hard to know exactly what information you might be sharing at any given time. And while browsing in a local library, buying a book – with cash – on the high street, and reading at home or on the bus are pretty anonymous activities, as soon as ebooks are involved they're not.
At the end of 2012 the Electronic Frontier Foundation published the latest edition of its E-Reader Privacy Chart, and the results aren't great. Almost every service tracks searches for books, meaning not just what you read, but what you're interested in, is stored. Every book you purchase is linked to your account: trying to change your history is frustrating and in most cases impossible. Because books are tied to a user's account, removing them from one's library on most services means you won't be able to read them any more – and the purchase record will probably still exist in any case. Finally, every e-reader is, by design, capable of tracking your reading page by page: bookmarks, highlights and all. Individual policies about the retention of this information, and who it might be shared with, are worryingly unclear.
It's this lack of clarity and awareness around ebooks that should be of some concern. In the very long list of pieces of information about us that corporations and governments seem so interested in acquiring, what, how and when we read may seem trivial, but the apparent simplicity of such information, and its invisibility, stands in for much more which we do not see or fully understand.
from: The Guardian
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
With Bookselling in Deep Turmoil, Book Sales Are on the Rise
Bookstores are in crisis. Books Aren't.
by: Peter Osnos
With all the upheaval in bookselling over the past decade -- the surge in online ordering, the multiple challenges faced by brick and mortar booksellers, and the squabbles over e-book pricing -- you would think the book industry was in crisis. But sales figures suggest otherwise. Increasingly, this churning appears to be an integral feature of a steady process of transformation in the digital age.
from: The Atlantic
by: Peter Osnos
With all the upheaval in bookselling over the past decade -- the surge in online ordering, the multiple challenges faced by brick and mortar booksellers, and the squabbles over e-book pricing -- you would think the book industry was in crisis. But sales figures suggest otherwise. Increasingly, this churning appears to be an integral feature of a steady process of transformation in the digital age.
The Association of American Publishers released 2012 sales figures, showing a substantial increase in overall totals. Sorting out the numbers (there is additional data on the AAP website), the net gain was 7.4 percent over the previous year, which amounts to an additional $451 million in revenue, reaching $6.533 billion. The extraordinary popularity of the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy, published by Random House's Vintage division, and the Hunger Games series from Scholastic were major contributors to the boost. While there is a popular notion that book sales are being fundamentally undermined by competition from other forms of information and entertainment pouring forth from digital devices, these figures show this is simply not the case.
The percentage of e-book sales as a factor in the totals was up by a considerable 42 percent from 2011, amounting to $1.251 billion. But that rate of increase has slowed in recent months, and the prevailing view in the industry is that the digital reading pattern will settle, at least for the time being, somewhere around 20-25 percent of overall volume. Nonetheless, the impact of devices--e-readers, tablets and smartphones from Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Kobo, Nook, Microsoft, and others--is unquestionably transforming how publishers view their lists. The process of acquisitions now assumes that e-books--with generally lower prices than print books, but without the rate of returns of unsold inventory that have been such a burden on revenues in the past--are an essential part of budgeting.
Publishers Lunch, a particularly savvy analyst and monitor of industry output, reported that book returns were down by $318 million last year: "That's the greater efficiency of digital and online sales at work, seen in the positive earnings report at many publishers."
Another aspect of encouraging activity in recent weeks has been spirited bidding for nonfiction books (I can't claim to follow the fiction market), with auctions involving as many as ten publishers and results well up into the six-figure range. There is always a competitive edge for leading titles, but this spring reflects particular determination to bring in stories with upfront financial guarantees that anticipate the books will be bestsellers. Here are three recent books on offer with strong narratives but without celebrity authors of the sort that would ordinarily drive multiple offers of considerable size:
- Stephen Richard Witt's proposal called "How Music Got Free: The End of An Industry, The Turn of the Century and the Patient Zero of Piracy," is the story of how the MP3 upended the music industry. Witt, who has a degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has free-lanced for Al Jazeera, turned in a proposal of about 40,000 words to his agent Chris Parris-Lamb. The agent's pitch acknowledged that Witt had "no credentials to his name . . . quit his job at a hedge fund to go to journalism school for the sole purpose of reporting out this story as far as he could take it . . . let's call him an historian of the Internet." A key element of the tale, as quoted in a Publishers Lunch summary, tells "of a single employee at a CD pressing plant, who by smuggling out discs in advance of their release date and leaking them to his confederates online became for a time, the most powerful person in the music world."
- Dan Ephron, a correspondent for Newsweek and The Daily Beast in Israel, is writing "Killing a King: How a Jewish Zealot Assassinated Yitzhak Rabin and Remade Israel." As Israel's formidable prime minister, Rabin was leading the way towards an agreement with Palestinian leaders for a two-state solution which seemed, in the aftermath of the 1993 Oslo Accords a distinct possibility. But at a Jerusalem rally on November 4, 1995, Rabin was shot by Yigal Amir, an Israeli right-wing radical. Rabin's death effectively ended the peace process. The book brings this tragic intersection of two men into graphic focus and the consequences since of repeated setbacks in the effort to find a solution to Israel-Palestinian enmity.
- Bill Browder's "Red Notice" is the saga of an American investor active in Russia in the immediate post-Soviet period (and ironically the grandson of Earl Browder, a one-time head of the American Communist Party). After making a fortune, Browder fell out with Russians, moved to London and left behind his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who was beaten to death in a Moscow prison. Browder's commitment on behalf of his dead colleague succeeded in having Congress pass the Magnitsky bill which placed restrictions on Russians with dubious human rights records. Valdimir Putin immediately retaliated against Americans, beginning with restrictions on adoptions. Browder's fascinating background, his exploits in Russia and the Magnitsky story comprise a compelling tale of many facets.
Among the other major developments of the past few weeks is Simon & Schuster's agreement with New York City's public libraries for a one-year trial at making e-books available to borrowers. With that pact, all six of the country's largest publishers have now launched at least short-term programs to provide e-books through New York's library system. For a good summary of the library agreements, read Laura Hazard Owen's blog at paidcontent.org.
For now, books in a variety of formats sold through a range of venues appear to be holding their own. There is never a good time for complacency--and this is certainly not the season for self-satisfaction. But the range of activity in the book industry is nonetheless, by many standards, robust and dynamic.
from: The Atlantic
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
From the New York Public Library's Tumblr, a great remake of the video for the Beastie Boys' classic "Sabotage," featuring librarians on high-speed chases through the shelves.
from: Boing Boing
from: Boing Boing
Friday, August 16, 2013
Library futures: Nipissing University, Canada
Traditional research methods are still in high demand, says Nancy Black – and library staff continue to play a vital role
Interview by: Claire Shaw
The Harris Learning Library is somewhat unique in that it serves the needs of a university and a college. Technology continues to bring rapid change to libraries in general and this library in particular: thousands of digitised resources are conveniently and instantly accessible to users regardless of their physical location, traditional library approaches are questioned, services evolve, and budget priorities shift. The need for information may not have changed significantly for users, but technology influences user preferences for how, when, what, where, and why they access information and library services.
Reaction to every action
Accessibility to academic sources has improved but there are some challenges which I prefer to view as opportunities. Many of us have observed the double-edged sword effect: for every action there is a reaction. The library profession grapples with this in discussions that strive to balance the traditional with the new territory confronting us. These discussions are not specific to this library and we share many experiences in common with our colleagues. We too have noted declining circulation statistics and changes in face-to-face interactions at the reference desk, which we believe are related to technological advances and the increased accessibility of resources.
Yet, as usage in one area falls, usage in other areas remains stable or has increased. Our library is filled to capacity and hums with activity – giving lie to the assumption that the physical entity of a library is no long necessary; libraries in their physical form provide a much appreciated haven and various amenities: access to equipment, study rooms, learning spaces, and in some instances cafes that offer another kind of sustenance for creativity.
Demand for traditional approaches
Although users are embracing digitised resources, they can be overwhelmed by the options, amount of content, and the multitude of resources. Navigating libraries' electronic resources for information is not necessarily as intuitive or attractive as using Google. Some users find ebook platforms off–putting and avoid them. Electronic articles are favoured, but many users dislike reading articles online and prefer to print articles to highlight and add their reactions to the content. Such preferences suggest that reading academic content online is not as easy or relaxing as reading recreational content online. Contemplating how much of the traditional could or might be left behind is more daunting to some than to others.
Moving academic libraries forward into new territory should be multi-faceted. We know that librarians and library staff are essential to seeking information and experiences', instrumental to academic success; provide instructional support, and actively collaborate with faculty. However, we must communicate a message that clearly defines that essential role.
Connecting with our users – in the virtual and physical sense – requires us to assess traditional approaches and find new ways to provide the service, while improving accessibility to research. Creating alternatives and enhancing access must meet the needs of the wide diversity of our users: international users, and those with physical and/or cognitive challenges. Many such adjustments are already well established, but recognising and anticipating opportunities for improvement continues to be a priority.
Future depends on library staff
Anecdotally we have observed the impact of the double-edged sword of change and identified areas of need; however, basing decisions on the anecdotal highlights the need to support librarians in their own research. Through more research, we can clearly articulate the user experience and effect change with confidence and knowledge. Building our research base will also strengthen our credibility with our academic colleagues. As we introduce change, certain principles must remain constant such as intellectual freedom, confidentiality of patron records, fair dealing, open access, resource sharing through consortia partnerships, and the contribution to society. These are traditional perspectives, but they are not antiquated ideas to be left behind.
Library administrators are facilitators in shaping the future of the academic library, bringing the needs of library users together with the concerns of librarians, library staff and colleagues. The future of the academic library lies with many, but ultimately depends on our ability to harmonise the seemingly contradictory and competing principles of technology, budgets, library space, services, copyright, and open access. We cannot lose sight (or heart) of the many benefits academic libraries provide.
It will seem clichéd to say this, but we are not seeing the demise of the academic library any time soon. These are exciting times and the library is vibrant and ever-evolving.
Nancy Black is the executive director of library services at Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, become a member of the Higher Education Network.
from: Guardian
Interview by: Claire Shaw
 |
| Harris Learning Library at Nipissing University, Canada. Photograph: Nipissing University |
The Harris Learning Library is somewhat unique in that it serves the needs of a university and a college. Technology continues to bring rapid change to libraries in general and this library in particular: thousands of digitised resources are conveniently and instantly accessible to users regardless of their physical location, traditional library approaches are questioned, services evolve, and budget priorities shift. The need for information may not have changed significantly for users, but technology influences user preferences for how, when, what, where, and why they access information and library services.
Reaction to every action
Accessibility to academic sources has improved but there are some challenges which I prefer to view as opportunities. Many of us have observed the double-edged sword effect: for every action there is a reaction. The library profession grapples with this in discussions that strive to balance the traditional with the new territory confronting us. These discussions are not specific to this library and we share many experiences in common with our colleagues. We too have noted declining circulation statistics and changes in face-to-face interactions at the reference desk, which we believe are related to technological advances and the increased accessibility of resources.
Yet, as usage in one area falls, usage in other areas remains stable or has increased. Our library is filled to capacity and hums with activity – giving lie to the assumption that the physical entity of a library is no long necessary; libraries in their physical form provide a much appreciated haven and various amenities: access to equipment, study rooms, learning spaces, and in some instances cafes that offer another kind of sustenance for creativity.
Demand for traditional approaches
Although users are embracing digitised resources, they can be overwhelmed by the options, amount of content, and the multitude of resources. Navigating libraries' electronic resources for information is not necessarily as intuitive or attractive as using Google. Some users find ebook platforms off–putting and avoid them. Electronic articles are favoured, but many users dislike reading articles online and prefer to print articles to highlight and add their reactions to the content. Such preferences suggest that reading academic content online is not as easy or relaxing as reading recreational content online. Contemplating how much of the traditional could or might be left behind is more daunting to some than to others.
Moving academic libraries forward into new territory should be multi-faceted. We know that librarians and library staff are essential to seeking information and experiences', instrumental to academic success; provide instructional support, and actively collaborate with faculty. However, we must communicate a message that clearly defines that essential role.
Connecting with our users – in the virtual and physical sense – requires us to assess traditional approaches and find new ways to provide the service, while improving accessibility to research. Creating alternatives and enhancing access must meet the needs of the wide diversity of our users: international users, and those with physical and/or cognitive challenges. Many such adjustments are already well established, but recognising and anticipating opportunities for improvement continues to be a priority.
Future depends on library staff
Anecdotally we have observed the impact of the double-edged sword of change and identified areas of need; however, basing decisions on the anecdotal highlights the need to support librarians in their own research. Through more research, we can clearly articulate the user experience and effect change with confidence and knowledge. Building our research base will also strengthen our credibility with our academic colleagues. As we introduce change, certain principles must remain constant such as intellectual freedom, confidentiality of patron records, fair dealing, open access, resource sharing through consortia partnerships, and the contribution to society. These are traditional perspectives, but they are not antiquated ideas to be left behind.
Library administrators are facilitators in shaping the future of the academic library, bringing the needs of library users together with the concerns of librarians, library staff and colleagues. The future of the academic library lies with many, but ultimately depends on our ability to harmonise the seemingly contradictory and competing principles of technology, budgets, library space, services, copyright, and open access. We cannot lose sight (or heart) of the many benefits academic libraries provide.
It will seem clichéd to say this, but we are not seeing the demise of the academic library any time soon. These are exciting times and the library is vibrant and ever-evolving.
Nancy Black is the executive director of library services at Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, become a member of the Higher Education Network.
from: Guardian
Thursday, August 15, 2013
3-D printing: Public libraries' latest step into the digital world
by: Hector Tobar
You never know when you’ll need a 3-D printer.
They can cost anywhere from $400 to $25,000, which is a bit much if you’re trying to “print” (somehow, that seems like the wrong verb) a plastic cookie-cutter you’ve downloaded off the Internet or a kids’ toy, two popular uses.
But if you live in Washington, D.C., or Cleveland, you can stop by your local public library and use one for a small fee.
Public libraries have been trying to find all sorts of ways to stay "relevant" in the modern, digital age. (This blogger thinks that providing access to the two millenniums of human knowledge stored in that archaic information system called “the printed book” will always keep them relevant, but I digress). Washington has launched a Digital Commons at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, which also boasts a Skype station and an Espresso Book Machine that allows patrons to self-publish their books, according to the website Mashable.
Now 3-D printing is the “rock star” of the Digitial Commons, manager Nicholas Kerelchuck told the Washington Post. Kerelechuck told the Post that using the printer (it requires a bit of training, which the library offers), is helping patrons expand their minds.
“They’re learning math skills, engineering skill, hard science skills,” he said. “This is future job experience. I think that in 10 years if someone has experience using a 3-D printer, they are far ahead of the curve.”
There’s a $1 base fee to use the printer, plug 5 cents per gram (about the weight of a dollar bill) for whatever you print, Mashable says.
Over in Cleveland, the 3-D printer is part of a public library initiative called the TechToyBox.
from: LA Times
You never know when you’ll need a 3-D printer.
They can cost anywhere from $400 to $25,000, which is a bit much if you’re trying to “print” (somehow, that seems like the wrong verb) a plastic cookie-cutter you’ve downloaded off the Internet or a kids’ toy, two popular uses.
But if you live in Washington, D.C., or Cleveland, you can stop by your local public library and use one for a small fee.
Public libraries have been trying to find all sorts of ways to stay "relevant" in the modern, digital age. (This blogger thinks that providing access to the two millenniums of human knowledge stored in that archaic information system called “the printed book” will always keep them relevant, but I digress). Washington has launched a Digital Commons at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, which also boasts a Skype station and an Espresso Book Machine that allows patrons to self-publish their books, according to the website Mashable.
Now 3-D printing is the “rock star” of the Digitial Commons, manager Nicholas Kerelchuck told the Washington Post. Kerelechuck told the Post that using the printer (it requires a bit of training, which the library offers), is helping patrons expand their minds.
“They’re learning math skills, engineering skill, hard science skills,” he said. “This is future job experience. I think that in 10 years if someone has experience using a 3-D printer, they are far ahead of the curve.”
There’s a $1 base fee to use the printer, plug 5 cents per gram (about the weight of a dollar bill) for whatever you print, Mashable says.
Over in Cleveland, the 3-D printer is part of a public library initiative called the TechToyBox.
from: LA Times
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Lambeth's library app challenges residents to make tough choices
The council has found a new way of engaging with residents — asking them to decide where money should be spent
by: Ben Cook
When you want to consult your residents, do you make them walk through the wind and rain on a winter evening to a draughty community centre? Or are you one of the burgeoning number of councils using apps to gather residents' views?
Around the country, local authorities are using technology to make consultations more enticing and encourage younger people to take part.
One award-winning example is in Lambeth, whose library challenge apprecently won an award for digital innovation in public services. The app challenges users to spend a £200,000 budget on local libraries. By sliding a tab across the screen, people can allot the money to different parts of the library service such as staff, books, e-books, running-costs and repairs.
"We wanted a new way of engaging with residents, especially as libraries are such an emotive issue nationally," explains Gareth Edmundson, the council's cooperative services manager, who says Lambeth wanted to get away from "top-down" consultations in draughty halls, and instead enable people to engage with the council while going to work on the bus, or using their smart phones.
Lambeth resident Priscilla Baines, who used the app at Durning Library in Kennington, says it was simple to navigate and provided an insight into the challenges involved in running a library on a limited budget. "It forces people to recognise that if you have a fixed budget you have to make difficult choices," she says. "I think this will make dialogue with the council more constructive."
Local authorities in Scotland and Norfolk are interested in Lambeth's library challenge app and Ben Matthews, head of communications at Futuregov, says creating apps is a burgeoning area for local authorities. Surrey council, for instance, has developed an "elections dashboard" app to provide residents with information about county council elections.
Matthews says Lambeth's library app is "a good creative idea" and he likes the fact that people can share it via social media but he does not think apps are a panacea for consultation. "People who want to use a library may not have internet access at home," he says. "Councils should consider whether there is a wider-reaching way [of consulting]."
But Lambeth's Edmundson remains an apps enthusiast. Insights from the app will inform how the council stocks libraries and it now plans to develop a similar app to consult on funding for local parks and open spaces.
He believes the app, which he and Lambeth's director of commissioning Adrian Smith came up with together, will also facilitate more effective engagement with young people. "Questionnaires put young people off," says Edmundson. "But kids love interacting on iPads."
Edmundson's advice on app-building is to leave software developers to come up with the creative ideas.. "We thought about using language in the app that would be pitched at young people but [developer] White October said it wouldn't work, and that young people would see through it if it looked patronising," he comments. "That was a trap we could have fallen into."
He also advises councils not to be afraid to take a chance, as they may find benefits they had not previously considered. There had been, for instance, some concern that the library challenge app would replace face to face engagement, but that proved to be unfounded.
from: Guardian
by: Ben Cook
When you want to consult your residents, do you make them walk through the wind and rain on a winter evening to a draughty community centre? Or are you one of the burgeoning number of councils using apps to gather residents' views?
Around the country, local authorities are using technology to make consultations more enticing and encourage younger people to take part.
One award-winning example is in Lambeth, whose library challenge apprecently won an award for digital innovation in public services. The app challenges users to spend a £200,000 budget on local libraries. By sliding a tab across the screen, people can allot the money to different parts of the library service such as staff, books, e-books, running-costs and repairs.
"We wanted a new way of engaging with residents, especially as libraries are such an emotive issue nationally," explains Gareth Edmundson, the council's cooperative services manager, who says Lambeth wanted to get away from "top-down" consultations in draughty halls, and instead enable people to engage with the council while going to work on the bus, or using their smart phones.
Lambeth resident Priscilla Baines, who used the app at Durning Library in Kennington, says it was simple to navigate and provided an insight into the challenges involved in running a library on a limited budget. "It forces people to recognise that if you have a fixed budget you have to make difficult choices," she says. "I think this will make dialogue with the council more constructive."
Local authorities in Scotland and Norfolk are interested in Lambeth's library challenge app and Ben Matthews, head of communications at Futuregov, says creating apps is a burgeoning area for local authorities. Surrey council, for instance, has developed an "elections dashboard" app to provide residents with information about county council elections.
Matthews says Lambeth's library app is "a good creative idea" and he likes the fact that people can share it via social media but he does not think apps are a panacea for consultation. "People who want to use a library may not have internet access at home," he says. "Councils should consider whether there is a wider-reaching way [of consulting]."
But Lambeth's Edmundson remains an apps enthusiast. Insights from the app will inform how the council stocks libraries and it now plans to develop a similar app to consult on funding for local parks and open spaces.
He believes the app, which he and Lambeth's director of commissioning Adrian Smith came up with together, will also facilitate more effective engagement with young people. "Questionnaires put young people off," says Edmundson. "But kids love interacting on iPads."
Edmundson's advice on app-building is to leave software developers to come up with the creative ideas.. "We thought about using language in the app that would be pitched at young people but [developer] White October said it wouldn't work, and that young people would see through it if it looked patronising," he comments. "That was a trap we could have fallen into."
He also advises councils not to be afraid to take a chance, as they may find benefits they had not previously considered. There had been, for instance, some concern that the library challenge app would replace face to face engagement, but that proved to be unfounded.
from: Guardian
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Small Details of the Library Experience Matter Most
There’s a new book garnering attention because it brings a new perspective to design thinking. What makes it stand out is that it’s a really small idea. Micro-small in fact. That certainly has a refreshing appeal when what usually gets hyped are really big ideas. This approach may be of value to librarians in helping them to think small – and we’re unaccustomed to hearing that sort of advice. I have to admit to being guilty myself of suggesting that it’s the big idea that helps our libraries get attention. If we intend to design a library experience based on achieving totality, it makes sense to consider all of the individual, micro-design elements that ultimately contribute to the total experience.
In his new book Microinteractions Dan Saffer encourages us to focus more on the small details that add up to the bigger moments of our user experience. In other words, the success of the outcome of the product or service is in the details. The microinteractions are the small elements of the overall process or service that can determine its unique features that make for a great experience. Microinteractions include functions such as silencing a cell phone, filling out a webform as part of a larger process (e.g., requesting an article from the library), or any small component of a larger experience. Saffer shares a good story about how a cell phone alarm ruined a concert because its owner didn’t know that the phone issued a time alarm even when set to silent mode. The design of that feature is perhaps a good one but its existence, or how to override it, certainly wasn’t clear to the phone’s owner.
There are four parts to the microinteraction:
1. A trigger that initiates it; something the user has to do such as pressing a switch or choosing an option.
2. A rule that governs the operation of the trigger; when a light switch is turned to on (the trigger) the rule states that the light stays on until the switch is set to off.
3. Feedback that the rules generate; visuals, sounds or sensations that let you know the rule is operational – such as the light that goes on when the switch is flipped or the visual cue that informs you the form was submitted.
4. Loops and modes that make up the microinteraction’s metarules; think of them as smaller helper functions that support the microinteraction, such as a sub-function to change the location for a function that provides a weather report.
As we go about designing different elements of our library services and products how could a better understanding of microinteractions and their part in the success or failure of a more involved experience help us to improve the total library experience. While I imagine that what Saffer mostly has in mind is our experience with interfaces and technology design – and that appears to be the case based on the examples he provides in the (free-to-read) first chapter. What I’d like to contemplate is how we could apply the microinteraction process to various areas of our library operations. For example, try applying it to a face-to-face reference interaction.
First, we need a trigger – something to get the community member to activate the service. As we design the microinteractive pieces, let’s remember delivering a superior experience is the desired outcome. What about something physical, such as a smile, big greeting or eye contact (or all of them) that sends a trigger to signal the initiation of a service process. Second, we need a rule and it should be natural for reference librarians. The rule would state that the librarian stays engaged with the community member until the request for information is resolved. Unfortunately, the micro-design missing in the reference interaction is follow up; we rarely know if the assistance offered actually solved the community member’s need. Third, the feedback generated by the rules would be verbal in nature, with the librarian providing oral feedback to let the community member know how the interaction is proceeding and where it is headed. And fourth and finally, the metarules would focus on demonstrating a research skill as a microfunction that supports the microintereaction.
You might be questioning if this application of Saffer’s microinteraction methods helps us to improve the total library experience. But if we can regard many of our routine activities as microinteractions within a much larger system, you can begin to see how designing each microinteraction in the individual service or product can eventually add up to the totality of the library experience, it makes a difference. It may also be easier to get there by focusing staff energy on the design and effectiveness of each micorinteraction that is incorporated into the total library experience. Perhaps the most valuable outcome from this new book is that it will get us thinking about service interactions – and designing them – in a whole new – and micro-detailed way. That, I think, is why Saffer’s work is sure to gather more attention.
from: Designing Better Libraries
In his new book Microinteractions Dan Saffer encourages us to focus more on the small details that add up to the bigger moments of our user experience. In other words, the success of the outcome of the product or service is in the details. The microinteractions are the small elements of the overall process or service that can determine its unique features that make for a great experience. Microinteractions include functions such as silencing a cell phone, filling out a webform as part of a larger process (e.g., requesting an article from the library), or any small component of a larger experience. Saffer shares a good story about how a cell phone alarm ruined a concert because its owner didn’t know that the phone issued a time alarm even when set to silent mode. The design of that feature is perhaps a good one but its existence, or how to override it, certainly wasn’t clear to the phone’s owner.
There are four parts to the microinteraction:
1. A trigger that initiates it; something the user has to do such as pressing a switch or choosing an option.
2. A rule that governs the operation of the trigger; when a light switch is turned to on (the trigger) the rule states that the light stays on until the switch is set to off.
3. Feedback that the rules generate; visuals, sounds or sensations that let you know the rule is operational – such as the light that goes on when the switch is flipped or the visual cue that informs you the form was submitted.
4. Loops and modes that make up the microinteraction’s metarules; think of them as smaller helper functions that support the microinteraction, such as a sub-function to change the location for a function that provides a weather report.
As we go about designing different elements of our library services and products how could a better understanding of microinteractions and their part in the success or failure of a more involved experience help us to improve the total library experience. While I imagine that what Saffer mostly has in mind is our experience with interfaces and technology design – and that appears to be the case based on the examples he provides in the (free-to-read) first chapter. What I’d like to contemplate is how we could apply the microinteraction process to various areas of our library operations. For example, try applying it to a face-to-face reference interaction.
First, we need a trigger – something to get the community member to activate the service. As we design the microinteractive pieces, let’s remember delivering a superior experience is the desired outcome. What about something physical, such as a smile, big greeting or eye contact (or all of them) that sends a trigger to signal the initiation of a service process. Second, we need a rule and it should be natural for reference librarians. The rule would state that the librarian stays engaged with the community member until the request for information is resolved. Unfortunately, the micro-design missing in the reference interaction is follow up; we rarely know if the assistance offered actually solved the community member’s need. Third, the feedback generated by the rules would be verbal in nature, with the librarian providing oral feedback to let the community member know how the interaction is proceeding and where it is headed. And fourth and finally, the metarules would focus on demonstrating a research skill as a microfunction that supports the microintereaction.
You might be questioning if this application of Saffer’s microinteraction methods helps us to improve the total library experience. But if we can regard many of our routine activities as microinteractions within a much larger system, you can begin to see how designing each microinteraction in the individual service or product can eventually add up to the totality of the library experience, it makes a difference. It may also be easier to get there by focusing staff energy on the design and effectiveness of each micorinteraction that is incorporated into the total library experience. Perhaps the most valuable outcome from this new book is that it will get us thinking about service interactions – and designing them – in a whole new – and micro-detailed way. That, I think, is why Saffer’s work is sure to gather more attention.
from: Designing Better Libraries
Monday, August 12, 2013
Hotels Add Libraries as Amenities to Keep Guests Inside
by: Amy Zipkin
Reading material in many hotel rooms has become about as spare as it can be — open the desk drawer and it might hold a Gideon Bible and a Yellow Pages.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
from: NY Times
 |
| At its library, the Renaissance Washington, D.C., Downtown Hotel has books about presidents and sports |
But some hotels are giving the humble book another look, as they search for ways to persuade guests, particularly younger ones, to spend more time in their lobbies and bars. They are increasingly stocking books in a central location, designating book suites or playing host to author readings. While the trend began at boutique hotels like the Library Hotel in New York, the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Ore., and the Study at Yale in New Haven, it is expanding to chain hotels.
For these chains, a library — or at least the feel of one — allows a lobby to evolve from a formal space to a more homelike atmosphere, one that younger customers seek. Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman for the travel, hospitality and leisure groups at Deloitte, said, “My general impression is that this ties into changing demographics.” He added, “Younger travelers want to be part of the community.”
As with any other change in a hotel, there is a financial angle. Room revenue in hotels rose 6.3 percent in 2012 compared with a year earlier, but food and beverage revenue increased only 2.3 percent, according to PKF Hospitality Research Trends.
For hotels, the challenge is to persuade guests to spend more time, and money, in restaurants and bars, rather than venturing outside.
The Indigo Atlanta-Midtown hotel, for example, has a separate space in the lobby it calls the Library, with books, newspapers and coffee. The Indigo Nashville Hotel also has a library-style seating area.
Country Inns and Suites, with 447 hotels, now has an exclusive arrangement with Penguin Random, called Read It and Return Lending Library, that allows guests to borrow a book and return it to another location during a subsequent stay.
Scott Meyer, a senior vice president at Country Inns, says the goal is to provide guests, 40 percent of whom are business travelers, with “something they didn’t expect.”
Since early July (a version of the program was begun in 2001) the hotel chain has offered novels by Dean Koontz and Steve Berry and other Random House authors, as well as children’s books. A corporate blog contains an excerpt from Mr. Koontz’s March release, “Deeply Odd.” The circulating books for both authors will be from the backlist.
Mr. Berry is enthusiastic about a new outlet for his work. He called it “the easiest, most efficient, carefree way to put books into the hands of readers.”
In June, the Hyatt Magnificent Mile in Chicago completed a renovation that includes a bar stocked with books and magazines and a small number of computers.
Marc Hoffman, the chief operating officer of Sunstone Hotel Investors, which owns the hotel, says he has also brought the library concept to Sunstone’s other hotels, including the Renaissance Washington, D.C., Downtown Hotel which has books about presidents and sports; the Newport Regency Beach Hyatt; and the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, where he says books about the Boston Celtics, fishing and baseball are popular.
“We’re creating spaces people can relax in,” he said.
Bookstores and Web sites supplying hotels report an uptick in business. The Strand bookstore in New York, for example, sells books to the Library Hotel and the Study at Yale, as well as to hotels in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, among others. Jenny McKibben, who coordinates the store’s corporate accounts, estimates that 60 percent of corporate business stems from hotels or design firms working for hotels.
Before the recession, she said, 15 to 20 hotels a year would call to order books. Now, with increased guest interest and newer technology that allows hotels to review pictures and title lists, the number of hotels ordering has increased to about 40 annually. “It’s a new luxury item,” she said of books.
Meanwhile the boutique hotels are personalizing a library-like experience even more.
At the Library Hotel in New York, where individual floors are assigned numbers from the Dewey decimal system and rooms have books within that classification, the hotel ran a haiku contest in April to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Steven Perles, an international lawyer practicing in Washington and a frequent guest, didn’t participate in the contest, but during a recent stay he considered his choice of the hotel. “Books are so much part of the appeal,” he said, although on an earlier trip he said he stayed in a room designated for Slavic languages and couldn’t understand any of them. Still, he gives the hotel high marks for its service.
Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., supplies books to the Heathman Hotel in that city. Authors appearing at the bookstore or nearby Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, who stay at the hotel, go through a ritual of signing their most recent work to add to the hotel’s collection. The hotel has nearly 2,100 books signed by authors including works by Saul Bellow, Stephen King and Greg Mortenson. Guests have access to the library each evening.
Some hotels are staging author readings. Ahead of President Obama’s second inauguration, Lewis Lapham, editor of Lapham Quarterly and former editor of Harper’s Magazine, read excerpts from “A Presidential Miscellany,” a book he wrote, at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington.
The Algonquin Hotel in New York is looking to build on its rich literary history with a suite stocked with books from Simon & Schuster.
On a recent evening, more than 125 people gathered in the hotel’s main lobby to hear Chuck Klosterman, the author, essayist and columnist on ethics for The New York Times, read from his latest work, “I Wear the Black Hat,” published by Simon & Schuster.
Mr. Hoffman said that hotel books could become a souvenir. He says every book is stamped with the hotel name. And he concedes that some guests may take them home.
“We hope they remember the trip, remember the good times and go back again,” he said.
Correction: August 1, 2013
An article on the Itineraries page on Tuesday about chain hotels’ adding libraries or book-lending as an amenity for guests misspelled the surname of a senior vice president at Country Inns and Suites, one chain that has added the feature. He is Scott Meyer, not Mayer.
An article on the Itineraries page on Tuesday about chain hotels’ adding libraries or book-lending as an amenity for guests misspelled the surname of a senior vice president at Country Inns and Suites, one chain that has added the feature. He is Scott Meyer, not Mayer.
from: NY Times
Thursday, August 8, 2013
New Digital Service Gives Library Card-Holders Online and Mobile Access to Free Movies, TV Shows, Music and Audiobooks
Now out of beta, hoopla digital will partner with public libraries across North America
HOLLAND, Ohio, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Launching a new era of digital access to public libraries, hoopla digital (www.hoopladigital.com) today announced public availability of its new service, providing library-card holders with online and mobile access to videos, music and audiobooks.
Public libraries across North America can now partner with hoopla digital to provide their patrons with thousands of titles – from major Hollywood studios, record companies and publishers – available to borrow for instant streaming or temporary downloading to their smartphones, tablets and computers.
"With hoopla digital, it is our mission to help public libraries meet the needs of the mobile generation. We've worked for years to create a best-in-breed service that is fun, fast and reliable. Librarians and patrons who participated in our beta gave the service rave reviews. With our public launch, we look forward to serving public libraries and their patrons across North America," said Jeff Jankowski founder and owner of hoopla digital.
hoopla digital's simple sign-up and attractive, easy-to-use interface quickly gets library patrons to their listening and viewing experience. Since on-demand content can all be enjoyed by multiple patrons simultaneously on hoopla digital, there is no waiting to borrow popular movies, TV shows, albums or audiobooks. And hoopla digital's automatic return feature eliminates late fees.
"Patrons in Seattle love the hoopla experience because it's easy and fast, giving users the ability to access content wherever they like," said Kirk Blankenship, Electronic Resources Librarian for The Seattle Public Library, which participated in the beta. "Our customers are excited to learn about hoopla digital – some even download the app right in the library to try it out – it's fantastic!"
As it emerges from beta, hoopla digital is used by more than ten library systems including: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Edmonton Public Library, Hamilton Public Library, Harford County Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, Orange County Library System, Salt Lake County Library Services, The Seattle Public Library, and Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and is expected to grow to one hundred libraries by the end of 2013.
"Streaming content is a big part of our customers' lives and we want to make sure we are staying relevant to those needs," said Robin Nesbitt, Technical Services Director of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. "With hoopla digital, we're able to expand our collection to many of our customers who are using our digital offerings exclusively. Our staff and customers are also happy with the app's seamless experience and ease of use."
To begin using hoopla digital, library-card holders can download the free hoopla digital mobile app on their Android or IOS device or visit hoopladigital.com. The service is only available to patrons of participating public libraries.
About hoopla digitalhoopla digital is category-creating service that partners with public libraries across North America to provide online and mobile access to thousands of movies, TV shows, videos, music and audiobooks. With hoopla digital, patrons can borrow, instantly stream and download free dynamic content with a valid library card. All content is accessible via hoopla digital's mobile app and online at www.hoopladigital.com. hoopla digital is a service of Midwest Tape – a trusted partner to public libraries for over 20 years.
SOURCE hoopla digital
RELATED LINKS
https://www.hoopladigital.com
from: PRNewswire
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
A Beach Library
by: Jeff
For book lovers, beach reading is just about as good as it gets. The only bad part is that moment when you’ve just finished a book, it’s midday, and you do not not not want to go back to the room or house or condo to get something else. But what if sitting just down the beach was a little library like this?
Designed by Matali Crasset with the support of the city of Marseilles, this little beach library has three covered reading areas and a selection of over 300 books to check out. With a steel frame covered in tarps, it’s portable, cool, and a perfect pop-up reading retreat. The library will be open through the summer season on La Romaniquette beach in southern France.
from: BookRiot
For book lovers, beach reading is just about as good as it gets. The only bad part is that moment when you’ve just finished a book, it’s midday, and you do not not not want to go back to the room or house or condo to get something else. But what if sitting just down the beach was a little library like this?
Designed by Matali Crasset with the support of the city of Marseilles, this little beach library has three covered reading areas and a selection of over 300 books to check out. With a steel frame covered in tarps, it’s portable, cool, and a perfect pop-up reading retreat. The library will be open through the summer season on La Romaniquette beach in southern France.
from: BookRiot
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
The mini-memoir: a new and welcome ebook trend
Howard Jacobson and Mark Haddon are just two of the authors taking advantage of an exciting new trend in e-publishing
by: Anna Baddeley
It may surprise readers of Howard Jacobson's latest novel, Zoo Time, a thinly disguised rant against modern literature, to learn that its famously fogeyish author has written an ebook. The Swag Man, published by American Jewish magazine Tablet, is a 31-page mini-memoir combining childhood tales of 1940s and 50s Manchester with a portrait of Frank Cohen, the multi-millionaire art collector who started his career working for Jacobson's market-trader father. A lovely little book, it serves up a fascinating slice of social history peppered with its author's trademark droll humour. Before reading The Swag Man, I wouldn't have classed myself as a diehard Jacobson fan, but now I wish he'd write a full-length memoir.
Another novelist embracing the mini-memoir is Mark Haddon. Swimming and Flying (Kindle Singles), which started off as a talk he gave at literary festivals, is a kind of lyric essay: a mishmash of personal recollections, poetry, nature writing and random observations about the universe. Haddon is charming company, whether he's remembering being caned at boarding school, confessing to a fear of flying or telling an anecdote about a fan who offered him her daughter's hand in marriage.
Also worth downloading is Falling (Byliner), a devastating 95-page account of a toxic marriage by Alexandra Fuller, author of the much-admired memoirs, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Other notable mini-memoirs include Sam Leith's Going Nowhere: A Life in Six Videogames (Kindle Singles), mentioned in this column earlier this year, and Denial, about American journalist Jonathan Rauch's struggle to accept being gay. Like Howard Jacobson's ebook, Denial was commissioned by a new e-publishing imprint from a magazine, in this case The Atlantic. An exciting trend in journalism that one hopes will soon take off over here.
from: Guardian
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