LYNN M. PIOTROWICZ, M.A., M.L.S.

CAVEAT 1. I went to a vocational high school and studied computer science/programming (1978-1982). In the suite that housed the computer department there were three class rooms, a lab, and a computer center which was as large as the lower level of the TFL, temperature controlled to 58 degrees, and housed enough memory on tapes to fill less than 1/10000 the space on our basic cell phone! I learned programming (which is where I probably learned more about the logical sequencing of projects) more than anything. When I was at Pitt in 1992, the Internet was still a black DOS screen with blue or green text. My first cell phone came in a shoe box sized carrying case. I owned a PDA! and read Project Gutenburg Books before it was cool to read those Classics.

CAVEAT 2. Six months ago I didn’t see the need for any device. But, you are talking to one of the converted. It started with the Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 and has now included a Samsung Galaxy S III smart phone! I read everywhere! I read books, I read magazines, I read blogs, I read articles on my Google Reader account, my Pulse account, and my Next Issue account, and did I mention that I read books… I access my work files through Google Docs or my Evernote Account or if I am feeling especially efficient I go “LOGMEIN” to my laptop and access all my work files. Did I mention that I read books?… I try to imagine what it would have been like to read Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code on a tablet. Instead of waiting until I arrived at work to pull a giant art history book off the shelf, I could have “Googled” the Last Supper! When I saw my 13 year nephew reading Michio Kaku, I decided to try to have something to talk with him about. After struggling through the hardcopy of “Physics of the Future” I can’t help but wonder how much easier it would have been if I could have clarified some of his terminology and concepts with an Internet search… Oh yeah, and let’s talk about Netflix and Direct TV, I can basically watch anything I want anywhere, anytime, anyplace (well as long as there is WiFi) that I want. And games, my nephew and I played games on our tablets/ipods TOGETHER all the way to and from NH to NC and back! Did I mention that I read books?

FACT: in January, February, and March of this year we had people contacting the library asking why they could no longer access their downloadable content.

· Library cards must be renewed during that 3 month period of time

· Because their library cards needed renewal, they were not authenticated users

· Many of these people ARE NOT physical patrons but virtual consumers of our library

“According to the new Patron Profiles report from Library Journal and Bowker, 28% of library patrons want to download e-books at their local libraries. That number increases when it comes to library patrons who also read e-books: nearly two-thirds of those want e-books available at their local libraries. Digital patrons, those patrons who have a smartphone, e-reader or tablet computer, are more active in the library than every other kind of patron across all library activities. From the report: Currently, 12% of library patrons own tablets, 16% own ereaders, and 28% own smartphones.” By Jeremy Greenfield, Editorial Director, Digital Book World

FACT: The virtual consumer is impacting our library

“In the past year, libraries have seen a sharp growth in e-book borrowing. Libraries need to offer electronic books to remain relevant today...” Diane Rehm Show, August 28, 2012.

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-08-28/e-books-and-libraries

· In 2011 a total of 1776 downloadable items were checked out

§ 18% EPub Titles

§ 6% Kindle Titles

§ 61% Windows Media Audio Books

§ 18% Apple Audio Books

· In the first 8 months of this year 1949 downloadable items were checked out. If this trend continues, we can expect to circulate 2923 downloadable items in 2012(almost 10% of our total circulation)!

§ 26% EPub Titles

§ 27% Kindle Titles

§ 8% Advantage Titles

§ 33% Windows Media Audio Books

§ 15% Apple Audio Books

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/library-patrons-want-e-books-over-every-other-downloadable-media/

Comments from listeners of the Diane Rehm show. Similar comments have been expressed by TFL Patrons:

ü I like the eReader for convenience of having multiple books available to me at any given time. I also like that I can size the font so easily (as my eyes are getting older). The fact that the libraries are now offering eBooks is great.

ü The industry is so interested in their old business models that they are unwilling to keep with the possibilities of new technology. I love the idea that my local library would again begin relevant.

ü As a 72 year old retired academic librarian who has to deal with acute nearsightedness and glaucoma, I greatly appreciate the fact that e books allow me to enlarge the print of the material I am reading to whatever size required.

ü Started using a Kindle earlier this year. I find that I am reading the books more thoroughly, maybe because it isn't so easy to skip through a part of the book that doesn't completely engage me. I have been checking out library ebooks since day one of having the Kindle.

ü LOVE reading library books on my e-reader! (I have a Sony reader and a Samsung tablet.) I love being able to change font size...love being able to take a "pile" of books with me when I travel. I greatly appreciate using the library so I can access a wide variety of books. Thank you to libraries for offering this service. Publishers, wake up, libraries introduce people to books which they may want to buy later...

FACT: While the State Library has done an excellent job building the general audio downloadable program, Overdrive has not offered the services promised with their Advantage Program. The titles they offer are expensive and the interface they use does not allow us to adequately promote the titles that we have purchased exclusively for our patrons.

or "Dorothy we're not in Kansas anymore."

“Many library patrons are frustrated with the limited availability of titles and long waiting lists. And some buy a copy of the e-book anyway.” Diane Rehm Show, August 28, 2012

· Just bought a Nook for reading books and magazines but find that there are too few books on Overdrive. I ended up at the bricks and mortar library yesterday to check out some books. PLEASE give us more e-books! I also download audio books all the time from the library, great service!

FACT: Increasingly limited availability of books on CD coupled with a terrible medium for long-term, repetitive quality playback, has motivated us to direct more of our patrons to downloadable audio books.

· Once the primary mode for downloadable content, audio book circulation has decreased from 79% of total downloads in 2011 to 48% thus far this year.

E-Readers in NH Libraries

After browsing the websites of several NH libraries that offer E-Readers for patrons to borrow it appears that most libraries are loading an assortment of titles on their devices. Some allow downloads to be added from NH Downloadable Books, others don’t. The results are summarized below.

The libraries that pre-loaded titles are offered and assortment of fiction and non-fiction, classics and popular titles as well as young adult choices.

Library	Pre-loaded Titles	Downloads Allowed

Amherst	yes	didn't say

Conway	yes	no

Hollis	yes	no

Hooksett	yes	yes

Jackson	no	yes

Madison	no	yes

North Hampton	yes	yes

Portsmouth	yes	no

Stratham	yes	yes

Sunapee	yes	no

Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!

The greatest issue is the number of hardware/software options available to download ebooks .... oh yeah, and the cost too!

Cost comparison of NYTimes Bestsellers across Amazon, Content Reserve, and Axis 360 (p.s. check out the availabilty too!)

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?

https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=SEFLIN&WebCode=2012virtconf

Well, this has been a question burning a hole in my noggin for the last month or so. I am having this major philosophical dilemma, should we provide access to the readers or the books? I even found a great quote to justify my argument to buy e-readers:

"The goal is to provide library patrons with opportunities to gain familiarity and comfort with new technology that allows them to make use of alternative methods of enjoying the written and spoken word and to more fully explore the Internet and its vast resources." "Expanding Access to Devices, Collections, and Services" in Bridging the Digital Divide with Mobile Services, Andromeda Yelton, page 22.

I contacted Freading, I contacted B&T about Axis 360 and sat through their 90 minute dog and pony show, I contacted local libraries who have these products... the bottom line, no one is particularly happy with any of the interfaces out there.

CONTENT VS HARDWARE=DILEMMA

It just so happened that while going through all these deliberations that I received in my inbox a flyer from SEFLIN (Southeast Florida Library Information Network) announcing a program about eBooks! Imagine my surprise when I read the flyer and found that the speakers were all going to discuss eBooks and how libraries across the country are dealing with the content and all for $25! I signed up!

I have summarized the content of the presentations for my colleagues in NH. Full program description and speak bios can be found at:

http://nova.campusguides.com/content.php?pid=334006&sid=2731941

The first speaker Stephen Abrams from Gale Cengage Learning discussed the future of ebooks and the challenges public libraries face.   He calls upon librarians to change how we think about reading and ask ourselves to ask the questions:

“What is the experience” of reading and “how will it change?”

“What impact will these changes have on our patrons?”

Specifically, he states librarians must SUPPORT READING NOT BOOKS as books will become fundamentally more engaging. He sees the future of reading as dynamic with the merger of sound/video with print.

“Our greatest challenge,” he states “that there is no guarantee that the ebook scenario will play out to include libraries.” He cites that the current environment sets the precedent and the “walled garden such as Amazon” is not good for public libraries or patrons. He is especially concerned that the “walled gardens” could result in censorship based on the interests of the company. He feels that the only way to avoid this is by having publishers support “A Bring Your Own Device” business plan and it is the job of the librarian to “Build the Path through the Confusion.”

Chad Mairn of Novare Library Services borrows Alvin Toffler’s term “Future Shock” reflecting that there is too much change too fast. In his presentation “Getting the Most from Your E-book Readers and Tablets: Tips and Tricks” Mairn points out that for most first time users, the technology is frustrating and unless they can afford their own e-books, then the collections available through public libraries are frustrating as well. He recounts that they bring us their new devices and want us to load them up with books. They don’t understand the embargoes, the difference between platforms, licensing agreements that limit how many and for how long, or the limited collections libraries have to select materials from. THEY JUST WANT CONTENT, THEY WANT TO USE THEIR NEW DEVICES, THEY WANT TO READ, AND THEY WANT IT NOW! (Which is why the walled gardens exist and e-book sales have doubled).

Mairn wants librarians to advocate for ALL readers regardless of what or how they read!

Jamie LaRue of the Douglas County Libraries echoed the sentiment of the previous authors stating “We can’t give them what they want it’s not available or it is 4 times more expensive than the print copy.” In his presentation entitled “Swimming Upstream: Collection Development Issues and eBooks” LaRue recounts that the library is the last link in the distribution chain and that translates to a great disruption in the process of book distribution.

His system, the Douglas County Library System, has found a way to “vulcanize the user’s experience.” Directing users to books published by authors who are willing to work with public libraries, DCL has created an entirely new paradigm or business model. He feels that there are four streams of content that our patrons could have access to:

1.        Commercial Mainstream

2.        Indies and small press

3.        Local History

4.        Self-published

DCL decided that since there was little they could do within the commercial mainstream of content, they would design an interface that would allow their patrons to access indies, small press, local history, and self-published authors. So instead of crying “poor me” DCL has worked to create partnerships with publishers and distributors who value the importance of access for our patrons. The interface they designed is based on the Adobe Content Server and sits on top of their ILS so the patron interaction with the catalog is seamless. See http://evoke.cvlsites.org/ to see how one library is creating the future of e-content.

The final speaker of the day was Sue Polanka from Wright State University Libraries and NoShelfRequired (R). The main focus of her discussion was the concept of ebook licensing and access, now and in the future. She pointed out and reiterated several times that when we buy an ebook (anyone) you are not buying it outright but acquiring a license to use the item a set number of times on a certain platform. Librarians need to ask themselves is the ultimate goal of the ebook collection to BUILD it or ACCESS it. She mentions various business models that run the continuum of access. Again, she reinforced that there are many places where libraries and therefore our patrons can access collections, granted they are not the mainstream publishers that our patrons want but at least there is content for those people who are willing to give it a try.

Polanka suggests that instead of apologizing to our patrons for the lack of content, WE INFORM THEM why the content isn’t available. LIBRARIANS ARE NOT THE BAD GUYS HERE. LET YOUR PATRONS EXPRESS THEIR DISSATISFACTION! GIVE THEM THE ADDRESS OF THE PUBLISHER OF THEIR FAVORITE AUTHOR THAT THEY CAN'T READ ON EBOOKS! She listed those companies that won’t sell to libraries (Penguin, MacMillan, Simon & Shuster, and Brillance) as well as those companies that are willing to do business with us but with stipulations (Harper Collins 26 rule, Hachette 200% price increase, and Random a 300% mark-up for e-content).

Not only is the world of content a nebulous one, but the world of the hardware to read that content on is also problematic. She urges that libraries not purchase any e-readers that are not operable buy audio or tactile for ADA reasons. Siting recent suits against libraries and consortiums for purchasing readers that are not accessible, she cautions against Kindle and Nooks and instead look at other types of interfaces such as BLIO (designed by the NFB and partnered with B&T Axis 360). She cautions that there is quickly becoming a digital divide, something that was also mentioned in the Patrick Losinki article “A Call for Vigilance on the Ebook Front” published in Library Journal, September 1, 2012, pgs 26-27.

“After more than 100 years of public libraries circulating materials to users, we are no longer able to provide access to critical content that now exists in digital forms. As a result, two very distinct scenarios are emerging in the communities we serve. Affluent users in prosperous neighborhoods have universal broadband access, numerous ebook hosting devices, and a credit card with the disposable income to acquire whatever content they want. Low-income residents in poorer neighborhoods do not have this sequence of resources and run the risk of not being able to access digital content that will allow them to participate, compete, and contribute fairly to the digital economy/world. THIS CONTENT DIVIDE GOES AGAINST THE VERY PRINCIPLES THAT ATTRACTED SO MANY OF US TO THIS PROFESSION—SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY BY PROVIDING ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN THE BROADEST POSSIBLE CONTEXT.”

To address this concern, Polanka suggests a new model for the future which would involve consortiums hosting content to promote open access to content! She thinks this would be a great equalizer but also a long and painful process!

LYNN M. PIOTROWICZ, M.A., M.L.S.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Ebooks and EReaders: My Dilemma

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Suncook Interlibrary Cooperative Meeting

Utility Use -- Historic Electric/Oil

Friday, August 20, 2010

Piotrowicz/Osgood American Libraries Link & Book Information

Thursday, September 3, 2009

CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR GREAT SIGNAGE.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Tables and Statistics

CLiF Power Point Presentation