tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33997099133070923532024-02-08T11:27:00.790-08:00Technically Still a LibraryHow Ebooks Are Making Libraries Into Cultural CentresAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06649764442690216920noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3399709913307092353.post-29134449685277761732014-05-29T10:54:00.001-07:002014-05-29T12:25:26.294-07:00Gimmicks, Guides, and Getting Involved<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the movie “You’ve Got Mail,”
Tom Hanks is part of a family that owns a fictional version of The Chain. He
jokes that their plan to draw customers/readers into the store is through
things that don’t have that much to do with books: “our square footage . . .
and our deep armchairs, and our cappuccino.” Although The Chain is the bad guy
for 95% of the film and these extras seem more like a trap than a benefit, it’s
actually not a bad point of comparison for what is happening right now with the
Boston Public Library. According to an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/us/breaking-out-of-the-library-mold-in-boston-and-beyond.html?_r=1" target="_blank">article</a> in the New York Times, the BPL
renovation will add things like rooms for teens to get involved with
technology, a coffee shop, and possibly even an area for static exercise bikes.
The aim is to create a cultural centre—the exact opposite of the funeral
parlour scene some still seem to imagine when they think of the future of
libraries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Boston Public Library (BPL)
is not only America’s first public city library, but also second in the country
in terms of the number of physical books. However, organizers of the renovation
project have no plans to use this long history and obvious commitment to
physical books as a reason to continue unchangingly until they are utterly
outdated. Their technology departments are expanding and Susan Benton of the
Urban Libraries Council claims that “physical visits and virtual visits are off
the charts.” The article postulates that by turning the BPL into a more
welcoming and tech-savvy environment will not only improve the spread of
knowledge and information, but also increase the creativity of those who use
the space.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think this is a fantastic idea
and a great way to keep kids coming back to the library as they grow up. An
<a href="http://www.bcheights.com/boston-public-library-will-undergo-renovations-to-better-integrate-with-city-1.3153988#.U2ZZPVfRuQJ" target="_blank">article</a> by the independent newspaper of Boston College mentions that people
aged 20 to 35 are the hardest demographic for a library to attract. I remember
using the library much more when I was a kid, then really only coming back as a
university student to get books for pleasure reading in my spare time. On the
other hand, I know that when some kids start to move away from books and
towards computers, they can become very solitary and introverted. If kids and
teens feel more inclined to read when they can do so on an ereader, that’s
great. If they choose to go to a local library where this is made available to
them in a common area filled with their peers and designed to inspire
and engage them, even better.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I imagine that giving children
and teens resources like these will help them become more independent and
knowledgeable about technology. In this case, what happens to that other
fixture of libraries: the librarian? The president of the BPL, Amy Ryan, insists
that libraries are as important as ever, stating that “people turn to
librarians to help them sift through the 10 million answers they find on the
Internet. We’re more like navigators.” Ryan’s point echoes what Barbara K.
Stripling stated in the WSJ articles about libraries as “digital guides”. What
I’m getting from this is that basically, every librarian wants to be the Hikaru
Sulu of the starship Library, piloting the way into new technologies where no
librarian has gone before. Boston College’s newspaper believes that the staff
of the library will more closely resemble those in the indie bookstore trade.
This means they will possess valuable, specialized knowledge, used to cultivate
exciting conversations about books, whether digital or physical.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can easily get on board with
this concept. In my mind, being able to talk with someone of authority on the
subject of a book you’re really curious about is a huge benefit of the
independent bookstore, and one that I haven’t really experienced since the closure
of my hometown’s (London, Ontario’s) Wendell Holmes stores. For the past year
before starting the publishing program at Humber, I worked at the bookstore of
my alma mater, UWO. Although the majority of our customers came solely for
their course books, it was always a pleasure when someone asked me to recommend
a work of fiction for them to read for fun. I began writing my own book reviews
on note cards and tucking one end under the book on the shelf. One day, a man
came up to the counter where I worked and, having seen my name under the
review, asked me to go into greater detail about one book, Michael Winter’s <i>Minister Without Portfolio</i>. He ended up
selecting the book as mandatory reading for his local men’s book club, which
made me feel very proud.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you have a passion for
something like reading, nothing is more gratifying than having someone
acknowledge and trust your opinion. This is how I picture librarians feeling as
well when they can perform the service of an indie bookstore worker instead of
being ignored, underestimated, or even let go from their jobs as their career
and training become irrelevant with the onset of new technology. I think the
mention in the New York Times article of increased creativity is so important.
People who read more create more, and I hope that libraries can continue to
encourage this outward turn through all manifestations of the written word.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06649764442690216920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3399709913307092353.post-10144167565027944122014-05-29T10:49:00.000-07:002014-05-29T12:20:58.209-07:00Digital Textbooks For the Lazy Learner<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the Public Libraries of the
United States <a href="http://www.publiclibraries.com/blog/are-ebooks-good-or-bad-for-public-libraries/" target="_blank">blog</a>, they discuss the practical aspect of carrying an increasing
number of ebooks in libraries. According to their post, the cost to libraries
is higher when stocking ebooks than physical books, and the selection is vastly
decreased. Like the WSJ article, the creators of this blog are also on the side
of improving both the quality and quantity of digital books. They make a strong
point by saying that whether the books are physical or not doesn’t matter
because either way, more access to books means more readers, which is a
library’s defining goal. No matter which form people prefer to do their reading
in, encouraging the pastime is a positive development in itself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After voicing their general
support, the focus turns to student book use. They (correctly) suggest that mandatory,
curriculum-conforming textbooks would be both less expensive and less heavy if
they were sold in an “e” format. I understand that there would be a market for
those wishing to carry a lighter backpack to class, but I have to disagree with
the idea that changing physical course books over to ebooks would be an
improvement. Having worked in a university bookstore, I’m very familiar with
what we call “Rush week,” when all the students (and their parents) pack
themselves into the bookstore during the first week of classes. Though we
actually have to create a line and stop people at the door to prevent overcrowding,
the number of students that buy their textbooks at this time doesn’t represent
the entire student body. Another unofficial Rush happens during the last week
before exams at the end of each term. Clearly, this breaks students roughly
into two groups: the ones who care about learning the material as they go
along, and the ones who think they can speed study a 500-page astronomy
textbook the night before their exam. I think e-textbooks would be great for
the latter group, but totally off target for the former. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serious students (I can speak to
this because I am one) like to read and reread sections of text. We like to
highlight and/or dog-ear and/or post-it note our pages. From here, the
necessity of physicality in the learning experience expands to those students
so committed that they have figured out what type of studier or learner they
are. Kinetic learners greatly benefit from turning the pages and folding over
corners to recall placement of key ideas in the text. I personally am able to
remember concepts and specific words in an exam by visualizing where on the
page and how far into the book they were. These are experiences that cannot be
replicated on an ereader because for certain people and certain studying
strategies, they just wouldn’t work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Less committed students would be
more suited to the ereader. Being able to purchase a book in e-format allows
you to access the text immediately, meaning students could feel an instant
gratification knowing that they HAD the textbook, but this wouldn’t necessarily
get them to read it. Knowing that, if they so chose, they could read their
textbook at any time would bring out the same inherent laziness which stops
that same group of students from just buying their physical books at the
bookstore at the start of term.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another pitfall I see in
switching textbooks over to ereaders has to do with the progression of the
technology. The Public Libraries blog states that having new technology
encourages children to learn. In some cases, this is true, but making the
generalization is dangerous. More and more handheld devices, even those
initially made to attract dedicated readers, are including games and internet
accessibility as selling points. I have no problem with this in general, but I
think it becomes an issue when students use those same devices to study.
Obviously, anyone can get distracted while studying and there is nothing to
prevent them from using their phone or laptop to watch cat videos on YouTube. However,
if someone actively makes the effort to minimize distractions and leave their
computer and phone at home while they go to, for example, the campus library to
study, an ereader that also offers Angry Birds almost seems like an unfair
temptation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A university library is less of a
cultural gathering place than a public library, and more of a last ditch resort
when you just can’t focus on your work anywhere else. I mentioned campus
libraries in the previous paragraph as quiet study spaces for dedicated
reviewers, but it’s hard to say what would happen if they, like public libraries,
began to incorporate ereaders for signing out material.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06649764442690216920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3399709913307092353.post-46376741516228845112014-05-29T10:34:00.000-07:002014-05-29T10:58:11.691-07:00Adaptive Librarians and Artificial Life Forms<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/02/12/are-libraries-overdue-for-digital-change/" target="_blank">An article</a> from the Wall Street
Journal’s “Speakeasy” blog opens with a statistic from a Pew (an American
research centre) survey which claims that 34% of Americans think public
libraries haven’t kept up with new technology, while 55% disagree. Although
these percentages probably wouldn’t be identical in Canada, I don’t believe the
opinions of our citizens would differ very much. If I went into the nearest
library to my home in London, Ontario, I’m 99% sure that it would look just as
it had when I was nine years old. It’s a small neighbourhood library and the
only technology available to patrons comes in the form of computers provided
for using the internet or searching the library catalogue. The only NEW
technology I’ve actually seen appear is the digital self-checkout, which isn’t
exactly going to change lives or lead young minds into the future of publishing
and books as we known them. I’m almost positive I could accomplish more alone
in my room on my laptop than wandering amongst the limited stacks and massive
monitors at the library.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
article presents a contrary suggestion. It claims that we need libraries, and
librarians, more than ever. I’d like to believe this is true. The institution
and the librarian are presented as a space and an instructor, where and to whom
one could go for help with unravelling the tangled ball of yarn that is
internet research. The president of the American Library Association, Barbara
K. Stripling, goes so far as to call librarians the “digital guides” of ebook
readers who may feel overwhelmed by the new technology. I am personally not a
reader of ebooks. I don’t know whether my own public libraries not carrying
this technology has had anything to do with it or not. However, if ever I were
to start checking books out of my local library on an ereader, I think a
librarian in the know would be a great asset. Librarians, in my opinion, seem
like trustworthy and authoritative individuals by nature. I believe I would
feel quite comfortable going to them on a device I was unfamiliar with as I
wouldn’t worry about being judged for my lack of know-how like I might be in
other locations or situations (e.g. at a computer store, or surrounded by
tech-savvy peers).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next part of the WSJ article
goes from the ease of asking a librarian for help with research to the somewhat
unnerving concept of drones. Choosing between the two, I’d certainly prefer to
have a librarian walk me through the use of an ereader than have Rosie from
“The Jetsons”/the robot from “Lost in Space”/Marvin from “The Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy” whiz over (or trudge depressingly, in the latter case) with
my digital copy of. . . <i>War of the Worlds</i>,
for example. I know I’m combining drones and robots here, but generally I’d
rather see ebooks as the future of publishing in libraries than a servile drone
who might accidentally roll over my foot or chuck a book at me from across the
library that whacks me in the head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the WSJ article hits its
stride towards the end. The writer suggests that another possible future is
with “living libraries,” which allow patrons to be in direct contact with
librarians or other possessors of knowledge, no matter where they are. To me,
this sounds fantastic. I picture it as a sort of interactive encyclopaedia
where, once you’ve found information from a book (physical or digital), you can
expand on what you’ve gathered immediately with the help of an expert. It’s
basically like reading an intro to, say, American modernist poetry, then
getting a one-on-one talk from Gertrude Stein to expound upon the concepts you
just read. The benefit of the real thing being, of course, the exclusion of
corpse reanimation. Maybe this sort of thing would be over in the drone library
across the street. The last idea I find interesting from this article is that
future libraries could be destinations for participation in cultural
activities. I’m going to pick this up later on with a case study on the Boston
Public Library.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06649764442690216920noreply@blogger.com0