EBOOKS: THE NEW NORMAL

The opening keynote of the web conference, Ebooks: The New Normal, gave us a view of the current state of the ever-shifting field of ebooks in libraries. Ian Singer, Library Journal's Vice-President, summarized their recent ebook survey:

• Public libraries have increased their library offerings 185% from 2010 to 2011. That is in spite of three major publishers, McMillan, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster, not offering ebooks to libraries yet.
• 26% of public libraries are considering circulating pre-loaded ereaders or other devices that can be used for ebooks.
• There has been 66% increase in requests for public libraries that don't have ebooks to carry them.
• 48% of public libraries not offering ebooks say they will within two years.
• General adult fiction, general non-fiction and bestsellers are the top 3 categories for public library ebooks, but children's fiction is increasing.
• 75% of public libraries say new users have been brought to libraries by ebooks.
• The top three barriers to patrons' library ebook use are: 1) They are not available for their device (may be changing, now that library books are available for Kindle); 2) Downloading is too hard; and 3) Waiting lists are too long.

The keynote panel then identified some of the main issues libraries have around ebooks:

• We may go for the cheap fix without thinking first.
• Libraries sometimes have restrictive purchasing policies-- purchase orders may not be an option with ebooks.
• The stakes are high-- libraries don't want to pay a lot of money if something will be obsolete in a year.
• There is no digital rights management standard for ebooks, which leads to access frustrations.
• Patron & library concerns are different -- they may be more concerned with easy access than privacy.
• Libraries increasingly license rather than buy.
• We need to design virtual spaces as well as physical spaces--Ebooks don't always come with catalogs that are great for searching and discovery.

John Palfrey, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School, talked about his work on the Digital Public Library of America. The DPLA is a work in progress. They are trying to create a national digital library that would preserve our cultural heritage without being controlled by a for-profit entity such as Google. Other countries are ahead of us in this kind of project. DPLA is trying to create a Wikipedia-like community and encourage collaboration. They envision going across the country to digitize libraries' unique local collections in an RV called a "Scannabego". Computer software companies like Apple and Microsoft are already on board, but DPLA is trying to get more publishers involved, so they can create the right balance between access and copyright.  This article describes some of the issues around the DPLA.

In the program Ebooks: Strategy (not) Required, public librarians discussed their system's ebook strategies.

The King County Library uses browsing lists such as New York Times Bestsellers List and NPR reading lists as ebook discovery tools. They are committed to a 3:1 hold ratio. King County subscribes to Baker & Taylor's Axis 360. They like it because it is device-neutral, has audio and video, is good for picture-intensive titles like picture books and e-books, and they find the Blio software easier to use than Adobe Digital Editions. The main drawback is that it currently works on tablets, computers, and smartphones only, not on ereaders. They are working on having ePub files for ereaders soon--no word on the Kindle format, however.




The Richland County Public Library is very big on training and outreach, as they feel the greatest barrier to ebooks is patron ignorance of availability. They go out to businesses such as restaurants with a mobile lab containing a Nook, iPad, Kindle, mobile Internet hotspot, and laptop and do ebook training. Richland County uses volunteers for some of the training and partners with nearby libraries. They also have "gadget galleries" with coffee and treats, where patrons can try out devices. This training has increased their circulation of ebooks. Richland County is also interested in the 3M Cloud Library because it provides ereaders to check out as well as ebooks.

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library is taking a look where their circulation is falling and buying ebooks instead. We have always had to replace old formats with new--compact discs replaced LP's, DVD's replaced videocassettes, the Internet replaced the need for international newspapers and some types of reference books. They have found that patrons read different types of books on e-readers--they may be embarrassed to be seen with a lurid romance cover, but there are no covers on Kindles. Indianapolis-Marion County has not seen a decrease in the hold list for print books, just a total rise in circulation as ebooks are added.

 


I will leave you with some quotes from the conference's chat and Twitter to think about:

"Only 9% of ebook audience think about going to the library. How are we going to make ourselves relevant for digital content?”

"Crazy that publishers don't even know that librarians are doing the best market research - Readers' Advisory research.”

" We are dealing with a patron population that may be more tech savvy than our staff."







A recording of this conference will be available on the Intranet until January 12, 2012.

--Andrea @ Central

THE FOUNDATION CENTER NETWORK DAYS PART ONE: STATE OF THE FOUNDATION CENTER

At the Foundation Center’s annual conference, its president Bradford K. Smith discussed trends in philanthropy and how they affect the Foundation Center.

The top five philanthropy trends are:


1) Growing--There are more billionaires every day. The Gates Foundation is encouraging all billionaires to give away half their wealth. It is predicted that giving will go up 2 - 4% in spite of the economy.


2) Global--The wealthiest man in the world is Mexican. There are a couple of Chinese billionaires in the top ten. The Foundation Center is adding more international foundations to their databases.


3) Not just about giving money--foundations are increasingly using targeted investing and subsidized loans as tools. They also offer staff, advice, and long-term business plans.


4) Technology--There is an expectation that organizations will be available online, on social networks and through mobile devices. Online giving sites, like Global Giving, connect directly to donors with no mediation. On the other hand, only 23% of foundations have web sites and 76% have 4 staff or less, so they are still filling out tax forms by hand in some cases. The Foundation Center is encouraging foundations to embrace technology by requesting electronic submissions and suggesting grant management software, as well as showing which Foundations are using Twitter, Facebook, etc. Their new web site Grantcraft offers guides, videos and training for Foundation staff who want to learn about best practices in the field.


5) Transparency--in this information age, there is an expectation that information on who gives what to whom is available. The Foundation Center is encouraging this trend with its web site, Glasspockets.org.




The Foundation Center and its cooperating collections help both grant seekers and grant makers deal with the changes in philanthropy. To quote a conference attendee, “The Foundation Center assists doers who want to do better. If your org/enterprise wants to be the best it can be, you need the Foundation Center's resources and services."

--Andrea @Central

Inventing the Future by Tinkering with the Past: Roles for Reference Librarians

From the Reference Renaissance Conference.

Presenter: Amy VanScoy, Doctoral Student, School of Information & Library Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

“This paper reviews conceptual papers and research studies on these traditional and emerging roles. Using examples from practice, it also explores how these roles manifest themselves in traditional and emerging forms of reference. The goal of the paper is to articulate the diversity of possible roles, to explore how they might interconnect and to examine how librarians can use them to shape their work.” (Description in the conference program.)

Slideshow:
http://www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance/2010/documents/VanScoyRefRen10v2004.ppt#256,1,Slide 1
(Includes quotes from the literature that illustrate the ideas of the roles.)

Handout:
http://www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance/2010/documents/VanScoyRefRen10Handout.pdf
(Includes a bibliography of her sources for this presentation.)

This was an interesting session on the roles a librarian plays as she interacts with patrons, as reflected in the literature. She did a literature review, and then narrowed down her roles as they gelled in her reading.

Two big roles the literature discusses are:

1. Information Provider

2. Teacher - instruction

They are often talked about as if these were the only things librarians do and are often set in opposition - expert v. teacher. Often in essays, but not in research. Much of the research says these roles are both important and need to be played in tandem.

Other roles she found:

Communicator – There’s some talk of putting information provider and communication in opposition.

Relationship development

Counselor - Not discussed a lot, but in a couple of papers. Mediation was used in one of the papers.

Partner (with the patron)

How do these roles work together? Hierarchically? How much does environment affect these roles. How are they balanced? How much is personal style?

Inventing by tinkering:

Examining past roles
Reflective practice
Sharing with colleagues

She used the word “tinkering” because it implies a work that’s never done, as well as working with different elements and reflection, and mixing and matching and introducing new elements.

Melissa @ Central.

Survive & Thrive! Customer-focused Reference “Soft” Skills

From the Reference Renaissance Conference.

Presenters: Keith Unrath, Tamara Grybko and John Vittal of the
Albuquerque / Bernalillo County Library

“Knowledge of resources and search strategies is undoubtedly important to providing reference desk service. It is outstanding people skills that builds customer trust and confidence and takes reference service from adequate to excellent. The Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library developed a training to explore a variety of customer service scenarios: lonely customers, sensitive questions and customers who were unsure where to begin their inquiries. This workshop presents the approach and structure of our training so participants may offer it in their own libraries. A mini-version of the training will be conducted in breakout groups and then all participants will reconvene to share their impressions.” (Description in the conference program.)

Overview: http://www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance/2010/presentations/SurviveandThriveOverview.doc

Training Plan:
http://www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance/2010/presentations/SoftSkillsTrainingPlan.doc

Training Handout:
http://www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance/2010/presentations/SoftSkillsTrainingHandout.doc

This session was very valuable. They ran a mini-training for us, choosing participants out of the audience, so we really got to see the benefits of this approach to learning/refreshing customer service skills.

The discussion leaders would assemble a group (between 8 and 15 people – any bigger and people start fading into the woodwork, any smaller and there’s not enough fresh discussion). They’d send emails out to the group asking them to come up with scenarios along certain lines. The leaders would also have scenarios just in case, but they rarely had to use any of theirs. Then the group would brainstorm about the various scenarios and how best to approach them. Much of the content was generated by the group. It felt much more like a discussion than a training, and staff learned from each other as well as from the discussion leaders. The leaders said they always came away from a session with something new they could apply to their own reference practice.

The leaders did come up with concepts they wanted to be sure were introduced each session, such as the idea the great customer service could be learned; it’s not inherent. They also wanted to make sure to outline the basic behavior standards of the organization. And emphasize respect, responsibility, and relationships: the 3 Rs that are the basis for good customer service.

They recommend mixing veterans and rookies so you get new ideas as well as institutional traditions in your answers. They deliberately have across-branch trainings which keeps the sessions on task – about customer service skills and not branch issues. They so far have only run the trainings for reference staff, but it would be equally applicable to clerical and other front-line staff.

Praise liberally. Let participants know they’re doing it right.

For wrap-up & closing thank participants. Mention that there are always new ideas and Encourage folks to continue the discussion.

One of the points of the trainings is to help staff make situation-based decisions in a rules-based organization. Also to try to encourage people to see in shades of gray instead of black & white. Want staff to work to find solutions rather than purely enforcing rules.

Another point/benefit is to create a space for to interact on a more personal level. People make friends and become better colleagues. It builds a sense of team.

A basic assumption of the training is that staff work in libraries because they like people and want to take care of them. Not because they want to follow the rules. Knowing that the library system wants to have this discussion is as important as having the discussion. It sets priorities for the system.

You can use these trainings to monitor the state of reference in your system. Are you keeping up with all the RUSA standards? You can also use them to emphasize important trends you want to enforce with staff – ADA, the etiquette of working with the hearing-impaired, etc.

Measuring outcomes is a little difficult; it’s hard to measure outcomes in attitude-based training. They used feedback surveys. You could also use competencies to help measure outcome.

Melissa @ Central