Digitization 101

Last week, Lee Rainie - director, internet and technology, Pew Research Center - spoke several times at Syracuse University, including two public talks.  On Oct. 31, Rainie spoke on "Trust, Facts and Democracy: What the public is thinking in these tense times" (#TullyCenterRainie) and on Nov. 1 he spoke on the "Reckoning of Technology Companies."  As always, Rainie came loaded with facts, graphics, and stories.

There is much that I could write about what Rainie said, however, I encourage you to look at the research on the Pew website under "Internet & Technology".  There you will find publications, presentations, datasets and more.  What I do want to focus this post on is Rainie's response to a specific question.

Lee Rainie has been a frequent speaker at library conferences. With that in mind, I asked him a generic question about "access to information" and encourage him to take that question in any direction he wished.  Rainie listed off several things (not necessarily in order of importance):

• People are turning to their mobile devices first for information.  Some of that information is being delivered with a geographic context to it.  In other words, you are receiving was is important to you in the geographic spot you're in.
• People are relying on alerts to inform them of what is going on. Alerts are a big part of the systems we're now using.  Relying on alerts means that people are doing less browsing.
• This is a rise in app usage (which goes along with the two points above), which also means that people trust apps. Trust was something Rainie returned to again and again in his presentations.
• People are engaging in multi-screen experiences.  This might mean watching the news on one screen, for example, while surfing/searching on another in an effort to make sense of what is happening ("meaning making").
• We're engaging in synthesized media experiences, which means that what we are receiving is being synthesized by someone or something.  "Someone" else is curating for us and deciding what we will see.
• We are interacting with technology more by voice (voice interfaces). 
• Print books - and to some extent print journals - have had a staying power that we did not anticipate. We assumed that digital books (ebooks) would become dominant, but that has not been the case.

One of the take-aways from Rainie's talks was that which social media platforms we're using is changing.  Usage is different by age group and area of the world (e.g., WeChat).  Some platforms, which we think are heavily used, aren't as popular as we think (e.g., Twitter).  Pew is starting to collect data specifically on YouTube and we can see from this chart how popular it is (U.S. data). If we are trying to deliver a message that we want heard, we need to seriously think of which platform the "receivers" are using.  For example, young people are turning away from Facebook, so if we're trying to reach them, we need to go where they are now.


My apologies for not having a clearer image of this slide.

Ebook publishers are changing how the license ebooks to libraries.  These two podcast episodes from Beyond the Book detail those recent changes.  As you might expect, the changes do not necessarily favor libraries or library patrons.

Tor Books, a science fiction and fantasy publisher and division of Macmillan, has moved to change its “e-book lending model to libraries as part of a test program to determine the impact of e-lending on retail sales,” reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer. Beginning this month, newly-released titles will not be available until four months after the publication date. The “embargo” practice has sparked a backlash by librarians.

“It’s yet another wrinkle in an already complex lending scheme that librarians must manage, and I think what is bothering librarians most of all is that [the change] came without warning,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“I spoke to Michael Blackwell, a librarian in Maryland who is one of the organizers of ReadersFirst, a coalition of some 300 libraries dedicated to improving e-book access and services for public library users. He called the move a ‘giant leap backwards’ for libraries and disputed the idea that library e-book lending is hurting Tor’s retail e-book sales.”

In what the publisher called “good news” for libraries and their patrons, Penguin Random House has announced that as of October 1, 2018, the house is changing its e-book lending licenses for public libraries in the U.S. The shift moves access to book titles from a “perpetual access” model (where libraries pay a higher price but retain access to the e-book forever) to a “metered model” (with lower prices on e-books that expire after two years).

“PRH top titles today are capped at $65 for a ‘perpetual access e-book license. The new top price will be $55. Lower prices are a good thing—but a $10 drop is not enough librarians say, especially if they have the burden now of relicensing John Grisham titles,” Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer, reports.

“What librarians really wanted from PRH was a choice. They want to be able to own a perpetual access copy or two for the collection at whatever price, and then add [more copies of the same title] to meet periods of high demand without having to buy more perpetual access copies,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“Much of what publishers do with library e-book pricing is about defending other markets, but I think that’s shortsighted and self-defeating. If anything comes out of these changes I hope it will be to kick up a discussion about why digital readers in libraries are treated differently,” he adds.

Christopher Kenneally recently did an interview Brad Turner, the Benetech Vice President, who is overseeing the company’s Global Literacy Program.  Benetech's mission is to help people with print disabilities and other learning challenges have access to materials in an accessible format.  Turner notes that 3% and 5% of the general population need material in an accessible format, which translates into millions of people in the U.S. and worldwide.

I found this conversation to be quite interesting. First, it interested me because because I had not heard of Benetech before. Second, I know how important meeting the accessibility needs of our community is.  Acquiring material for your library does not automatically mean that everyone in your community can use it.  The person may not be able to use the material's native format.  Third, I know that this work has become easier because content can be placed in a digital format or is being created in a digital format.   In fact, Benetech was founded by someone interested in pattern recognition, which is the foundation of OCR.

If you're interested in accessibility or how a rocket scientist got involved in making print accessible, then I hope you will listen to or read the interview. This 15-minute interview is available as audio and text on the Beyond the Book website.

David Ferriero and John Palfrey

The American Library Association released the 2014 State of America’s Libraries Report this week, which is National Library Week (April 13– 19). Yesterday I commented on the Academic Libraries section.  Today I want to look at the section on ebooks and copyright, which reminds us of what we already know.  Ebooks are gaining in popularity, yet it is difficult for libraries to acquire and circulate them.  Jeannette Woodward, who has authored books on this topics, suggests that libraries work together to negotiate with publishers, rather than acting like islands unto themselves.

This section of the report also reminds of us copyright news from 2013, such as:

And in November 2013, after eight years of litigation, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld the fair use doctrine when it dismissed Authors Guild v. Google, a case that questioned the legality of Google’s searchable book database. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin’s decision protects the Google database that allows the public to search more than 20 million books.

When this case began in 2005, it garnered a lot of attention including news articles, podcasts, blog posts, and more.  I don't think as many people noticed its conclusion.  Forbes noted that this decision is a big deal because:

• It adds to the small body of search engine law.
• The case rejects concerns about analog-to-digital conversion.
• Google Books is great. 
• The ruling extends Google’s market leadership.

However, a number of reasons also point to it not be a big deal, including that this decision is likely not going to help anyone except Google.  And...of course, it might be appealed.

This section of the report also notes two victories for those with visual impairments.  First, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) finalized the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.  Second, the ability of those who are blind, visually impaired, or have a physical disability to be able to download audio and braille books to their mobile devices, if they are registered with the LoC’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). Ensuring that people with visual impairments have the same access to books and other materials, as the rest of us, is a big deal. They should be able to access the same information as the rest of us.

Finally, I'm sure that others are looking at this report and writing about it.  My colleague, Paul Signorelli, wrote these two posts, which you may find of interest:

• The State of America’s Libraries 2014: Libraries, Community Engagement, and Learning
• The State of America’s Libraries 2014: Libraries, Social Networking, and Learning

If you find other blog posts, that are delving into the sections of this report, please let me know.

If you have not paid attention, then you likely don't know that there has been litigation over the consumer price of ebooks and whether there has been price fixing. In a Publishers Weekly article:

According to a recent filing, publishers have paid a total of $166,158,426 to settle state and consumer e-book price fixing charges, including an additional $3,909,000 to settle consumer claims in Minnesota.  (Full article here.)

Beyond the Book has a podcast on the verdict in the Apple lawsuit, which is worth listening to (13 minutes). The person interviewed in that podcast, Andrew Albanese, has written a book on this topic entitled The Battle of $9.99: How Apple, Amazon, and the Big Six Publishers Changed the E-Book Business Overnight, which is an ebook ($1.99).

These lawsuits have nothing to do with copyright; however, the price paid for an ebook does impact the copyright fees that might be paid to an author.

Before attending the Computers in Libraries (CIL) Conference, I went to the Sackler Gallery to view the Cyrus Cylinder, which is from 500 BCE.  The cylinder was important then because it communicated King Cyrus' decree to free those that Babylon had held captive.  Because it also proclaimed religious freedom and a respect for different cultures, it has been important to many since then.  Viewing this 2600 year old clay cylinder was a nice precursor to attending the conference, where we discussed technology, while each of us carried and used technology.  During the conference, I kept thinking about what we are leaving behind now as evidence of our existence and decisions, and whether those items will last.

Broadband Access - Internet access at CIL was the best that it has even been, thanks to the Washington Hilton's updated Internet connection.  However, we recognize that there are still areas of the country that do not have good, reliable high-speed Internet access.  On April 10, Michael Sauers (Nebraska), Heather Braum (Kansas) and Patrick Sweeney (California) left the conference and went to the Broadband of America meeting on Capitol Hill.  Heather blogged the meeting (here and here).  She was able to ask about the role of libraries, and remind those in attendance that we - libraries and librarians - have an important role to play in our communities in terms of Internet access and training people how to use that access. And while this was not related to the conference, I think it is an excellent example of taking advantage of where you are physically, as well as a great example of advocacy.

Digitization - I attended two sessions that were related to digitization.  The session on "Digitizing Archives" included one speaker who talked about our personal archives.  For those involved in digitization, this was a good reminder of what we know.  For those who are not involved in digitization (or still newbies), there were likely helpful tidbits, especially in regards to creating a personal archive (a topic that libraries can be teaching their patrons about).

The second session that was related to digitization was "Build-a-Book Workshop: Starting eBook Publishing at Your Library."  How do you create your own digital books?  One way is to digitize text created on paper by the library or users, or in the public domain.  Douglas Uhlmann didn't spend a lot of time on that idea, since his session needed to cover a lot of ground, but it would good to hear that mention.

Innovation - [This is a follow-up to my previous blog post on  this.]  The CIL Sunrise session hosted by Heather Braum, James King and I generated ideas on innovative actions that could be taken this year in order to remain relevant with a library's target audiences.  We captured some of the ideas generated with my iPhone, while other ideas where tweeted (and then captured using SearchHash.com and turned into a PDF).

 






Addendum (4/21/2013): James King captured these notes from the wrap-up of the brainstorming session:  

• Personalize the web site for each user
• eContent vending machines
•  open database access to the community with no authentication required
• Give up classification systems and let patrons shelve books where it makes sense to them
• Adjust culture to “yes” as a default, rather than “no”
• Kill failing projects rather than letting them linger
• Loan mobile devices
• Optimize to ePubs formats
• Provide iPod based content
• Make site and service more personal rather than institutional (apply a name and a face to the services rather than a generic organizational name)

#CILSU - 17 library and information science students from Syracuse University (SU) attended CIL.  This is the third time I've been with a group of SU students at a library conference, and I can tell you that each time brings me joy.  I enjoy hearing what is attracting their attention and what they are learning.  I like watching them as they get excited over everything!  I also like hearing from the other attendees, who often get jazzed from interacting with LIS students.  Most of all, I like knowing that these emerging professionals are making connections that may impact the rest of their lives.


Wrap-Up - I need to mention some people, topics and things that caught my eye.

• Michael Edson, who did slam poetry has his presentation Tuesday evening.  (A version of it is in YouTube.)  Michael, who spoke Monday afternoon and delivered a keynote at last year's CIL, has a lot to say and is worth listening to.
• Forrest Foster, who spoke on using Blog Talk Radio to interview people about learning commons.  His programs helped him learn about the topic and have been accessed thousands of time by others. 
• Robyn Andrews, who told a compelling story about how her academic library received iPads and how they have loaned them out.
• Brian Pichman, who is using really cool technology with teenagers and who brought some of it, so we could play with it!  (I'm sure the hotel could not have envisioned night-time laser tag on their patio.)
• Backdraft - a Twitter tool that allows you to write tweets in advance and then release them on demand.  This is great for speakers, who might want to tweet specific tidbits during their talk.  I could also see this for tweeting during an event.  Backdraft works on mobile devices.
• SearchHash - This is an online Twitter tool that allows you to search for and save tweets. You can see an example of it above. 
• Brent Leary, who was Monday's keynote and who spoke on community engagement.
• Daniel Rasmus, who was Wednesday's keynote and talk about the future.  He said that even though we can't predict the future, we should be able to have a robust conversation about it...and I like that!
• The future - Besides Daniel Rasmus, there was an important mention of the future in a humorous presentation on Tuesday evening. Yes, there will be a librarian uprising in 2017!

I'm amazed that I wrote 21 blog posts in three days.  These were mostly "live blogging", which means that I was really taking notes that could be published online.  My custom blog template does not allow you to view all of them at once, so here is a list for your convenience.

April 8 (Monday):

• #CILDC : Brent Leary, Evolving Community Engagement: What Would Amazon & Google Do?
• #CILDC : BYOD - Kateri Abeyta
• #CILDC : BYOD Policies for Patrons/Users and Staff
• #CILDC : Brian Pichman, Innovative Technologies
• #CILDC : Augmented Reality and Next-Gen Libraries
• #CILDC : Libraries, Archives and Museums: Collaboration on a Large Scale, part 1
• #CILDC : Libraries, Archives and Museums: Collaboration on a Large Scale, part 2
• #CILDC : Libraries, Archives and Museums: Collaboration on a Large Scale, part 3

April 9 (Tuesday):

• #CILDC : Sunrise Session - Enabling Innovation
• #CILDC : Storm Cunningham, Libraries as Community Revitalizers
• #CILDC : Management Metrics that Work
• #CILDC : Build-a-Book Workshop: Starting eBook Publishing at Your Library, Douglas Uhlmann
• #CILDC : UX (user experience) and Accessibility
• #CILDC : Digitizing Archives
• #CILDC : New and Innovative Tech (Tuesday evening session)

April 10 (Wednesday): 

• #CILDC : Daniel Rasmus, Uncertainty & Imagination: Evolving Libraries Through Technology
• #CILDC : Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA): Workflow and Perception
• #CILDC : SharePoint & WordPress: What's in it for Faculty and Staff?
• #CILDC : Evolving Tech Support to Manage & Discover E-Resources
• #CILDC : There's an App for that!
• #CILDC : Blog Talk Radio: Connect, Collaborate & Enthuse!, Forrest Foster

On Friday, March 22, I delivered the closing keynote at the Joint Spring Conference (JSC) hosted by the Academic and Special Sections of the Kentucky Library Association and the Kentucky Chapter of the Special Library Association.  The spring conference is generally held in a Kentucky State Park, many of which have small resorts.  Accommodations, therefore, were like being in a hotel, while being close to walking trails, wild life, and a natural calm.  The conference attracted approximately 100 people from seven U.S. states and Canada. I was impressed with the breadth and quality of content, including the poster session.  This is definitely a conference that more people should know about! (photos)

Since I closed the conference, I used my keynote to deliver content and get the audience to engage with each other.  This was a time to brainstorm, sometimes using content from other sessions.   And it was fun!

Thanks to the JSC crew for hosting me.  As always, the hospitality of Kentuckians cannot be beat!

Andromeda Yelton - GlueJar

Libraries value privacy
eBooks cannot be read anonymously.
They're read on a network, in the cloud. May need to authenticate to get an ebook.

Libraries value sharing
The license terms that ebooks are generally made available are not shareable.

Libraries value preservation
Most of the offerings do not allow libraries to preserve them.

Libraries value access to information
Access to electronic content for whom?

What about patrons that have their own technology?
What angst does that cause?

What  if your patrons are print disabled?
Are we serving the patrons of today or the patrons of tomorrow?

The future is trade-offs among our values.

GlueJar believes that it can support the things that libraries value with its ebooks.  Right now in alpha.  Trying to deliver public domain or CC licensed books. 

Ken Breen, EBSCOhost

Need to move ebooks boldly in the present.

Who is everyone that is interested in ebooks?

People on the buy-side

• Consumers
• Professionals
• Librarians
• Instructors
• Students

 People on the sell-side

• Book sellers
• Distributors
• Aggregators
• Publishers
• Authors

Now there is a tug of war between the sell-side and the buy-side.

Few people - if any - are pleased.

What ebook sales models exist today?

Perpetual lease / ownership

• 1 book, 1 user (at a time)
• >1, < unlimited (for an institution)  - Pay a bit more and get more uses of the ebook
• Unlimited use (institution)

Short-term subscription or lease

On the buy-side:

• What are the fees?  Long list!!!  Some have multi-year agreements and offer financing.
• Ownership or less + markup + fees

The cost of producing an ebook version is incremental to the print cost.  The actual cost to print is 15% of the cost.  The system needed for an ebook system is complex and does cost.

One-off platforms may not attract users and will require maintenance.

For libraries, the markups and fees are a barrier to entry.  EBSCO has been able to eliminate the markups and fees. The suggested price from the publisher, is their price.

Publishers need to understand the migration to ebooks is strategic - it's not a project...it's transformational.

Clare Appavoo, Ingram Coutts (Academic library vendor)

MyiLibrary platform

Purchasing models:

• Ownership
• Patron plans
• Consortia ownership
• Short-term loan (OCLC's ILLIAD)

Evolution requires flexibility

• Libraries want to mimic the print purchase models
• Sophisticated patron community are demanding better search interface
• Platform re-design t enable new tools such as changing flow controls, downloads to ereaders
• Publishing models evolving - both print and electronic

The future of MyiLibrary

• Trade content soon to be available
• Multiple platform content
• ore archiving solutions
• Classroom reader / ereserve
• Libraries advantage POD options through the catalogue

Mike Shontz, OverDrive

Leading multichannel digital content distributor
One of the largest digital media catalogues
Global sales channels
Focused solely on digital (founded in 1986)

Even with all of the sales, downloads, etc., the industry is still in its infancy.

Serve more than 18,000 libraries worldwide.

OverDrive sees themselves as an advocate for library rights.

Library challenges:

• How can my library satisfy the explosive demand for ebooks?
• How can we continue to serve our mission of connecting readers with books in this new digital world?

OverDrive sees libraries as "affiliates".  Buy-it-now...Libraries get part of the proceeds.

Allows for staff suggestions.  Integrate local ads and announcements, and other content.

Presenters are Beth Tribe, Maurice Coleman, Robyn Truslow, and Bryan Hissong.

Beth:

• Trained library staff to handle problems and answer questions.
• Offered basic classes to help people use an ereader.
• Gave classes before Black Friday about how to select an ereader for purchase (100+ people in two classes).
• Help people make an informed decision.
• Branches offer one-on-one sessions (2012).
• In one weekend, one branch had 60+ one-on-one sessions.  Lots of Kindles.
• Some branches are offering drop-in nights.

Lessons:

• Customers expect to plug-n-play.
• You won't be able to keep up with the technology.  Understand what you have and you'll still be able to help.
• Customers don't realize that ebooks are licensed and what that means to them/library.

Maurice:

• Diverse customer base from Amish to the rich.
• Created a display called "eBook Experience" where people could touch and play with them.  Each device was connected to the "island" with a security cable.
• Had device specific information cards
• Info for each different device.  Allows customer to follow directions at home for using Overdrive.
• Demonstration manual
• Dedicated computer to use with Overdrive (Adobe Digital Editions process)
• Customer survey
• "Learn how to download eBooks at the library" See a staff member for assistance."
• Included a custom logo
• Created lots of signage
•  Staff training
• Terminology
• FAQ answers
• Detailed demonstration instructions
• Publicity
• Articles in library's magazine
• PR
• Signage
• Advice
• Over communicate everything
• Technology changes fast. Don't sweat it.
• Give staff time to play (if you can).
• Get as much staff input as you need and can
• Technology is Shakespeare - Some staff get confused and forget their reference skills
• Extra set of stuff (devices)

Bryan:

• Created tech bars.
• People did bring in cable cutters and steal devices (which were tethered with security cables).  
• Like others...training staff is key.
• Need to keep staff educated.  Technologies changes.
• Devices could be borrowed for use in the library.
• Created eSOP - eReader Standard Operating Procedure

Left and went to another session in hopes of hearing Erin Dorney.  Did not hear Robyn speak.

My colleague, Kevin Crowston, is attending the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).  He has given me permission to share some of his notes from the short keynote address that Clifford Lynch gave for the Digital Media track.

In speaking about "digital media", Lynch "discussed how different kinds of media were evolving as they went digital. He noted that eBooks were still basically books, down to page flips. Journals are also digital, but journal articles look nearly the same. He suggested that the most truly digital medium was the video game, but that there was a lot of resistance to considering video games as the future form of literature. He noted that business documents had really gone virtual: e.g., the shift from a paper airline ticket to an entry in a database that doesn't even necessarily get printed out. He suggested that a real shift is the prevalence of personal libraries--people can carry around basically all of their music, books, papers, photos, and it's not clear how they are managing those." (quoting Crowston's notes.  Emphasis added.)

Crowston said that Lynch "then changed gear to discuss problems of preservation of the culture record. He noted that library special collections are important as a record of how a person worked and ideas were developed. [This is] Increasingly problematic as boxes of obsolete diskettes and obsolete word processing files show up. Digital forensics increasingly is about seeing how a machine has interacted with the rest of the world, vs. finding files. Similarly, a person's personal record is now scattered across multiple services."

It is interesting that we continue to create digital versions/environments (e.g., the ebook) that mimic what we have done for decades without the use of computers.  Perhaps it is that we haven't lived in the digital age long enough to understand how to take advantage of the technology in a way that is different than what we've done previously.  Maybe we're still too tied to the old ways, to imagine how to do things differently.  Could it take several generations of digital natives before changes occur?

With a more and more content being born and disseminated digitally, conferences like this one are increasing in importance.

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E-books and E-content 2009
University College London, 12 May 2009, 10.00 to 17.00
www.econtent2009.com

The theme of E-books and E-content this year is innovation – the new tools and techniques which have emerged in e-publishing which will impact on everybody involved in content creation and delivery. As usual the event will be of interest to publishers, librarians, content developers and managers, and all involved in the information value chain. It will take both a strategic view and look at some practical implementations of these new ideas which include the impact of social networking, Web 2.0 and the web generally, using search as a publishing tool and re-publishing and re-purposing content to suit different requirements.

The day will be led by Professor David Nicholas, Director of the Centre for Publishing and the Department of Information Studies at UCL, who will present the research agenda for EC-content, particularly focusing on how users interact with electronic sources in the scholarly sector. He will be followed by two keynote speakers with contrasting views of the future, starting with Ruth Jones, Director of Publisher Business Development in EMEA for Ingram Digital, one of the world's major publishing enterprises. Ruth has over 20 years' experience in the publishing, library and electronic information industries and brings not only experience of the publishing sector but until recently was Head of Product Development at the British Library. She will provide a strategic view from the perspective of a commercial publisher, and will be followed by Richard Wallis, the Technology Evangelist of Talis, the library and information systems solution provider, who will predict trends in web and IT generally and how they impact on our domain. Richard has spoken at many major international events and publishes a blog on all matters to do with information and libraries.

Subsequent papers will review in more detail issues such as Open Access models, with a presentation from Eelco Ferwerda from Holland, CEO of OAPEN, the network of University publishers in Europe; re-publishing and re-purposing featuring Emerson Samuels of Mark Logic, an international supplier of innovative technologies to the e-publishing community whose customers are as diverse as Elsevier, the US Army and the University of Toronto Library. Finally, social networking will also feature through presentations from Timo Hannay of Nature, a leading Web 2.0 adopter, and Dan Pollock, lead analyst with Outsell – the information industry analysts. Steven Flower, Technical Analyst with Substance, an innovative social research and communication organisation, will talk about how they have established a national programme of portals which combine content from multiple sources pitched at the difficult audience of young adults. PLINGS (places to go, things to do) is a project and network deploying multi-channel web technologies.

A plenary session chaired by Anthony Watkinson of UCL, will bring together the day's experts and others to debate what stakeholders can get from these new developments, what are the business trends and models, and what will be the impact on our customers and service users.

The event will be chaired by Hazel Woodward, Librarian of Cranfield University, with input from Anthony Watkinson and John Akeroyd of UCL.

Registration fee: £110 per delegate

Registration form: click HERE to download a registration form.

Venue: JZ Young Lecture Theatre, Anatomy Building, Gower Street

For further information, please email infostudies-conferences@ucl.ac.uk

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Technorati tag: ebooks

How will people read all of the books that are being digitized? I doubt that we know the answer to that question yet. Portability is still an issue (i.e., what device can your transfer/port the book to). This spring, I got to see someone with a Kindle and she really enjoyed it. While the buzz has died down about it, it's interesting to note that a person doesn't have to be anywhere specific in order to obtain a new book. No going to a library's web site OR going into a library physically. You can be walking down the street and download a new book to read.

Surely the mass digitization programs are thinking about the Kindle model as a way of delivering their content. Imagine that a University of Michigan (UM) student could be authorized to download and read any digitized book from UM no matter where the person was in the world, using technology model that Kindle uses. That would broaden usage and access.

The Kindle is the only book reader I've seen. Where I am, these devices have not caught on. People are generally shocked to think that someone would read a book on an electronic device. I've read books on my PDA while waiting for appointment and meetings, but that idea seems other-worldly to many. However, Amazon has the clout to make a book reader popular. Maybe it is a train we should jump on?

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Technorati tag:Kindle

A few weeks ago, I received an email that mentioned digital scrapbooking. We've all seen -- and perhaps created -- scrapbooks that contain photos and other memorabilia. If that scrapbook exists only in digital form, then it is a digital scrapbook. Yes, there are software packages and web sites on this topic, and even a magazine.

When we digitize, we're concerned about the original work and trying to ensure that our digital surrogate matches the original work. We carefully consider whether we should do any altering of the digital object so that it is more usable. Sometimes we do; sometimes we don't.

With digital scrapbooking, there is not the concern about being true to the original. I see people talking about altering the photos -- perhaps highlighting, editing, or adding elements -- in a digital scrapbook. These scrapbooks can become enhanced memories -- better than the original. Yes, altering materials in a paper-based scrapbook was always possible, but you would generally be able to see the alterations. With digital scrapbooks, you may not always know how something was altered. What you see is what you get, but are you seeing and getting what really happened?

With digital scrapbooks growing in popularity, undoubtedly at some point someone will want to donate a digital scrapbook to a library, historical society or archive. Besides thinking about the digital format and issues surrounding that, the institution will need to consider if it is receiving history or art. Is it receiving a scrapbook that documents history (in the ways we look at scrapbooks from bygone eras) or should it only be considered a work of art, since you're not sure if the history displayed has been altered?

I don't know the answer to that question. I do know that figuring out the answer is going to cause a headache for someone.

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Technorati tag: Scrapbooking