Assignment 4 Option 1

Below is the text from assignment 4 option 1 for MLIS 7505

This past fall, I took a part time job at the Phoenix Public Libraries as a library assistant.  One of the first experiences I had dealing with a customer was dealing with an e-book question.  Up until this point, I had heard of e-books, but never really dived into the technology.  Through this question I was asked, I became immersed in a growing technology.  I decided to take trainings and explore how e-books work so I could be affluent in the subject to help our customers.  Working with e-books made me see endless possibilities.  I became so amazed with the technology that I took the concept to the Dysart Unified School District.  Through meetings, I embarked on a four month journey and successfully got e-books into our school district.  The growth of e-books is a prime example of a trend facing libraries.  This paper will discuss the concept of e-books, explore development of e-books, look at advantages to using e-books, examine disadvantages and obstacles of using e-books, and finally look at possibilities libraries have in regards to e-book growth and development.

CONCEPT OF E-BOOKS AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TIME

E-books stand for electronic books.  It is a digital edition of a book.  E-books development can date back to the 1930’s (Priego, 2011).  The concept of a digital book remained quiet until starting in the 1990’s when the internet became easily accessible in homes.  The internet made the transfer of files easy and thus companies saw great opportunity in pursuing development of e-books.  In the 1990’s Sony was the first company to develop an e-reader device with the Data Discman (Coburn, 2001).  While the technology became available, it did not really take off until the around 2007.  This is when Amazon developed the Kindle.  Two years later Barnes & Noble developed their e-reader device called the Nook.  These two e-reader devices were the first big push in digital access to books.

One problem with the e-readers is the device left little options to do anything but have digital access to books.  One year later, in 2010, Apple revolutionized the industry with the development of the I-Pad.  While e-books were not the primary marketing for getting an I-Pad, the device revolutionized the industry because of the ability to access e-books while being able to do other things.  This led to the further development of the Kindle Fire and Nook Color in that these devices now allow users to access other resources in addition to e-books.

Since the 2010’s, e-books have seen tremendous growth.  For example, Foasberg’s (2011) study showed that roughly 24 percent of college students reported using an e-book in some capacity.  Further success in the e-book industry can be seen from public libraries that offer e-books.  Bishop (2013) noted a growth in public libraries that carry e-books.  From 2010 to 2011 the number of public libraries that offered e-books to customers rose from 69 percent to 91 percent.  Given libraries have a goal to provide access to materials users want, this shows a positive trend in the amount of usage of e-books.

ADVANTAGES

When looking at e-books, several advantages can be noted.  The first advantage is the ability to draw more people into reading books.  Society has moved to an age of technology.  Many people have a computer, tablet, or smartphone.  In the technology age, users of technology have come to rely on the devices for everyday functions.  The development of e-books plays to this type of person because they can now access books on their device. 

Another advantage to e-books goes to the platform e-books run on.  E-books are able to be downloaded to the device preference of the user.  Instead of having to carry many books, users are able to download their books, access their books anytime, and only have to carry one device.  Specifically I can remember when I was a child and went on a long road trip.  I would take four or five books along with me on the trip.  With the development of e-books, I can still take those four or five books, but only have to carry one device.

This leads to an advantage of accessing the e-books.  For physical books, people have to go to a bookstore, a library, or other place to get the book.  They have to do this within the hours of operation the location has.  E-books allow for immediate access of books anytime during the day and from any location.  Springen (2012) discusses how people who have digital devices have grown to want immediate access to books.  E-books allow for users to have immediate access to a book and not have to wait for a convenient time or place to go to a store.

A final advantage to e-books is the logistics with e-books in regards to libraries.  E-books are a very durable version of the book because they can not be lost or damaged.  Therefore replacement cost are very minimal with e-books.  Also a great advantage is e-book policies are set up by an administrator.  A library does not have to worry about the collection of the e-book after the loaning period as the book is automatically returned to the shelf upon a designated due period.

DISADVANTAGES

With advantages of technology, there always seems to be disadvantages.  This is the case for e-books.  The first disadvantage worth noting is the cost associated with e-books.  For a user, a device would be required to use the e-book.  The device can be expensive especially if someone is on a budget.  However, it is worth mentioning that the devices required to run e-books are more common among society.  The other disadvantage with cost directly impacts libraries.  The cost to get an e-book can significantly be more than just buying a book.  Most likely the library would need to carry the physical book for those that do not use e-books.  Also there is a hidden cost to training staff to show users how to use the e-books.

Another disadvantage associated with e-books comes from outside the industry.  E-books tend to take profit away from the publishers and authors.  It is therefore that many of the authors are hesitant to offer their works in digital format.  Springer (2012) shows a comparison that authors typically get 10 to 15 percent of the listed book price.  However e-books work a little different and the publishers get only 70 percent of the sale price, of which authors get 25 percent of the publisher’s share.  While this seems better for authors, the fact is vendors can offer the e-books at whatever price they want, thus impacting the portion the author gets.

Present Opportunities for Libraries

As over 91 percent of public libraries have become active in the e-book movement, the opportunities for libraries would be in refining the technology.  One of the tough obstacles libraries face are availability of sources.  Due to disadvantages discussed, the big six publishers have changed limited libraries on what materials are available.  This provides an opportunity for libraries to do a couple of things.  First libraries have an opportunity to work with publishers and authors outside the big six.  The Douglas County Library in Colorado is a great example of how this is manageable.  According to Kinney (2012), the Douglas County Library system has partnered with local authors and small name publishers to provide their customers access to e-books.  If more libraries followed suit, this would impact sales of the big six publishers and could lead to actions to make e-books more widely available for libraries.

The other opportunity libraries could face is having negotiations about usage of e-books.  Each of the big six publishers have a different model in regards to e-books.  One growing trend is selling a certain number of times an e-book can be accessed.  In this model a library would be able to lend out a book, such as the Hunger Games, 26 times through e-book usage and then the license would go away or need to be renewed.  This leads to a suggestion by Kinney (2012) noting that a creative solution meeting the needs of the library and the big six publishers would be to allow access to an e-book and set up a system to pay for the e-book on a per usage forum.  This would also benefit the customers of libraries as they would not have to wait for possible holds on an e-book.  This may take negotiations between ALA and the big six publishers, but provides a creative solution worth exploring.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, e-books have been a transforming technology libraries have had to deal with.  The advantages and opportunities libraries have to use e-books, proves that libraries are able to keep up with a digital society.  This technology also shows that there is a place for libraries in the technological world.  E-books and other technological opportunities libraries are faced with require great thought, but prove to be a reason libraries will continue to flourish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Bishop, C., Visser, M. (2013). E-books? So what's the big deal?. Young Adult Library Services, 11(3), 4-8.

Coburn, M., Burrows, P., Loi, D., Wilkins, L. (2001). E-book readers directions in enabling technologies. Common Ground, 145–182.

Foasberg, N. M. (2011). Adoption of e-book readers among college students: A survey. Information Technology & Libraries, 30(3), 108.

Kenney, B. (2013). Giving them what they should want. Publishers Weekly, 260(9), 19-20.

Priego, E., (2011). Father Roberto Busa: one academic's impact on HE and my career". The Guardian London.

Springen, K. (2012). Are teens embracing e-books?. Publishers Weekly, 259(8), 20-23.

Recap of Technologies used for Class

I had fun using the different technologies for this class.  The Joomla project proved to be especially helpful in relearning informaiton that I had learned from my undergraduate degree 15 years ago.  Using the other tools such as Blogger and Twitter also proved especially useful.  I had prior knowledge in these two fields, but it is always good to refresh skills and learn practical ideas on how this could be used in a library setting.

My only regret for this class is that it went by so quickly.  I appreciate being able to do this class in a Maymester setting, but feel an entire 15 weeks might have enabled us to dive into more technologies that are appropriate for the library.  Maybe that is the "techy" part of me speaking, but I truly believe that academic and public libraries are headed in this route where knowledge of technologies present is going to be a crucial aspect of our job.

Particularly of use as well as the technologies was the discussion board postings.  The one thing I really enjoyed about MLIS 7000 was the thought provoking discussion boards we had.  This class exceeded that experience and having us as students being the moderator for one of the topics was a clever way to approach discussion boards.  I want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences and knowledges.  I really am going to be leaving this class with a wealth of knowledge.

Assignment 3 Option 1

For the 3rd assignment, I chose option 1, which was interviewing someone in the creation of a CMS.  I focussed on the Dysart Unified School District libraries.  The district has 24 libraries that serve students in grades K-12.  For the schools, the library websites are uniform with other staff of the district.  The library also has specific needs which are met with our library management system, so separate needs through the IT department are addressed.  Our IT department has two leads, one is the CIO (Chief Information Officer) and the CTO (Chief Technology Officer).  As the head librarian for the district, I work with the CTO in management of the specific library issues.  I initially set out to interview her, but was passed on the CIO because he greater experience and knowledge with the CMS for the district.  Below is a transcript of the interview.

Interviewer - Todd Simonson (TS)

Interviewee - John Andrews (JA)

TS:  What is your job title and responsibilities?

JA:  CIO (Chief Information Officer)  Oversee the technology development and IT personnel for the district.

TS:  How and where did you hear about CMS?

JA:  CMS has been around for quite a while.  It is now more popular because of Google, Microsoft, and Apple developments.

TS:  What CMS is adopted for the district.

JA:  The district builds its own CMS for differernt homegrown applications.  We also use Google to assist in building the CMS.

TS:  What was the motivation to adopt the CMS currently in use?

JA:  Easy to use interface, conformity of design, office type menu, able to be used among various positions in the district.

TS:  What did the decision making criteria consist of?

JA:  Ease of use, cloud storage vs. in house storage, free offer from Google.

TS:  How many people were involved in the decision making process and what was their roles?

JA:  10 - CIO, CTO, Technology Trainers, Curriculum Directions, and Teachers (including librarians).

TS:  Who is responsible for rolling out trainings for CMS and what is their role?

JA:  The technology trainers for the district - their role is to help staff integrate technology into use.

TS:  What was the organization using before CMS?

JA:  Static HTML coding

TS:  What do you see as the three biggest advantages of using CMS?

JA:  Ease of use, cost effectiveness, flexibility

TS:  What is the biggest drawback to using CMS?

JA:  Restrictions of individual creativity

TS:  What are the important benefits or advantages of CMS we are using now over old systems or other CMS software used in the past?

JA:  Embedding of new technology trends (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc).  We are staying current with current technology trends and able to communicate more effectively and efficiently.

TS:  What was the learning curve like?

JA:  The learning curve was quite easy.  Staff were uniformly trained by Technology Trainers and Inovation Ambassadors.  Staff that picked up the new technology easily also assisted peers who had challenges.  The integration of madated use put in the evaluation tool also helped move this forward.

TS:  What challenges have you faced in the implementation of CMS and how did you overcome these?

JA:  Including videos, photo galleries, and other media.  We upgrades the CMS to accommodate these tasks.

TS:  What advise would you have in directing another organization going through the process?

JA:  Identify goals, set clear expectations, train, train, train, and keep up with current trends.

Reflection:  Having lived through the process, as I have worked in the district for 11 years, I would say it has proven to be very beneficial.  From a user standpoint, there have been challenges in regards to changing from old ways.  However the integration of evaluation tool has made staff implement the changes.  The use of staff to assist in the training has been very effective.  The district, parents, and students have all benefited from the changes.  As a result our district was awarded the 2011-2012 Model Technolgy Excellence Award.  Due to this, several school leaders from across the nation visited our school as a model of transforming technology in the district.

Speaking from the library perspective, we are in a unique position.  Our staff of 24 librarians make up a small fraction of the general district population.  Therefore I would say we are sometimes overlooked in the initial thought process.  However, as lead librarians for the district, I have developed a great working relationship with the CTO and IT technicial responsible for library programming.  This relationship has proved invaluable as we are accommodated based on our needs.  I am always amazed how flexible the team and system is.

Joomla Information and Analysis

Here is the link to my Joomla page: 

http://toddpsimonsonmlis7505.cloudaccess.net/

Analysis of Joomla:

I had fun doing this project.  Once I watched the video and started working on editing the page, it was quite easy to do.  I think the difficult part was looking at advanced pages (that obviously paid a subscription) and wanting to do the advanced layouts, add music, add videos, etc.  Overall this was a fun way to explore cloud access.

E-reader devices available at the library

So in regards to this weeks discussions and an experience that happened today at the library, I would like to discuss an opportunity available at the public library, which I think is worth exploring for libraries not doing this.  The Phoenix Public Library has started a program called Project Nook.  Patrons have an opportunity to check out a nook to access e-books.  Patrons utilize this program for various reasons including trying out an e-reader device, needing access to a specific book not available at the library, etc.  Many of the customers who have utilized this program have found great value in the program.  When I explained the program to a customer at the library today, they were very impressed and thought it was great the library was offering this service.  Project Nook can be visited at this link for people to read about.

Assignment 1 Part 3 (Wiki) post

I am recommending developing a wiki for the Phoenix Public Library.  The Phoenix Public Library primarily serves the residents of Phoenix, Arizona.  Residents of Maricopa County (which Phoenix resides in) are also allowed to become members of the library for free through a partnership with the Maricopa County Library district.  Phoenix Public Library serves over 1 million people annually and has a wide demographic ranging from babies to senior citizens, homeless to upper class, and multi-ethnicity populations. 

Current programs that would benefit from development of a wiki site would include:  story time (programs intended for babies through age 9), e-reader trainings, book clubs, computer classes, workforce center programs, and teen programs.  The goal of the wiki would be to provide information about the programs available, store informational handouts from the program, and allow users to correspond with library staff about questions/issues not covered in the training. 

The library is a public library system and continues to develop partnerships with local businesses, schools, and universities in the Phoenix area.  Part of the development of the wiki would allow users to have a central location to view programs and resources available to at the library.  This could easily be distributed on handouts that currently go to local organizations.  The benefit of creating a wiki in the community would be once a customer (patron) bookmarks or subscribes to the wiki, they would receive the latest updates available at the library.  These customers would then be able to be free advertisers of the library as they would promote the resources to their friends.  The library has 17 branches across the Phoenix area.

The budget for the library for the 2013-2014 year is $36,249,000.  The budget has four categories which include:  personnel, contractual services, interdepartmental charges, and supplies.  As the library has seen a slight decrease in budget from the 2012-2013 year, the wiki would need to be a free access site and require current personnel in the technical services department to moderate and set up the wiki.  As the wiki is considered a social network tool, this would be plausible as part of the three year strategic plan for the library is to implement more social networking access for the library to draw in more customers.  Another part of the strategic plan mentions 24 hour access to the library and the development of a wiki would allow current customers to have 24 hour access to resources for the library.

Library requirements for wiki:

1)       Free

2)      Secure

3)      Set-up:  Allows for links, pictures, subscription option to updates

4)      Moderator – Allows one or a few people to act as moderators that can remove unwanted comments.

5)      Allows for comments by user that can be monitored by moderator.

6)      Allows for daily updates

7)      Allows for link to current Phoenix Library Website

Wiki Selection to Use:

After looking at wikimatrix.org, I initially picked the top 25 wikis to review based on the sites suggestion.  After comparing various features for the different wikis, I would recommend using PBwiki.  PBwiki had a lot of the features needed for the initial goals of this project.  PBwiki is free, has no storage restrictions, easily accessible, and can be used on different technology platforms.  PB wiki also had the security features which allow different access levels to be given to people.  Finally PBwiki is able to work with a lot of add on features including calendars, pictures, links, etc. 

From personal experience, PBwiki is very user friendly.  It is easy to use and has good layout structure and tutorials to help users.  For the initial concept of marketing programs and sources, this would be an adequate site to use.  If the wiki proved to be successful and additional features were neede, a subscription wiki may be required.

Experiences so far with Blogger

This has been an interesting week.  I have found that what I thought I new about blogging was very little compared to what you can do with blogs.  I found Blogger to be somewhat difficult in setting up compared to what I have experienced in the classroom before.  But through readings and viewing other people's blogs, I have certainly found a lot of valuable information and will look at implementing some of this stuff as I move forward throughout this course.

Expectations for MLIS 7505

For MLIS 7505, I am expecting how the use of web 2.0 can benefit libraries.  I have had my blog set up for 3 years, and Twitter account for 3 years as well.  However, I have not had an opportunity to use them regularly.  I am really excited we are required to actively use these resources in our class, and look forward to having discussions on how libraries can effectively use web 2.0 tools to stay a viable source in the age of technology.

Background and Knowledge on Web 2.0

I have quite an extensive background with Web 2.0 tools.  Prior to becoming a librarian, I taught computer technology to K-8 students.  This was right when Web 2.0 tools were emerging in society.  I attended many trainings and implemented Web 2.0 tools to my curriculum.  Due to the ease and availability, I have also carried Web 2.0 tools over to the library setting as they provide great use to customers.