eBooks in Libraries: An Unsatisfying Relationship?

Hello again, this week I’ll spare a few paragraphs to talk about one of the blogs on Librarian by Day. This article, titled ‘Should Libraries Get Out of the eBook Business?’ (posted 07/03/2012) is by Bobbi Newman and can be found here, http://librarianbyday.net/2012/03/07/should-libraries-get-out-of-the-ebook-business/ (viewed 27/08/2012). 

I found this post quite by accident but wanted to use it because I’m interested in eBooks and I’ve not heard much about the situation with eBooks in libraries. 

Newman’s stand in this blog is that libraries are wasting money providing a mediocre service to their patron and that there are quite a few reasons library eBook services are not up to par; publishers refusing libraries the right to loan their eBooks, patron’s getting frustrated with eReader devices, and there being numerous eReaders (with different file type compatibilities) warring for control of the market. Newman talks about the problems and frustrations these things cause librarians and patrons alike and uses these to back his opinion that libraries should pull out of the eBook business until things in the industry have settled down. 

I thought it was a good, well-thought out argument and while I cannot fully support his opinion I can see what he’s talking about. Checking out a few libraries eBook catalogues I could easily see how little was available, and how little I was interested in those books that were. The article incorporates several links to appropriate sites and information including a fairly short list of publishers that are currently allowing libraries to share their products.

 Hopefully things will work out soon because after looking at this evidence, particularly from a patron’s point of view, it hardly seems a satisfying service at this point.

Library Directors are 'The Man'

This week’s (kinda late) entry is on the Librarian in Black’s; ‘7 Lessons Learned While Being the Man’ blog entry, posted June 14 2012. I found it through another blog I was looking at and decided it sounded quite informative. This particular blog can be found here, http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2012/06/lessons.html (viewed 21/08/2012).

In this article, the Librarian in Black (also known as Sarah Houghton, the director of the San Rafael Public Library in California) talks about the things she learned when she moved from library-tech to administration. Houghton goes into detail about the way the budgets are quick to put an end to many dreams she had about enhancing the library, how being open with her librarians and patrons is the best thing she can be, and how it doesn’t matter whether she’s in the office or in a bar drinking, she’s still a representative of the library and there are people who will recognise her as such.

It was an interesting piece of writing and one I’d recommend everyone read (whether you work in a library, in administration or neither). It really gives the reader an insight into administration positions and helps you put yourself in those shoes. It gave me a new perspective on the people who run these types of services and the problems they face. At this point in time I have no plans of being a library director but I still think a lot of the lessons mentioned here are important to take on board in many aspects of life. And hopefully I’ll remember this article the next time I have a hard time dealing with these people.

Guybrarians? What Happened to simply Librarians...

This week I’ve decided to take a look at the Annoyed Librarian’s blogs. After looking over a few I found one which sounded really interesting, titled ‘Just What is a Guybrarian?’. This blog is found at http://annoyedlibrarian.blogspot.com.au/2008_02_01_archive.html (viewed 11/08/2012). 

Well in this particular blog, that was posted 13/02/2008, the Annoyed Librarian takes a couple hundred words to tell us about a term being tossed around, ‘guybrarian’, a follow-up on a previous blog. The whole piece has a rather sarcastic and overall humorous tone as the author talks about ‘guybrarians’, what they are and whether or not all male librarians can be counted under this so-called title.

The blog post was quite amusing, written as somewhat of a joke in response to a comment left on a post from about two week before. I admit I had never heard of the term ‘guybrarian’ before so I learnt a new word today! And while I knew that librarians were typically female I did not know that there was such a strong stereotype imbedded into some peoples brains that they had to come up with something like ‘guybrarian’. 

I believe that despite this new knowledge presented to me today I shall continue doing as I have always done…And call male librarians, librarians.

Shaping Our Future: A Look into moving into the Digital Age

For my first blog entry here I chose ‘Shaping the Curriculum: The Power of a Library’s Digital Resource’ by Patricia Kirkwood, an article from Computers in Libraries (Volume 31; Number 4; Page 6; May 2011) to be the first article to grace my space.

In this article Patricia Kirkwood talks about students’ needs for easy to access electronic references. She explains how libraries would be a more integral part of schooling communities if they offered these digital resources to students and staff in ways that are easy for them to access, understand and explore as in her experience she had seen numerous students using untrustworthy online resources because they found it difficult to locate the trusted sources they should have been using. Kirkwood even explains the steps she takes to better incorporate digital resources into the University of Arkansas where she works.

Kirkwood’s story here was quite fascinating. It was interesting to read about the problems her institute faced and what she came up with to improve the situation. Learning about the different ways these new resources can be integrated into libraries and school curriculums was both interesting and, I personally believe, very important. To see how she slowly incorporates more and more digital resources like electronic textbooks and data sets. It’s essential that we, as librarians, know how to move our industry further into the new age lest we be left behind in the dust and Kirkwood does a great job of starting our education of how we can do this.

- LibraryFox91                                 aka, Sam.