Follow the ebook road: ebooks in Australian public libraries.Predictions and possibilities about how ebooks and ebook See e-book. readers will be integrated into public libraries over the next few years are discussed. Edited version of a presentation for a workshop at the Alia ALIA Australian Library and Information Association ALIA Associate of the Life Assurance Association (UK professional qualification) ALIA Automated Logistics Information to the AOC (US DoD) public libraries conference 12-15 November November: see month. 2001 ********** Electronic books or ebooks are just that, electronic versions of print books. However the book may have not been available as a print book and may have only been published as an ebook. The electronic version may also not be identical to the print version, as it can have many bonus electronic features that are not possible with a print book. To confuse con·fuse v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v.tr. 1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; throw off. b. the definition, however, electronic book is also the term commonly given to the hand held reading devices used to read ebooks on. Ebooks can also be read online on pcs, laptops and downloaded on to Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Electronic books have been available in libraries for several years. They have been discussed vigorously by library staff keen to adopt new technology that improves information access for library users. At this stage the ebook technology is still evolving and can be cumbersome cum·ber·some adj. 1. Difficult to handle because of weight or bulk. See Synonyms at heavy. 2. Troublesome or onerous. cum . Many companies are involved in ebook development. Each has a proprietary system, thus there is a lack of standardisation Noun 1. standardisation - the condition in which a standard has been successfully established; "standardization of nuts and bolts had saved industry millions of dollars" standardization . Ebooks are currently expensive, and the content is primarily American. Despite these negatives it is still worth pursuing ebooks, as the technology does offer some unique features. These include * information delivery 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to anywhere in the world with internet access See how to access the Internet. * the ability to search a whole book for keywords in seconds * the ability to change text size to suit the reader's needs * hyper A Greek work meaning "above" or "more than." It is used as a prefix to technical concepts and products to convey a more advanced or more automatic capability. links to relevant webpages * the ability to continually con·tin·u·al adj. 1. Recurring regularly or frequently: the continual need to pay the mortgage. 2. update the content within the ebook as required This group of papers discusses the US library experience of ebooks and the projects begun by some Australian Australian pertaining to or originating in Australia. Australian bat lyssavirus disease see Australian bat lyssavirus disease. Australian cattle dog a medium-sized, compact working dog used for control of cattle. libraries. FOLLOWING THE FREEWAY: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE American Experience (sometimes abbreviated AmEx) is a television program airing on the PBS network in the United States. The program airs documentaries about important or interesting events and people in American history, many of which have won impressive Pam Saunders Saun´ders n. 1. See Sandress. Resources Librarian (1) A person who works in the data library and keeps track of the tapes and disks that are stored and logged out for use. Also known as a "file librarian" or "media librarian." See data library. (2) See CA-Librarian. Yarra Plenty Regional Library Vic psaunders@yprl.vic.gov.au In 2000 I was fortunate to receive the Barrett Reid Scholarship from the State Library of Victoria to research ebooks and their impact on Victorian libraries. I am currently responsible for children's and youth resources, and project manager ebooks, at Yarra Plenty Regional Library. The Barrett Reid Scholarship enabled me to travel to the US in May 2001 to investigate companies involved in ebook production, particularly netLibrary. I also visited public and academic libraries that were using various forms of ebooks. The American libraries American Libraries is the official publication of the American Library Association. Published monthly except for a combined July/August issue, it is distributed to all members of the organization. American Libraries is currently edited by Leonard Kniffel. had introduced ebooks primarily through either the netLibrary model and/or by lending hand held reading devices such as Rocket or Softbooks. Generally, they received special grants or funding to enable these projects to commence. NetLibrary is an aggregator [now owned by OCLC OCLC - Online Computer Library Center after financial difficulty ed] providing pc based ebooks for public, academic and special libraries. It offers nonfiction non·fic·tion n. 1. Prose works other than fiction: I've read her novels but not her nonfiction. 2. The category of literature consisting of works of this kind. titles from a wide range of publishers and a small collection of publicly accessible titles that are out of copyright. NetLibrary is not aimed at trade publisher's titles. At this stage, it is the only company to offer libraries a relatively simple, complete package of ebooks that can be easily integrated into their collections. Many US libraries join a consortium as their first step into ebooks using netLibrary. The content is primarily American and initially seems expensive, especially when converted to Australian dollars Noun 1. Australian dollar - the basic unit of money in Australia and Nauru dollar - the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents . A title must be purchased at full print cost plus an access fee of 9 per cent of the cost per year, or 50 per cent of the cost for perpetual access Perpetual access refers to the right to ongoing access to electronic materials. In situations where digital materials are licensed, access to these materials is often lost after the licensing agreement has expired. . Libraries agree to purchase a minimum collection number. There are issues of distribution fights, with some titles unavailable for purchase in Australia, although this is rapidly changing, and some rifles are unavailable for consortium purchase. American libraries were also trialing various ebook readers. Content on the ebook readers was, however, different to that of netLibrary titles. Device rifles tended to be trade publications--fiction or biographies. The average number of devices purchased by a library was eight. The libraries expressed frustration with the time it took to introduce and manage either ebook model. There was always a steep learning curve, However all claimed that long term it had been of benefit to the library. The netLibrary model was the most favoured as it provided better service for users. Once established, the professional nature of the netLibrary reports meant that there was little maintenance of the collection. The reading device model, however, provided the best public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most . Library users continually commented on how innovative the libraries were and how pleased they were to have the opportunity to try out ebook readers. However, unlike netLibrary, ebook devices required continual staff time to manage and maintain them. It is difficult and expensive, particularly, in terms of staffing, to continually provide new titles for the readers. Yarra Plenty Regional Library purchased a Softbook reader in mid 2000. Initially it was downloaded with three contemporary titles, and a selection of out of print titles. It was used for demonstrations to the staff and public. Public sessions were run at all branches across various times, and they attracted an average of eight participants, most of whom were older adults. There was much enthusiasm and requests to borrow the device. This was followed by several months of loaning the device to staff. It was decided to conduct the trial using the device at one branch for short loans within the library for one hour. A six month subscription to the Wall Street journal was purchased and each morning staff downloaded it. Initially three journals were to be downloaded on a daily basis, but the subscription system changed. Journals had to be paid for daily, US$1 per day, as this was impractical im·prac·ti·cal adj. 1. Unwise to implement or maintain in practice: Refloating the sunken ship proved impractical because of the great expense. 2. even with a corporate credit card. The previous book titles were maintained on the device. Users responded positively and also expressed the desire to take it home for a longer period. Loans, however, were not high and the Softbook was returned to staff loan and demonstration use on my return from America. We are currently trialing it with some of our home services borrowers. There are limitations to what a library can do with only one reader device. It has, however, been most successful as a public relations and as an educational tool. Yarra Plenty Regional Library has also secured funding from the Victorian state government to introduce netLibrary. At the time of writing, investigations are underway with other public libraries to form a national consortium of netLibrary users. In prospect is that ebook technology will enable the first true national public library. We plan to build the collection around the research needs of young adults. Reference books such as study guides will be selected. Ebook technology suits such books, as they do not generally need to be read cover to cover, nor lent for extensive lengths of time. The ability to search by keyword through a whole text is also of benefit. In Australia other libraries are also beginning to trial netLibrary, sometimes reluctantly due to the lack of Australian content. A recommendation is that libraries join consortia to share the initial experiences and expand the collection on offer. This is one of the benefits of netLibrary--it is the ultimate interlibrary in·ter·li·brar·y adj. Existing or occurring between or involving two or more libraries: an interlibrary loan; an interlibrary network. loan system. Ebook devices should be introduced into libraries for staff to use and become familiar with. They could also be used in demonstrations to the public. Libraries which are able to gain extra funding for device lending, would benefit also from trialing lending programs. The potential of these devices with the print handicapped means serious consideration should be given to using them within home services. The above is a summary of a paper Ebooks in Victorian libraries:findings from the USA available at www.libraries.vic.gov.au/ infonet/ebooks/ THE SHORELINK LIBRARY NETWORK -- EBOOKS: A NOVEL FORMAT FOR LIBRARIES Mylee Joseph Manager Outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. Services Willoughby City Library NSW NSW New South Wales Noun 1. NSW - the agency that provides units to conduct unconventional and counter-guerilla warfare Naval Special Warfare mylee.joseph@willoughby.nsw.gov.au Shorelink as a library network has been delivering cooperative service to the communities of Lane Cove, Manly, Mosman, North Sydney North Sydney, town (1991 pop. 7,260), NE Cape Breton Island, N.S., Canada, on the north shore of Sydney Harbour. It was the coal-shipping port for the nearby Sydney Mines and a winter base for the Cape Breton fisheries. There is ferry service to Newfoundland. and Willoughby in metropolitan Sydney since 1983. The network has been successful in a number of cooperative ventures and grant applications, and applied for a library development grant through the State Library of NSW in 2000, and was awarded $60,370 to conduct the ebooks project. The objective was to conduct a pilot project investigating the use of ebook technology in the public library environment. Particular emphasis was placed on user readiness to accept this technology and their level of satisfaction with the format. As there are a number of hardware and software technologies in the marketplace, a decision was made to focus on two representative examples. The project trialled both models of ebooks * electronic download To receive a file transmitted over a network. In any communications session, "download" means receive, and "upload" means send. The download/upload often implies a big/little scenario, in which data is being downloaded from the "big" server into the "little" user's computer. to user pcs using netLibrary * lending handheld devices with preloaded books using Softbook Press readers NetLibrary There is a variety of business models used by electronic book publishers. They vary widely in target market, pricing schemes and the place of the library within the distribution model. The project team considered several models eg Questia (www.questia.com) and ebrary (www.ebrary.com). These products focus on the school/student market and pay per use or subscription models with no place for the public library in the equation. They were not suitable for the project. NetLibrary, however, is designed for library use and was chosen for use in the Shorelink trial. The Shorelink libraries share a bibliographic database For computer programs to manage an individual's bibliographic references, see Reference management software A bibliographic or library database is a database of bibliographic information. and the addition of more than 400 netLibrary rifles to the database provides 24/7 remote access to texts. NetLibrary also allows tracking of usage patterns which provides valuable data for assessing the usefulness and acceptance of the titles. Softbooks The Softbook ebooks were chosen mainly because they were available, and had support, in Australia. The project committee considered this of primary importance in ensuring the smooth running of the project. In the months since the grant was awarded new models of ebooks have continued to emerge. However the Softbooks have proved reliable, if quite heavy for continuous use. Website We received enquiries almost as soon as the project began, from colleagues in other libraries and overseas. It rapidly became necessary to have information about the project readily available and a website was created at www.shorelink.nsw.gov.au. This provides the following information * a project summary, updates and news as the project progresses * links to the suppliers and other libraries circulating cir·cu·late v. cir·cu·lat·ed, cir·cu·lat·ing, cir·cu·lates v.intr. 1. To move in or flow through a circle or circuit: blood circulating through the body. 2. ebooks, contacts and operational documentation There is a number of quite practical documents available via the website including a checklist used when each Softbook reader is issued, the loan agreement users are required to sign and the user survey that is distributed with each loan. As one of the goals of the project was to share the findings with other libraries the website allowed this to happen during the project. Marketing From the outset, the project included funding for marketing strategies. Introducing a new service to a library is not unusual, but as these new resources were largely invisible to anyone entering the library a variety of strategies were employed. These included commercially designed posters and flyers, the ebooks website, links on individual library websites (each of the Shorelink libraries operates independently), media releases for the official launch, a network wide launch held at Manly Library with the State Librarian Dagmar Schmidmaier officiating. Surveying user satisfaction One of the aims of the pilot project was to determine the levels of user readiness and satisfaction with the new technology. In order to measure this a survey was distributed with each ebook loaned. Users were asked to fill in the survey and return it with the ebook. The survey questions included * did you have any difficulties using the reader? * did you need to recharge re·charge tr.v. re·charged, re·charg·ing, re·charg·es To charge again, especially to reenergize a storage battery. re the ebook battery? * how long did you read the ebook at a time? * did you use the book marking feature of the ebook? * did you use the stylus stylus: see pen. (1) A pen-shaped instrument that is used to "draw" images or select from menus. Styli (the plural of stylus, pronounced "sty-lye") come with handheld devices that have touch screens, such as PDAs and video games. to make annotations or highlight text? * did you read a complete book? If no, why not? * what types of material would you be most likely to read or consult on an ebook? (fiction / how to books / children's books / current nonfiction / reference / newspapers / magazines * age * for future reference, in which languages would you prefer to read ebooks? (English/Chinese/Korean/Japanese) One of the questions sought people who were willing to participate in focus groups to discuss the technology and its use in the library environment. At the time of writing these focus groups had yet to be held. It is too early to determine the success of the project, but as more information is gathered it will be available via the website and will be written up for journals. Project website For updates on the Shorelink Library ebook project see www.shorelink.nsw.gov.au THE EBOOK ROAD IN TOOWOOMBA: A GRAVEL ROAD A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the United States. FULL OF STONES Sue Hutley Electronic Services Librarian Toowoomba City Library Qld s.hutley@toowoomba.qld.gov.au The ebook industry was in its infancy infancy, stage of human development lasting from birth to approximately two years of age. The hallmarks of infancy are physical growth, motor development, vocal development, and cognitive and social development. in the year 2000 but predictions were being made about the potential and take up of this new technology. The growing information available about ebooks circulating in the library profession began to capture my imagination about the possibilities, especially hand held readers, for libraries. As an electronic services librarian it was part of what could be my future and I did not want us to be left behind. In September 2000 the ebooknet.com website was conducting a competition in which two libraries would each win ten Rocket ebook One of the first electronic books. Introduced in 1998 by NuvoMedia Inc., Palo Alto, CA, it weighed in at 22 ounces and held the equivalent of approximately 10 novels. Like a conventional book, the Rocket let you annotate in the margin, underline passages and set bookmarks. readers. My winning entry proposed that the readers would be distributed to ten south east Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a rapidly growing region of the state of Queensland, Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population. The SEQ region covers 22,420 square kilometres and incorporates 18 Local Government Areas, extending 240 km from Noosa in library services and that we would meet as a group on a regular basis to discuss our progress with ebooks. The ten library services received their Rocket ebooks at a presentation on 16 November 2000. At this point everyone was quite positive about ebooks and their potential was often discussed. Members of the media asked whether ebooks would eventually replace real books in libraries. Others within the community offered other suggestions for situations where ebook readers could be useful. At the same time that we were receiving our readers from the ebooknet.com competition, the Toowoomba City Library was applying for an innovation grant from the Library Board of Queensland Queensland, state (1991 pop. 2,477,152), 667,000 sq mi (1,727,200 sq km), NE Australia. Brisbane is the capital; other important cities are Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Townsville, Rockhampton, Cairns, and Ipswich. . This proposal was also successful and our grant project entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: Libraries, ebooks and the future began in April 2001. The project would enable us to purchase four types of readers: REB1100s, REB 1200s, ebookmans and Rocket ebooks, to be lent to our different user bases. We would then examine the feedback from these user groups, and from library staff. Following the hype hype 1 Slang n. 1. Excessive publicity and the ensuing commotion: the hype surrounding the murder trial. 2. curve The Gartner Group (company) Gartner Group - One of the biggest IT industry research firms. Address: Connecticut, USA. has developed a Hype Curve for new technologies. Our ebook project has very much followed this curve. Getting the readers into our hands was the first major task. The only Australian ebook supply company was not yet importing REBs from Gemstar, so we had to source them directly from the US--with the help of Peter Pal Library Supplier in Brisbane. We also engaged Peter Pal to undertake the purchasing of ebook titles, and entrusted it with loading the software and the book titles as the pc requirements for the ebookmans included Windows 2000 software, which the Toowoomba City Council does not support. The REB1100s and ebookman Readers arrived just a few days before our launch date during the Australian Library and Information Association's Library and Information Week in May 2001. The readers did not yet have the current software required and therefore no bestseller titles could be loaded onto them at that time. We were at the peak of inflated expectations. At the same time that we received the readers for the launch the Gemstar website shut down for overseas customers, therefore not permitting us access to software downloads. It was an optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op thought that this would be corrected in a few days, or even a couple of weeks, and that we would soon be able to access its website and begin loading our software, titles and lending to customers. Unfortunately the reality was that we were just too optimistic. We endured months of hopefulness, countless emails, phone calls to the US, download attempts and many failures via international phone lines. Finally success. On 27 September--five months later-- our REB1100s returned from Peter Pal, working and with bestseller titles on them. While the Toowoomba Library finally began lending the REB1100s to users during October 2001, the trough Trough The stage of the economy's business cycle that marks the end of a period of declining business activity and the transition to expansion. of disillusionment Disillusionment Adams, Nick loses innocence through WWI experience. [Am. Lit.: “The Killers”] Angry Young Men disillusioned postwar writers of Britain, such as Osborne and Amis. [Br. Lit. still continues as we are still awaiting the return of working REB1200s and ebookmans from Peter Pal. Of the plethora plethora /pleth·o·ra/ (pleth´ah-rah) 1. an excess of blood. 2. by extension, a red florid complexion.pletho´ric pleth·o·ra n. 1. of frustration factors experienced with this project two of the major ones have been * ebook readers are designed with the individual in mind. Handling numerous ebook readers involves a lot of administrative tasks. For example each reader requires its own unique email address See Internet address. with which to be associated * content is one of the biggest issues, especially for formats such as the ebookman. Actual book titles are very limited and are not bestseller titles. To obtain a bestseller title for an ebookman the current format is using the talking book talk·ing book n. A recorded reading of a book, designed for use by the visually impaired. Talking Book Noun Trademark a recording of a book, designed to be used by the blind Noun or audible.com method. This also requires a monthly fee to have the audible.com software on your ebookman reader Other frustrations and problems are listed on the project website. The experience of other Australian public libraries Two other Queensland libraries were able to source their ebook readers a couple of months before Toowoomba and they have had a more positive experience. Maroochy Shire Shire or Shiré (both: shē`rā), river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, flowing from the southern end of Lake Nyasa, Malawi, SE Africa, to the Zambezi River in central Mozambique. It is navigable to Nsanje. Libraries now has 4 REB1100s, 1 Softbook reader and 1 Rocketbook. The Toowong branch of Brisbane City Libraries has 20 REB1100s for loan. These libraries were able to get software and titles loaded before the Gemstar website was shut down. Reports from their experiences can be found at the Quloc website www.quloc.org.au. Recommendations for Australian public libraries In short, the Toowoomba experience has been one of total frustration--from the inaccurate sales pitch of what the readers can actually do, to the lack of recognition by the big ebook companies that customers may live outside of the US. At this stage it is not recommended that Australian public libraries take the leap into handheld ebook readers, especially if they do not have appropriate staff to support them. However, with the establishment of a committed Australian ebook reader supplier in the Adelaide company Einfosolutions, and the coming of additional products such as the Microsoft Tablet See digitizer tablet and tablet computer. TABLET - A query language. ["Human Factor Comparison of a Procedural and a Non-procedural Query Language", C. Welty et al, ACM Trans Database Sys 6(4):626-649 (Dec 1981)]. in 2002 it is still important that libraries keep a close watch on developments that could change and improve how ebook readers can be integrated into library services. The ebook industry changes weekly. We must ensure that libraries are not left behind when the wave finally comes. Website To see how the project progresses please visit the project website www.toowoomba. qld.gov.au/Visitors/Library/Ebookproject/ index.html Sue Hutley Electronic Services Librarian Toowoomba City Library Qld Mylee Joseph Manager Outreach Services Willoughby City Library NSW and Pam Saunders Resources librarian Yarra Plenty Regional Library Vic |
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