Image by Sergey Galyonkin. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
Gaming programs are growing in some libraries across the United States. In ALA’s blog The Scoop, Brian Mayer wrote an article detailing how he facilitated game creation, with students, using classroom curriculum. Mayer is a gaming and library technology specialist at the Genesee Valley (N.Y.) Educational Partnership. When creating this game-based type of makerspace, he focuses on “…demonstrating concept understanding and mastery throughout the design process and in the finished product.” This work is accomplished in collaboration with classroom teachers and the school librarians. Find out more about how Mayer engages and empowers youth in Creating Game-Based Makerspaces, (July 2013.)
Note: Interested in incorporating games in your learning process? Read the related article, How to Gamify Your Classroom (October 2013), in which the author decodes how you can win students over in five simple levels.
Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
If you are looking for e-book updates, these snippets have been supplied through my membership in the American Libraries Association.
The Big Six and library lending: An update
Rob Maier writes: “In May 2013, when I started to track the Big Six and their library lending terms, there were many changes taking place in the publishing world. I assumed that I’d be issuing updates at least monthly. Instead, we entered a time of limited change until September 25, when Penguin resumed licensing its ebooks through OverDrive. Since OverDrive is the leading provider of ebooks to public libraries, the lack of access to Penguin titles has been frustrating to say the least.”… AL:E-Content, Sept. 27; OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Sept. 25
Penguin drops side-loading requirement
Matt Enis writes: “In a quick reversal of its position on Kindle lending, Penguin on September 26 loosened the terms of its renewed agreement with OverDrive. The publisher has agreed to allow library patrons to download ebook titles wirelessly via OverDrive’s ‘Get for Kindle’ function instead of, as initially announced, first downloading titles to a computer, and then side-loading those titles to their Kindle classic or Paperwhite using a USB cord.”… Library Journal:The Digital Shift, Sept. 27
Scribd offers ebook subscription service
Scribd announced October 2 it is offering its own subscription service for ebooks. The service will cost $8.99 a month for an unlimited amount of books and will have many HarperCollins titles. Scribd is a six-year-old document-sharing company. Laura Hazard Owen writes:“Overall, the service is a strong contender in this emerging space, and if you’re trying to choose between Scribd and Oyster, you’ll have to consider selection, design, and platform.” Nate Hoffelder notes apotential problemwith content availability…. TeleRead, Oct. 1; GigaOM, Oct. 1; The Digital Reader, Oct. 1
OverDrive releases library circulation APIs
Adam Sockel writes: “Last year we introduced the initial set of OverDrive APIs that enable approved vendors to deeply integrate OverDrive-hosted catalogs and nearly one million digital titles with their apps and platforms. These included the ability to access catalog metadata, see the availability of a title, and search the library’s collection. The all-new Circulation APIs are now available on the OverDrive Developer Portal.”… OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Oct. 1
Image by goXunuReviews. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
How is your library engaging teen readers?
For the past 15 years, Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has sponsored Teen Read Week (TRW). It is a national adolescent literary initiative to sponsor continued readership. This year TRW will be held on October 13th-19th. The theme strives to encourage teens to discover the unknown and continue to explores mysteries, “Seek the Unknown @ Your Library.”
Click here for additional information about Teen Read Week from ALA.
Are you interested in the possibility of eBook lending?
Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
On October 23rd, American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling will be hosting an interactive, online session from 11:00-12:00 pm (CT) to enter an eBook library lending discussion.
Panelists include:
Barbara Stripling, ALA president;
Maureen Sullivan, ALA immediate past president;
Keith Michael Fiels, ALA executive director;
Sari Feldman, executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and DCWG co-chair;
Robert Wolven, associate university librarian of Columbia University and DCWG co-chair;
Alan S. Inouye, director of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy.
To learn more about this discussion and for registration materials click here.
The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient David Wuolu, Collection Development Librarian, Clemens Library & Alcuin Library, College of St. Benedict’s/St. John’s University.
David Wuolu, Collection Development Librarian
Thanks to the CMLE scholarship, I was able to recently attend the 2013 American Library Association annual conference in Chicago, IL. In fulfillment of my obligations for this funding, I am submitting this essay.
What were your favorite takeaways or new things learned?
I was hoping to learn more about best practices with ebooks for academic libraries. There were several poster sessions which dealt with ebooks, and demand-driven acquisition experiences, and I was able to visit with the librarians who had implemented these programs. I also attended the Collection Development of Academic Libraries meeting which included two vendors (JSTOR and EBL) and a librarian who shared their thoughts on the next significant ebook development, which included issues important to ebook suppliers such as preservation policy, discoverability, harnessing big data, evolution of lending models, as well as the ongoing issues important to librarians such as ILL, multi-user access, and DRM-free ebooks. Interestingly, JSTOR indicated a little wiggle room on fair use, which is a change from their earlier stance on this topic.
Another session I attended was the Digital Preservation Interest Group. Aside from learning how complicated digital preservation is, and how some institutions working with preservation of digital content, I did take away a model that has been developed by the Library of Congress, NDSA program, which is called the NDSA levels of preservation, a simple 1-page guide used to describe digital preservation (http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsa/activities/levels.html).
As a result of attending this event, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?
I learned more about ebooks, and more about digital preservation, both of which can be applied to my work. The future is becoming increasingly digital, and increasingly clearer to me as a result of attending this meeting. Still, there were a few interesting comments in the collection development meeting about an increase in print usage coinciding with ebooks, so I don’t think we’re done with print quite yet.
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