Do you think of libraries as content generators?
Join WebJunction for a free webinar on Tuesday, May 7th at noon (CST) to discuss how communities can contribute to content development. Donna Feddern, Digital Services Manager, Escondido Public Library will present on how knowledge sharing, using digital media formats, can be a successful component of today’s libraries.
Click here to register!
Tweet: #wjwebinar
Looking for a NEW guide to national digital projects?
While the audience is state and local libraries, this quick reference guide will be useful to anyone trying to understand the range of national digital inclusion projects, particularly those involving the library community and their partners. If you are interested in digital literacy, broadband adoption, or digital inclusion, this 22 pg. report is worth a look.
Tip: If you are thinking of writing a grant on any of these topics, it may serve you well to mention appropriate national projects you learn about in this report.
News from the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP)….
“Our digital literacy task force is planning two virtual conversations around libraries and digital literacy. Because we’re hoping to reach a wide audience, I wanted to share the blog post which describes the programs and a save the date email that we are sending out. If you have colleagues in your networks that might be interested we would very much appreciate your help in getting the word out”
The series will explore the role of libraries in supporting and deepening digital literacy skills development for students, the general public and colleagues in other professions.
November 14: Creating a Culture of Learning: How Librarians Keep up with Digital Media and Technology
December 11: Assessing Digital Literacy: Outcomes and Impact
This looks fairly interesting, and it sounds like a Google Hangout will even be utilized for some of the programming! Get all the necessary details including registration information at http://tinyurl.com/8azwp6z
A recent study, from the PEW Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, has uncovered some interesting data regarding the newspaper industry. This study involved not only review of proprietary data from individual newspapers, but also in-depth interviews with over a dozen major media companies. Overall, the study found that only slow progress is being made as newspapers begin to move into the digital future – though there are some success stories worth review.
Currently, newspapers continue to only put a small effort into new digital revenues and tactics and trends show that newspapers are continuing to contract – resulting in staff layoffs, a small reduction in the number of U.S. newspapers, and possibly a reduction in print editions – from daily editions to select days a week.
In all, 38 newspapers from six different companies were involved in the study. On average it was found that newspapers are losing print advertising dollars at seven times the rate that they are growing digital ad revenue in the last full fiscal year. Some of these newspapers are even seeing their digital revenue fall by up to 37% in the last year. Even with major setbacks like these, there are some success stories. One newspaper, in particular, saw digital ad revenue grow by 63% and print grow 8%.
Many of the “success stories” are utilizing new strategies for growing their business including “smart” or targeted marketing based on customer’s online behavior, advertising on mobile devices, holding events, offering consultation, or selling business products.
The data is showing that the newspapers that are showing some positive numbers are taking some huge risks. One media executive speculated that when undertaking a major overhaul for the digital era, that the newspaper has a 90% risk of failure and only a 10% chance of success. Even with such a risk, it is likely inevitable that newspapers will have to adapt to the digital environment – or fail. The research shows that though newspapers have increased subscription costs, their overall revenue is still down by more than 40% in the last decade. Scary numbers, indeed! To read more about this study, visit http://www.journalism.org/node/28629.
This month the U of M Libraries will be sending resources to Google as part of a larger digitization project that was agreed upon in 2007 by Google and several Big 10 universities. The U of M will be working with Google to digitize resources on the topics of Scandinavian literature, bee-keeping, forestry, and area studies collections. In all, the U of M Libraries will be sending more than 1 million books and bound journals to Google for digitization.
Once the materials are digitized and verified that they are public domain, Google will provide copies of the digital files to libraries. For more information, consider viewing the following links: http://tinyurl.com/2cqlxkf, http://tinyurl.com/2cr2kyw, http://tinyurl.com/2e6glx5.