Thing 18: Audiobooks

In my opinion Farrell's article summed up the whole audiobook experience quite well. A bit confusing, often frustrating, and very, very popular.

I love audiobooks, and jumped right into Overdrive when the VCCS first got the service. My initial experience was very much like that depicted in "Webcomic Takes on Audiobook DRM" - I spent a several hours downloading and updating various players and files before I finally got it to work at home. Since then it's been great, at home. At work it's a different story. When we first got Overdrive I was able to download the media player just a couple days before the latest draconian security protcols were put in place. I used it for quite happily until a few months ago when I received a new computer (a necessary evil, the old one had smoke coming out the back). Since then the multiple layers of security and firewalls have made it impossible to use. So what I do now is download at home, transfer to my Sansa recorder, and then bring that into work. And I probably ought to note that I only listed to audiobooks at work when I am engaged in those most tedious of tasks that would put me to sleep otherwise.

Students and faculty also seem to love Overdrive. We have a modest collection of audiobooks on CD, cassette, and Playaway, and whenever someone checks out one of those we make it a point to show them the Overdrive links on the webpage. The universal response is some variation of "OMG - this is great! And it's FREE? Wow."

Week 20 addendum

Gaak. Classes start on Monday. I'm not ready.

Thing 17: Social Cataloging

I already have a Librarything account. I set it up specifically for keeping track of the music books and scores that I own. In my other life I'm a musician, and in the intersection of that and my professional life, I do research on folk music and songs. I've amassed quite a collection of books and manuscripts and sometimes when I'm researching a new topic, I forget what I already have in my collection. So I created a catalog through Librarythng to help me keep track. (my only problem now if remembering to check it and keep it updated)

Here is the link to my Librarything catalog, if anyone is interested:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/slawlor314

I've toyed with the idea of using one of these sites for my book club, but that impose an undue degree of organization on my book club (we're a pretty casual bunch).

While not for cataloging, I have made extensive use of Bookmooch to benefit the library. We often receive donations of books that we really don't need in the collection but which are still of interest. I took it upon myself to add them to my Bookmooch inventory, and after accumulating a good points balance, I also started using Bookmooch to acquire books for TNCC. I've been able to replace worn out copies in our paperbacks collection, and get extra copies of titles for the campus book club. The mailing cost comes out of pocket, but it's minimal and I enjoy the global book exchange.

And while it wasn't one of the options mentioned in the 23 Things list, I also want to put in a plug for the "WeRead" feature on facebook. I've used that to post titles that I'm reading and it always generates a bit of discussion.

Thing 16: E-Books

What do you think of PsycBooks?
     I liked it. Since I wasn't looking for anything in particular I poked around in the browsing featured. I liked the terminology finder and the nav bar choices for narrowing down topics.

Are e-books the wave of the future? An aesthetically-challenged plot to empty your wallet? A wild west frontier?
     Yes, all of the above. I think e-publishing is the overall wave of the future and e-books are simply a part of that. As for the "empty your wallet" part - I remember reading somewhere that half the books purchase each year are never read. People buy books and get the feeling that they then somehow own the knowledge that's in them, even if they have no idea what that knowledge actually says. Buying e-book downloads is even easier and I suspect far more than half of the those purchases are going unread.

Are e-books popular with your students?
     They are once they've been introduced to them. Students still think of the library primarily as a place to get hard copy material, and seem to be surprised when we show them the e-books collections. But they do use them once they know they're there. I think out most popular collection is Safari, great for looking up technical information.

Do you own a dedicated e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook? If so, what do you think of it?
     I don't own one myself, yet. I have several friends who have and love them and I suspect I'll be getting one in the foreseeable future. I'm envisioning e-readers becoming the new format for daily newspapers and magazines. Publishing them for free online hasn't worked very well, at least not for the publishers' bottom lines. But a modest subscription fee to allow one to read the morning paper while sitting on the couch with your coffee might just do it.

Thing 15: Creative Commons

I am continually frustrated by the current copyright laws. I agree with the spirit, but the application often either leaves works in limbo or obstacles to use that potential creators simply give up. And I don't believe that the laws can handle the explosion of new media and the fluid nature of the Internet.

I definitely think it would be a good idea let faculty know about Creative Commons (if they don't already). There are many great resources already available under CC licenses which can save faculty time when preparing presentations and class material. And the more who know about it, the more collaboration is possible.

Thing 8: Screencasting

We have a license for Camtasia here, though we haven't made much use of it. Rather than wait for the process of getting permission for Camtasia I downloaded the free version of Jing and used that. I created a soundless video of the process for renewing a book online.

I'd like to make another version of this using sound and callouts with notes, but that will have to wait for the Camtasia permissions and for finding a microphone (I believe we have USB mics somewhere on campus...)

I tried for quite a while to embed the video here but wasn't able to do it, so I have just included the link.

How to Renew Books Online

Thing 14 : Online Surveys

OK, I know that firewalls are necessary, but they're really getting in the way here. After the segment on Wikis here, I got excited about the possibility of recreating our policies and procedures manual in a wiki format. It needs to be updated in the worst way and the current format is cumbersome. A wiki would be easier to update, would allow several people to make changes, and would make it more accessible. Great, but the firewalls in place here have thwarted all my attempts to set one up.

Likewise, the local firewalls completely block Doodle. Very frustrating.

Google works all right though, and I I'd like to rework some of our library survey with Google. We conduct an annual user survey but only in paper format, it would be interesting to see how many additional responses we received if we added an online component.

And, my one question survey...