Librarian by Day » Bobbi Newman

My Favorite Tools and Tips in Ten Installments: 5. Evernote

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:18:25 +0000

I love Evernote, I’ve even written about it before, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m not using it to it’s full potential. I primarily use Evernote to take clips notes from my browser.

By highlighting a section of a blog post or article online I can “clip” it and save it into Evernote. Evernote allows you to organize your clippings by folder but also tag them with key words making it easy to find that quote or statistic later. I still use Delicious for bookmarking (more on that later) but I prefer Evernote for online note-taking.

I also use it to clip things people have written about me online. Mostly nice stuff (because some days you just need the warm-fuzzies) and interesting stuff too like that time that Facebook used one of my blog posts in their smear campaign against Google.

As I said I don’t use Evernote to its fullest so I have included this video and some recommended reading if you want to explore its potential.

Previous Tips & Tools

Stay tuned for Tips & Tricks six!

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Working with eBooks? Please Take this Pew Survey

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:51:53 +0000

Actually there are two surveys – one for those working in libraries and one for patrons. If you work in a library and work with ebooks please take a few minutes to take the first survey. Please share the second survey with your patrons.

The surveys will be live April 16 through May 18.

The survey’s are part of a the research Pew is conducting on the role of libraries in the digital age (disclaimer: I serve on the Library Advisory Board). The next report will be available this summer (the first one was released in April). Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, will provide an update on the Pew library research on Sunday, June 24, at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim.

Survey One

This survey is targeted at librarians and other people who work at public libraries that lend e-books. We would like your input; please take the survey, it takes about 15 minutes. It is available here: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/survey/e-book-lenders

Login: your prefered email address
Password: please email Kathryn Zuckuhr (kzickuhr AT pewinternet.org) for the password with Pew Library Password as the subject. If you prefer you may also email me for the password.(bobbi.newman AT gmail.com)

Survey Two

The second survey is for patrons who check out e-books from their local public library. It is available here: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/survey/e-book-borrowers. It also takes about 15 minutes. This survey is not password protected.

Pew has created a brief message (available below) that you can share via your website, e-newsletters, social media and other dissemination methods, as well as a flyer and code that can be used to embed the survey on your library’s website. To get the Web code and/or flyer, please contact Kathryn Zickuhr at kzickuhr@pewinternet.org.

Template for Patron Survey:

The Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project is conducting an online survey of library patrons. We ask that you take the survey to help us out. All responses will be confidential. The survey should take about 15 minutes.

To take the survey, visit: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/survey/e-book-borrowers

The Pew Internet Project will also be doing other general surveys of library patrons, as well as non-library-users who own e-readers or tablet computers. If you would like to participate future surveys, sign up here to be notified.

To learn more about the Pew Internet Project’s research on e-reading and libraries, which is entirely free and available to the public, visit libraries.pewinternet.org.

Background Information

The ALA, IMLS, COSLA and other library leaders are advisors on a national research effort studying the changing role of public libraries in the digital age, as well as the experiences and expectations of public library users. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project to conduct surveys and provide analysis related to reading and e-reading; the changing world of public library services and the choices public libraries must make; and a typology of who does – and does not – use public libraries. As many of you know, Pew is a national leader in this kind of research, and their reputation and reach are high and wide – and the Project is interested in learning about the work and opinions of public librarians. We believe this effort will provide the kind of data-based information public libraries are demanding to proactively meet changing community needs and advocate for the future.

And, like all research efforts, it can’t happen without you. The first major report in this series was just released and examined the “rise of e-reading” and how people find and consume long-form digital content. That report is available online at libraries.pewinternet.org.

The next report in this research series will look specifically at people’s experiences in public libraries, especially their use of e-books and other digital services. To inform this research, Pew is supplementing its usual nationally representative phone surveys with two online surveys to draw out the deeper, richer stories behind the data.Similar Posts:

Show Your Support, Donate

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:01:24 +0000

UPDATE 5/1/2012 We have reached the goal! Thank you so much to everyone who donated! I will be at ALA 2012 thanks to your support and generosity!

Making the decision to write this post was hard for me, after all I love NPR but pledge drive time drives me a little crazy especially after I’ve donated and it keeps going. But I understand why they do it and I wouldn’t have it any other ways. So, I’m going to be a little self-indulgent.

A couple of weeks ago I realized I wouldn’t be able to make the trip to Anaheim for ALA. Some health issues, nothing life threatening, but expensive nevertheless have used up the money I had set aside. In a moment of wistful thinking I tweeted that if each of my twitter followers donated 50 cents I’d be able to go to ALA (and then some). John Jackson who writes the Ink & Vellum blog took the idea and ran with it. I was a little embarrassed but mostly humbled that he and others would think it worthwhile to donate to send me to ALA. Donations have been coming in, about $300 right now.

Then some more good news and support came my way. Yesterday an individual who supports my work and feels I should attend this years ALA approached me with a challenge. If I could raise $750 s/he would donate/loan me the rest with two stipulations first that s/he remain anonymous and second that one day, when I have plenty of money to spare, I either match it with a charity donation or a similar good deed. I’ve been donating smaller amounts for years for a number of causes, including donations last year towards sending two different people to Annual, so I will happily agree to those terms.

What will I be doing at Annual if I go?

I serve as a councilor-at-large you can reread my statements from when I was running if you like. I also serve as the LITA representative on the ALA OITP Digital Literacy Task Force, on the OITP Advisory Committee, on the Conference Committee and as the chair for the Transliteracy Interest Group.

Some other non-ALA noteworthy service and projects include:

serving on the Library Advisory Group for the Pew Internet & American Life research on Libraries in the Digital Age
founder and coordinator, semi-annual Library Day in the Life Project
co-founder and editor This Is What a Librarian Looks
contributing editor and advocate at Library Renewal
co-founder and writer for the Libraries and Transliteracy Project.
contributor to the Transliteracy Research Group
Library Journal Mover and Shaker, 2011

I’m setting a goal of $750. If I meet that my Anonymous Sponsor will loan me the difference. I’m setting a deadline of May 8^th to ensure that the plane ticket isn’t astronomical. If we don’t reach the goal by then the funds will be set aside for attending MidWinter 2013.

So if you find my blog posts or tweets or what I share on Facebook useful or feel that I represent you, please donate. Every little bit helps.

How do you donate?

Two options.

You can use the donate button at the right or below. If you subscribe via RSS you’ll need to visit the blog directly the button does not show up in the feed. I have discovered if you use this option, Paypal takes 30 cents plus a percentage on all donations, so if you donate a $1, I get 67 cents, $5, I get $4.55 etc.

The second one is to log into your Paypal account, click on the “send money” tab, type in my email address bobbi.newman AT gmail.com and select “personal” and “other” for the reason. There is no charge for this option. A dollar sent is a dollar received.

Thank you. And thank you to everyone who has already donated.Similar Posts:

My Guest Appearance On The Bibliotech Podcast

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:36:46 +0000

I recently had the honor to be invited to talk with Kayhan B., Erin Anderson, and Doug Mirams hosts of the Bibliotech podcast.

We talked about all sorts of things including but not limited to: ebooks, transiteracy, the echo chamber, change, the future of libraries, and This is What a Librarian Looks Like.

Links to articles etc that I mentioned:

Nominate a Librarian - John Jackson
Great Librarian Write Out – Patrick Sweeney
Pew research on Libraries in the Digital Age
Library Renewal
The Libraries and Transliteracy Project
Looks Like Library Science
The now infamous ebooks post

So grab a soda and some popcorn cuz it’s a long one and have a listen!

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Ebook Readership Increases, Still Only 21%

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:31:39 +0000

Before you get too excited about the 21% who have read an ebook in the last year compared it with the 22% who reported not reading a book at all.

That compares with 22% who told us they had not read a book in the previous 12 months or didn’t answer a book-reading question in December 2011.

That number, the number of people NOT reading books at all in any format, it’s going up too.

Where did I get this fun and exciting data? Yesterday Pew released it’s report on The Rise of e-Reading. The report is full of data related to ereaders, ebooks, and the general reading and book borrowing habits of Americans. the whole thing deserves reading. (Full disclaimer – I serve on the Library Advisory Board for this research)

Specifically related to libraries (emphasis added by me):

When readers were asked about the most recent book they read in any format, print, audio, or e-book: How had they gotten it? Almost half (48%) of readers age 16 and older said they had purchased it. About a quarter (24%) said they had borrowed it from a friend or family member, and 14% said they borrowed it from a library.

One area this report does not address is why? Why did only 14% borrow from the library? Because the waiting list was too long, the title wasn’t available, or the process was too complicated or some other reason?

In a December 2011 survey, we found that a majority of print readers (54%) and readers of e-books (61%) prefer to purchase their own copies of these books. Meanwhile, most audiobook listeners prefer to borrow their audiobooks; just one in three audiobook listeners (32%) prefer to purchase audiobooks….

Again we don’t know the answer to why for this data. Is it because the check out time is too short, the library doesn’t have the book, the process was too complicated, the wait was too long or some other reason?

Some noteworthy general facts (emphasis added by me):

(21%) report that they have read an e-book in the past year

Personally I was happy to see this number as I was taken to task repeatedly for my estimate of 29% (most felt it was far too low)

Those who have taken the plunge into reading e-books stand out in almost every way from other kinds of readers.

Foremost, they are relatively avid readers of books in all formats: 88% of those who read e-books in the past 12 months also read printed books.

Compared with other book readers, they read more books.

They read more frequently for a host of reasons: for pleasure, for research, for current events, and for work or school.

They are also more likely than others to have bought their most recent book, rather than borrowed it

They are more likely than others to say they prefer to purchase books in general, often starting their search online.

This is not particularly surprising but it is good to see the data confirm suspicions.

Those who own e-book readers and tablets are avid readers of books in all formats. On any given day, 49% of those who own e-book readers like the original Kindles and Nooks are reading an e-book. And 59% of those e-reader owners said they were reading a printed book. On any given day, 39% of tablet owners are reading an e-book and 64% were reading a printed book.

Looks like print isn’t dead after all

The availability of e-content is an issue to some. Of the 43% of Americans who consumed e-books in the last year or have read other long-form content on digital devices, a majority say they find the e-content is available in the format they want.

So 57% are having difficulties finding content in the format they want.

It is also worth noting the social, economic and racial lines of e-reader and tablet ownership

This report is part of the larger Pew Internet and American Life Research funded by the Gates Foundation on Libraries in the Digital Age. As a librarian and a member of the Library Advisory Group for this research I was thrilled to see it get its own URL and section on the website at www.libraries.pewinternet.org

You may notice that this website looks and feels a bit different from the home site of pewinternet.org. As part of our multi-year study of the changing role of public libraries in the digital age, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we felt it was important to give this work its own “room,” so to speak. You will still be able to find all of these reports and presentations at our home site, but you’ll also have libraries.pewinternet.org as a one-stop shop for everything that Pew Internet does that relates to libraries. Marry Madden

This report lays some good groundwork for future research and reports. We all know issues surrounding ebooks are taking up a great deal of our time and energy, and now we have good data about who is using ebooks and ereaders.

You can subscribe to the library blog via RSS, or all Pew updates on Twitter or Facebook.

Over the next year, Pew will be sending out surveys to four groups:

Library patrons
E-reader or tablet users
Library e-book borrowers
Librarians

If you fall into any of these groups and you are interested in being a part of our research, you can learn more here.

Additional Commentary On The Report:

E-book Consumers Read More Books Says Pew Report Similar Posts:

The Definition of Digital Literacy

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:35:23 +0000

The OITP Digital Literacy Task Force released it’s official definition of digital literacy this week on the District Dispatch blog. The short definition is accompanied by a six page primer (not yet available) that provides more in-depth information.

Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information requiring both cognitive and technical skills.

I am part of this task force and one of the reasons I was thrilled to be asked to serve is because I knew that digital literacy was a growing area of discussion not just among librarians but among policy makers and others discussing issues such as the digital divide, 21st century skills and participatory citizenship. I also knew there was no agreed upon definition for digital literacy.

Read more at District Dispatch.Similar Posts:

What a Librarian Looks Like Passes 450 Submissions & 25 Countries – You Guys Rock!

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:30:25 +0000

It has been just over a month since Erin and I launched This is What a Librarian Looks Like. This is a fun, light-hearted project is a complement to the Library Day in the Life Project with the simple purpose of highlighting librarians with “photos of real librarians in their real lives doing real stuff”. It has been so much fun to see the submissions from all around the globe!

This project is still open and will stay open, so if you haven’t already submit your photo today!

But I wanted to celebrate some milestones!

The site has 3,502 followers! Thank you to each and everyone.

Earlier this week we surpassed the 450 mark for the number of submissions, some photos have more than one person in there so we are way over the 450 mark for people! Thank you to everyone who spent the time finding that “perfect” photo to represent you and submitting it. I am amazed at the diversity of the submissions!

I am blown away that this project has managed to span the globe! We also have submissions from 25 countries including: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Belarus, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and Wales. If you submitted something and your country is not listed please let me know I have had to track these manually.

View Looks Like Library Science in a full screen map

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Should Libraries Get Out of the eBook Business?

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:14:32 +0000

Or get out at least until there is a better system?

I know what you are going to say, I can hear it already – “We can’t! Our patrons demand ebooks!” Except the truth is our patrons want a lot of things we can’t give them – to always be first on the waiting list for the new James Patterson, to not pay fines when their books are late, for the library to be open earlier or later, or to have a system besides Dewey because despite using it their entire lives they still cannot figure it out. When it comes to ebooks, we cannot give them what they want, not really, we cannot give them books from Simon and Schuster or MacMillian or new books from Penguin or Hatchet, and not more than 26 times from HarperCollins, and probably not many books from Random House. What we can do, what maybe we should do, is spend their tax money wisely, and I am no longer convinced that spending it on the current ebook system is a wise move.

The Demand:

First let’s look at the demand. As librarians we spend a great deal of time thinking and talking about books and subsequently ebooks. But the truth is we spend far more time focusing on ebooks than the population. Reports vary on the actually percentage of the population that actually own an ereader but general consensus agrees that after the holiday season this year it is only about 19 percent of the population that owns an ereader, if you factor in tablets that number rises to 29%. Of course there is no guarantee that those tablet owners are reading ebooks on their device, but I’ll be generous and go with 29%. Ok, you say but we still have to serve that 29%.

The Supply

But what are we serving them? One only has to look at Library Journal’s A Guide to Publishers in the Library Ebook Market to realize it’s pretty slim pickings. So we’re providing a mediocre access at best.

The Process

Plus if you have the fortune to be the person at your library who is responsible for helping patrons with ebooks and troubleshooting problems you know that the process is a nightmare. In order to borrow library ebooks a patrons must have a compatible device, a home computer capable of running Adobe Digital Editions, a high-speed internet connection, and enough tech savvy to set everything up and get it to work correctly. If all goes well, wonderful! But if one thing goes wrong, woe to the librarian providing support over the phone. Honestly the process is a nightmare. The most beautiful thing to happen to the ebook lending process was the partnership with Amazon that allowed it to happen wirelessly.

A Mess

The whole thing is a hot mess. A hot mess that is consuming our time, our resources and a our money. We are in the midst of the ebook wars, just look at the number of proprietary systems and file formats.

Or look at the regular headlines about publishers fighting with Amazon over pricing, the latest being Amazon yanks 5,000 titles from Independent Publishers Group, a Chicago book distributor.

I can’t help but wonder if Guy LeCharles Gonzales is right when he writes:

Stop buying ebooks across the board, at any price, under any terms. Let publishers fight it out with Amazon, and when the dust finally settles (it will) and a viable business model appears (maybe), begin negotiating anew, on solid ground, with whomever’s left standing.

In the meantime, libraries can redirect those precious resources and finances being flagged for ebooks towards more tangible initiatives in their respective communities.

Surely every library has a service gap or three to fill that’s more valuable than overpaying for temporary licenses to files and platforms they don’t own, that may or may not work on their patrons’ devices of choice, and whose pricing can fluctuate more wildly than that of crude oil and Netflix stock.

Maybe libraries should just stop buying ebooks until there is a real, viable solution to the situation. Do not mistake me, I do not think we should stop looking for a solution or stop advocating on behalf of our patrons, but I do think perhaps we should stop throwing good money at a bad solution.

I am certainly not the only one thinking about this, Andy Woodworth offers a list of alternative uses for your ebook budgets. I have suggested it before and I will suggest it again, take a look a Library Renewal.

We need a solution to the library/ebook problem, we need a seat at the table in ebook discussions, but right now libraries (and our patrons) are just collateral damage in the ebooks war.

Karen Schneider points out in her recent post about publishers, ebooks, and libraries:

Note that publishers have had their eyes on libraries for a long time. A pioneering librarian, Marvin Scilken, led the charge to expose imbalance in bookstore/library pricing decades ago, which resulted in an agreement on library pricing that no doubt has stuck in publishers’ craws ever since. (See his Wikipedia bio, cf. the section “1966 Senate Hearing on the Price Fixing of Library Books.”) Depending on who is in office, there would have to be some similar sympathy these days. Studying those hearings and their arguments might be useful. (Just like studying librarians of yore is valuable. Definitely at least one entire week in my Fantasy Library Class.)

How Marvin proceeded, and succeeded, might be a very useful research question to pursue in the ALA library and ALA archives — and could be a great class project for that class I don’t have time to teach. But one thing’s for sure: the good work Marvin did in 1966 is now being upended. Then again, maybe, in its own way, it can be repeated.

I have been thinking for a while now that we will not find a solution by politely saying “please, sir, I want some more“. After all we (as a society not libraries) did not get the first sale doctrine out of the goodness of someone’s heart, it came from a court case. Maybe we need to stop asking. It wouldn’t be the first time.

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Random House eBook Price Hike Round Up

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:20:39 +0000

Normally I would be all fired up and writing a post of my own on this, but right now I just feel defeated. So here’s the break down.

What Random House said

Titles available in print as new hardcovers: $65- $85
Titles available for several months, or generally timed to paperback release: $25-$50
New children’s titles available in print as hardcovers: $35-$85
Older children’s titles and children’s paperbacks: $25-$45

What it looked like in reality (new prices went into effect on Thursday)

Eisenhower in War and Peace $40 Wednesday, $120 on Thursday (print version a little over $20 (it retails at $40).
Blessings by Anna Quindlen – $15 on Wednesday, $45 on Thursday

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You’re Invited! – This Is What a Librarian Looks Like

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:03:52 +0000

I’m so excited to announce this new project! As the ultimate compliment to Library Day in the Life we bring you This is What a Librarian Looks Like!

What: a site to go beyond the bun and challenge old, outdated librarian stereotypes with photos of real librarians in their real lives doing real stuff

Who: YOU! The site is up and running and ready for submissions. So find a picture that you think best represents you to the world and submit it! Please don’t submit photos of others and be tasteful! This is a fun, light-hearted project, please approach it in that spirit!

Where: This is What a Librarian Looks Like!

When: NOW! Go submit something already!

Your editors are Bobbi Newman and Erin Downey Howerton and we’ll be approving submissions as fast as we can!

Inspired by is What a Scientist Looks Like.

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Librarian by Day » Bobbi Newman

My Favorite Tools and Tips in Ten Installments: 5. Evernote

Recommended Reading

Previous Tips & Tools

Working with eBooks? Please Take this Pew Survey

Survey One

Survey Two

Background Information

Show Your Support, Donate

What will I be doing at Annual if I go?

How do you donate?

My Guest Appearance On The Bibliotech Podcast

Ebook Readership Increases, Still Only 21%

The Definition of Digital Literacy

What a Librarian Looks Like Passes 450 Submissions & 25 Countries – You Guys Rock!

Should Libraries Get Out of the eBook Business?

Read More

Random House eBook Price Hike Round Up

Read More:

You’re Invited! – This Is What a Librarian Looks Like