iPad in my library

I’m lucky enough to be working in a great library.  Last June the library director, Marit Gro Berge, approved a project to give an iPad to all librarians working the reference desk. I was given the task of setting up and instructing the staff in how to use the iPads.

Here is an edited google-translation of a norwegian language blogpost I did on this project:

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Lindås library is a very exciting place to work nowadays. Library director  Marit Gro Berge is heading the project “the desk free library” and focus on readers advisory and a library that meets the users in a new and more inclusive way.  I got the job of finding technological solutions that can support the project.

We decided to give everyone who worked at the public library, librarians and others, an iPad. Our main goal was that the employees should be online and available anywhere in the library space.

- Free range librarians
The main idea to give everyone who works out of the library iPad was that we wanted to be more “free range” and avoid being locked to the desk and to have access to our most important tools, search the catalog and online in general. Unlike laptops  a tabletPC, e.g.  iPad, allows the user to hold and use without being bulky and difficult. Thanks to the wireless network throughout the library space, we always have access no matter where we are. We also wanted to prepare the ground for the reading of ebooks among staff in the library. (note: Norwegian language ebooks published in Norway are still not available through public libraries due to restrictions from publishers) We wanted experience both with reading and the technical installation and downloading. iPad is the most widely used platform for e-books among the multi-function tablet machines.

- Choice of technical solution – iPad2
We chose iPad2 after a series of considerations. The first was simply the type of hardware that is best suited to carry around in the library. Laptop PCs with keyboards, including netbooks, was dropped due to the limited extent it is possible to use without having to sit down and have a surface to put it on. When we had first arrived at desicion that tabletPCs was the solution we had the choice between iPad,  Android based Tablet PCs like the  GalaxyTab, and windows based machines. As I have tried all three types in my previous job I could advise on the pros and cons of all three. We eliminated the Windows machines first. Windows is too complex in relation to our needs  and they are less suitable as ebook reader platforms.  So the choise  were between iPad2 and GalaxyTab.  We wanted an operating system that was safe and provided staff with less experience with technology the opportunity to try out for themselves without any demands for technical knowledge. I believe that Apple’s iOS deliver this. For people with a desire for higher technical control Android may be a better choice. The highest threshold was that each employee had to install iTunes on their personal computer, and create the account and enter personal and credit card information. We discussed this in advance and there was no opposition to this. In other institutions, you can either find other solutions, or choose  Android. We also have chosen to keep the iPads completely outside the local municipal network. These machines are logged in to the open wireless network at the library.

- Installation and training
We got the machines first week in August and have spent time in training the staff in the use and selection of applications (apps) that we believe is best for our use. Initially, we concentrated on finding web sites we need to have quick access to and add them as icons on the home screen. We have also begun to look at ebook apps and have added free PDF-based ebooks in the iBooks app to gain experience with it. We started with “the reader-friendly library service ” that has been translated and published by the Norwegian national library.

- Practical experience so far
I have used my iPad on three reference shifts now. It has worked beyond all expectations.  Surprisingly for some of library users who come into the library, it goes without saying that the librarian has information ready on his arm wherever he is in the library, while others (especially young adults) think it’s interesting and commented positively that this was cool. It has been liberating to wander around to find literature and always have the OPAC available, and be able to follow leads and adjust the course along the way, and not at least find information on topics not covered in our own collection.  Many of the staff are still on the trial stage when it comes to using the iPad while they are out in the library room, but all are positive and work with training and testing. I have been surprised by how well suited the iPad has been in relation to the needs I see in reference work.

- The way forward
Next step is to find useful applications. Already we have discovered that Google Maps is great to show the way when tourists and others come in to ask about directions to sights adresses in the vicinity.
I see too that we can use iPads actively when we promote ebooks. Then we can at least show off the books to the curious.
We will replace our integrated library system in October, from Aleph to Mikromarc 3.  We see this as an opportunity to customize the system to a tablet-friendly format. Hope we get a good dialogue with our vendor about this.

The conclusion after two weeks is entirely positive. The only objections we may well have to iPad is that each machine is linked to an employee if you cannot establish institutional accounts on iTunes. I think this may be a good thing because it promotes a stronger ownership of the machines.

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Sorry about the crappy language, but at least now you can read about what we have done:-)

Arkivert i:E-books, Future

Is it just me?

Yesterday I followed the annual WWDC keynote speech by Steve Jobs. The news where less wow than usual because of a lost prototype earlier this year, but it was still fun to see what was presentet on the stage. In an age where most technology products are presented fairly low key and most information is leaked way before the actual presentation the Apple circus is fun and refreshing.

But I was surprised that so few was stunned by something that really hit me. The new iPhone screen now has a resolution that rivals the printed page! Most people I know says that they do not want to read a book on the iPhone, but I have personally read several novel on my tired ol iPod touch without problem, and with this new screen and battery life there iPhone and hopefully iPod touch with similar specs will be new players changing the ebook reader field.

The increased demand for better screens, longer battery life and an intuitive interface will hopefully hit the current ebook reader market and drive innovation and development towards my ideal ebook reader.

Arkivert i:Books, E-books

Reading 2.0

I just discovered this video in Wired Gadget Lab Epicenter blog . The creators called it text 2.0, but in reality I believe it is reading 2.0 we are looking at. Take a look and make up your own mind. I can think of so many applications of this. People with reading difficulties will be able to enjoy reading with the text itself helping out.

Arkivert i:E-books, reading 2.0, text 2.0

iPad and libraries – some thoughts

OK, congratulations to all fellow Apple fanboys and girls The iPad looks good and I would love to get my hands on one. In fact on thursday I  got word from the ICT-department at work that they pre-ordered one for me. (I might have mentioned the upcoming device once or twice in the previous months and had a fairly long discussion with the head of ICT services that morning) Have I told you how great these guys are?

Even if I look forward to getting my hands on the iPad, or “padda” (toad) as it is rapidly becoming known in Norway and Sweden, one of my first reactions to Steve Jobs presentation of the iPad was  that this is Apple´s gift to Google. It will take very little effort to top this. Just add a camera and flash support to a touch screen with the Android operating system and you have a iPad killer. On the purely technical/OS side of the device that is. What probably will sell the iPad is the ease of use for non-techies.  A lot of blogposts and twitter comments have called this the first true “everybody computer.”  They might have a point. My iPod touch is equally popular with my three-year-old, my ten-year-old and myself,  who all use it in many different ways. A larger device appeals to all of us.

But like so many people I am more fascinated with the services embedded in the iPad than the hardware. iBooks and the iTunes-like book buying opportunities are what makes the iPad a  must have for me, more that the weight, screen, OS or other apps.

It will certainly be interesting to see what new iPad apps that will come in the coming months. One thing I am sure of is that we will all be surprised by the diversity of apps and the uses to which the iPad will be put to. And another thing to watch out for is the plethora of iPad-like devices that will hit us like a tsunami in the coming year. There will proably be two main schools competing with Apple, the Android school where the Google Android operating system for smartphones will be ported to a tablet, and the Windows 7 school, where Microsoft will try to match the ease of use of the iPad with tons of features and a “whole operating system”  to rival the limited OS on the iPad. My guess is that the Android school has a better chance, but that none of the competing schools have a chance against Apple when it comes to opening up the market of those who previously have not used computers very much, and people who simply want a few features to “just work”

For libraries the iPad will have little immediate impact. What it probably will do, if it is a hit in the marketplace, is that it will fuel reader demand for e-books. I predict that it will be a slow development, but maybe too fast for many librarians. When the demand for e-books is for Nora Roberts latest romance novel, rather than some science fiction blockbuster or main stream popular science non-fiction, and the person wanting the e-book is the harassed mother with three kids running around her at the library desk, then e-books will have arrived in the library. This could happen if the iPad really hits it off with the public.

For libraries there are two main challenges:

1. How do we get content from the library to the iPad and similar devices, and can libraries use iBook or the AppStore as a delivery method? I think there will be several opportunities, and that binding libraries to a cooperation with Apple to get in through the iBook store probably will be difficult and even counterproductive. There are at least two avenues to go, either create an international LibraryBook app (open source of course), that will work on any operating system, or cooperate with the creators of any of the open source apps that are out there to deliver books through them. Both avenues has their pros- and cons, but I believe that to secure a future for the library brand it would be a good idea to develop a special library app.

2. Will the iPad and iPad like devices  change the media habits of readers? Very likely. The iPod and iPhone has both changed a lot of behaviour and expectations from library users, and how other devices are viewed and used. I expect to see increasing demand for content on tablets from readers and probably pressure on the library to deliver certain types of content, i.e. ebooks.

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on an iPad and try it out in my library.

Arkivert i:E-books, Librarian 2.0, Library 2.0, Web 2.0, iPad

A-books?

The last week has brought up a new discussion on the future of e-books. It started with a post on Buns, blankets and bears; Are ebooks the new CD-ROM?, that I discovered on Twitter. I ReTweeted the post and it was posted on FriendFeed where Walt Crawford commented. This led to a short discussion which again caused me to wonder if the augmented e-books (a-books) would go the same way as the now unreadable CD-ROMs I have cluttering up a drawer in my desk. But there are some factors that might give a-books a better chance than the old CD-ROMs. First and foremost, people are more open to digitally enhanced experiences today than 10 years ago. Secondly, there is a culture for creation that was not there when CD-ROMs where the bee’s knees, of course you had to have a million dollar studio and computer stuff to make a CD-ROM with text, audio and video, but today you can mix the whole thing together on a 200 dollar PC. So these factors combined might bring on a grassroots creative burst, and when you get the first viral success a-book you get publishers to sit up and take notice, unlike the CD-ROM “revolution” which was mostly top-down driven the a-book revolution might be bottom-up driven. I can’t wait to see:-)

Arkivert i:E-books, Library 2.0

DRM, e-books and a norwegian version of DiViBib

The german library e-lending system DiViBib is a controversial system for allowing libraries to lend electronic content, films, e-books and music, with a number of limitations. The system allows only the number of copies that the library has purchased to be borrowed, and the content can only be re-issued when the lending time is up. A pretty traditional “physical object” kind of system. The system also uses DRM to prevent copying and the use on several different units.

There is a major discussion among German librarians on this. I have blogged (in norwegian) favorably on DiViBib because I believe that this is a means to get norwegian publishers to start publishing e-books. So far, none of the larger norwegian publishers have published e-books since the great e-book bust of 2001. Today there is almost no really interesting or new material
published as e-books in norwegian. This is a problem for norwegian libraries, and DiViBib may be the solution to getting publishers to start publishing e-books, and thus get e-books to the public.

The limitations of DRM and outdated lending model are problematic, but also useful for making e-book publishing and lending “safe and familiar” to publishers and librarians that are sceptical of e-books and digital libraries in general. The introduction of DiViBib in norwegian libraries will give norwegian publishers a “safe” place to try e-book publishing. The Norwegian library bureau will act as an “responsible” agency and the main interface between publishers and norwegian libraries, and the introduction of DiViBib will also introduce e-books and digital material to a majority of norwegian librarians who are not familiar, or comfortable, with these new procedures and new forms of interaction between users and materials.

I do not believe that the restrictions on lending, and the DRM, will be major problems for this introduction. The majority of library uses, will probably not mind, ( just look at the sales figures for DRMed music) and over time the idea of DRM-free dissemination of library material will probably win out when publishers and librarians see that the public is not a “bunch of thieves” but ordinary people that acutally understand and approve of the need of authors and creators to be paid for their work.

We are in a time of change and new models for how library material and users are connected will surface as we gain experience and a deeper understanding of the processes involved.

Arkivert i:DiViBib, DRM, E-books, Library 2.0