Assignment+1


 * Part 1 - Academic Article Reviews **
 * Jason Wong - 21157979 **



Amazon’s decisions and announcements continue to have implications for many different stakeholders. In addition, their new and innovative products are making lawmakers and policy developers scramble to deal with issues they did not have to consider until now. Libraries is one group that will be watching the development of Amazon’s new relationship with OverDrive that enabled its library customers to borrow the ebooks they’d licensed from OverDrive to patrons with Kindle e-readers. Several arenas of the library world were concerned about patron confidentiality since Kindle ebook borrowers must sync with their Amazon in accounts in order to receive the item they are borrowing. As a result, Amazon would be able to add data to its “buy this book” target marketing data. In addition, they were wondering what it all meant for the future of libraries as a source of competition and use of print materials. I believe the issue is that a for-profit company will use the reading habits to suggest books that would might be interesting to them based on their reading habits and not reader privacy. I am sure an avid reader and active user of the library would welcome suggestions on other authors, subjects, or titles that would be in their areas of interest. As of now, libraries do not have to worry about patrons disregarding the library for Amazon’s ebook service for several reasons. To date, this service is only available to Amazon’s Prime Time subscribers which costs $79 dollars per year and allows borrowing of 1 book a month with no due date. In addition, another book cannot be borrowed without the first one being returned. Secondly, as of now, none of the six major publishers have become part of this program which severely limits the number of books available. This is not to say that this will not change in the future as Amazon continues to negotiate with the major publishers and develops it’s relationship with OverDrive. This article provides a glimpse into what libraries need to consider and plan for in the not so distant future to maintain relevant and competitive. Ipads, Ebooks, Electronic Resources are here to stay and it is up to libraries and associations to adapt and develop policies and procedures that will ensure the longevity of libraries.


 * Harris, Christopher. Amazon’s “Library”, Kindle Ebook Loans and What It All Means. American Library Journal, 42:11/12, pg. 21. **



The Social Networking site Facebook is a phenomenon that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. As a result, many more libraries have been creating Facebook pages along with websites to bring awareness and promote their services and materials. The issue faced by this new form of communication is what content to include and how to use it as an effective learning tool. Many libraries already have a website that they have to maintain and to add another page, we have to ask ourselves, “Is it worth the time and will anyone use it?”
 * The creation and maintenance of Facebook, like any other tool, is only effective if it is kept up to date. Also, the research shows that a Facebook page is used mostly as an announcement and marketing tool. Also ranked high was the posting of pictures and as a place to contact with other members of the group. The Facebook page was not used for more academic endeavours such as to administer a course, post lecture notes, create podcasts, or communicate with professors. **
 * Facebook is still perceived as a social arena where announcements, updates, pictures and events dominate discussions. Libraries who use Facebook would be advised to create a page directed to these activities and provide links to more academic endeavours on the Facebook page. In addition, other tools, such as Twitter, may become popular as Web 2.0 applications and the Internet is constantly changing. As a result, librarians should be prepared to leave their hard work behind and jump to the next tool. As a educator of elementary and middle school students this may not be feasible because of access being given to minors. Having a Facebook page may encourage younger students to lie about their age in order to bypass laws and regulations governing minors creating accounts without parental consent. **


 * Jacobson, Terra B. Facebook as a Library Tool: Perceived vs. Actual Use. College & Research Libraries. 72:1, p. 79-90. **



Libraries are like a business in many ways. In order to stay in ‘business’, they need to prosper through effective and aggressive marketing through the use of technology and keen insights into customer preferences. This article explains to libraries, that to continue to a worthwhile and valuable institution, need to exploit the advantages of networked technology, and continue to offer convenience and access to the hundreds of millions of items in their collective inventory, expertise and talent, and ‘brick-and-mortar’ structures its loyal customer base. This is not to say that the old library will be eliminated, but they need to be re-invented on the reality of today where access is more important than vast quantities of nearby inventory. Today’s society needs to know that an item is available before venturing out, if not exactly, some approximation to it. To the extent that it is not available will have a severe negative perception of the institution. The majority of libraries today are staffed with librarians who are full of people who are set in their ‘brick-and-mortar’ ways of doing things. As a result, it is difficult to letting go of past practices and tools no matter how cherished and successful they were. We must understand responding to the patrons wants and needs in a timely manner is most important. In the past, people expected to spend more time to locate an answer, fact, statistic, idea or data they need. In addition, a large stack of reference materials were the norm as students gathered facts for their essays, papers, or dissertations. Today, we expect to connect to a lot of things, regardless of where the items are, who owns them, what time of day it is, or where we are. I think that this is important for new librarians to keep in the back of their minds as they develop their on libraries. We have to get over the fear that, with the changes that we make that allows for the library to be more accessible and used for additional activities, we will no longer be needed. In reality, the librarian will be more important as ever for information literacy and connecting the patron with the material.


 * Smith, S. & Pickett, C. Avoiding the Path to Obsolescence. American Library Association. 42:9/10. p.40-43. **