Pew Internet releases report detailing mobile access to library services and websites
“Findings: Some 13% of those ages 16 and older have visited library websites or otherwise accessed library services by mobile device. This is the first reading in a national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project on this subject. An earlier survey in 2009 by scholars at the University of Washington found that 6% of Americans ages 16 and older had used a mobile device to connect to a library site, so the incidence of this activity has doubled since then.1
Those who are most likely to have connected to a library site include parents of minor children, women, and those with at least some college education.
“Library website users: In all, the Pew Internet Project survey finds that 39% of Americans ages 16 and older have gone to a library website at one time or another and, of them, 64% visited a library site in the previous 12 months. That translates into 25% of all Americans ages 16+ who visited a library website in the past year.
“Those who are most likely to have visited library websites are parents of minors, women, those with college educations, those under age 50, and people living in households earning $75,000 or more.”
In depth charts and data available in full report available here.
From a report by Lee Rainie, Kathryn Zickuhr and Maeve Duggan published by PEW Internet, Mobile Connections to Libraries
UK Intellectual Property Office revises UK’s copyright laws to be more in tune with the digital age
“The United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) just released an extremely important announcement revising the UK’s copyright laws, bringing them more up to date with a digital age. “Modernising Copyright: A modern, robust and flexible framework” (pdf) formalizes permissions for a wide range of acts that in the U.S. are likely to be judged as Fair Use, but which have not obtained the benefit of explicit endorsement.
“One of the IPO’s singular provisions in “Modernising Copyright” – that contracts cannot overwrite existing copyright exceptions and limitations – will have widespread repercussions. IFLA is helping drive similar discussions in international deliberations at WIPO focusing on libraries and archives. The U.S. Congress should give serious consideration to adopting a homologous principle. The UK, whose copyright framework is broadly similar to the U.S., now stands at the forefront of European thinking on copyright.
“The core of the report’s recommendations will seem commonsense to anyone following recent debates in copyright and intellectual property. For example, Modernising Copyright permits consumers to format shift content for private purposes, such as copying CDs to computers and portable music players, and although DRM’s technical protection must be observed, there is a means to apply for waiver. Other changes permit greater uses of copyrighted content for education, including copying of audiovisual content; the ability of libraries to preserve materials through digitization whenever they cannot be replaced; a recognition that text and datamining are research endeavors that do not interfere with copyright; and the right for people with disabilities to obtain access to an appropriate copy when one does not exist on the market.”
From Peter Brantley’s article for Publishers Weekly, Not Excepting Our Laws
Report analysis focuses on how New York City’s growing library patronage can be better served with digital measures
“E-books have not spelled the demise of the local library in New York. In fact, according to a new report from the Center for an Urban Future, 40.5 million people visited the city’s public libraries, more than all of the city’s professional sports teams and major cultural institutions combined.
“The report released on Tuesday, “Branches of Opportunity,” looks at the changing role of the city’s libraries in the digital age. It finds that while public libraries are serving more New Yorkers than ever, they are “undervalued by policymakers and face growing threats.”
“New York City’s library system is a unique hybrid. Three organizations — the New York Public Library, along with the Brooklyn and Queens libraries— operate 206 local branches throughout the five boroughs.
“Serving New Roles in Communities: The report says public libraries in New York are most popular with seniors, foreign-born New Yorkers, at-risk teens and freelance workers and that they serve visitors in four key areas:
- Helping adults upgrade work skills and find jobs.
- Assisting immigrants with assimilation.
- Fostering reading skills in young people.
- Providing technology access for those without a computer or Internet connection at home — an estimated 36 percent of New York City’s population does not have broadband. “
From Manoush Zomorodi’s post on the New Tech City blog for WNYC, New Report on Libraries Transforming in the Digital Age
The inability for publishing companies to find a marketing model for eBooks that work called the “Wild West” of Digital Licensing
“Have you ever borrowed an e-book from a library? If the answer is no, you’re a member of a large majority. A survey out Thursday from the Pew Internet Project finds that only 5 percent of “recent library users” have tried to borrow an e-book this year.
“About three-quarters of public libraries offer e-books, according to the American Library Association, but finding the book you want to read can be a challenge — when it’s available at all.
“Brian Kenney is the director of the White Plains Public Library in New York. He tells NPR’s Audie Cornish about a library patron who wanted to check out a digital copy of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs.
“It was a middle-aged guy, you know, had a high techno-comfort zone, he was carrying his iPad, and he approached the desk carrying the Isaacson bio and said, ‘How do I download this,’ ” Kenney recalls. “And it was the classic case where I had to explain to them, ‘Well, sir, actually, you can’t download that from here.’ And then ensues the discussion why, as though somehow or other the library was stupid or failing in its job.”
“In fact, Kenney says, it’s not a failure on the part of the library — Simon and Schuster, which published the book, would not license it to the library for download.
“You might think about all this as the Wild West of digital licensing — a frontier environment where every publisher has its own set of rules. Among the six biggest companies, Simon and Schuster currently licenses none of its e-books to libraries. The company says it simply hasn’t found a model that works.”
From an NPR Staff sourced article, Libraries And E-Lending: The ‘Wild West’ Of Digital Licensing?
University of Cambridge’s digital library runs on the belief that “Great public collections shouldn’t be limited to a small audience of academics. That’s in no-one’s interest.”
“It was proclaimed as a “digital library for the world”, with scholars, students and bookworms being able to access some of the rarest and most significant pieces of literature ever written.
“A year on, thousands of books and manuscripts held by the University of Cambridge have been uploaded to the Cambridge Digital Library, and many more are expected to be digitised in the next couple of years.
“But it is a mammoth project – how do you put 600-year’s worth of the written word on the internet?
“The answer is with a team of about 30 experts, five 80-megapixel cameras, several high-end scanners and a lot of dedication.
“Grant Young, director of the Cambridge Digital Library project, said it was about turning the traditional library “inside out” and finding a way of sharing the university’s often hidden possessions with people across the globe.
“This is one of the great research libraries that over the past 600 years has been amassing amazing collections from all parts of the world and all cultures, so we really felt that we should be making that more accessible,” he said.
“Pages of history
“We want to share these treasures with the world. We want to be surprised at what people do with it and the discoveries that are made from it.
“We want to advance scholarship, research and teaching and we want this to be used and enjoyed.”
From David Keller’s article for BBC News, Cambridge Digital Library looks to turn traditional library ‘inside out’