[Libs-Or] Fwd: [alacro-l] New Report: "Digital Discoveries"

[Suzanne Sager]

FYI,

Suzanne L. Sager

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Emily Sheketoff <esheketoff at alawash.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 8:06 AM
Subject: [alacro-l] New Report: "Digital Discoveries"
To: "alacro-l at ala.org" <alacro-l at ala.org>


 Please share with your colleagues

*New American Libraries supplement examines major trends in digital content*



Washington, D.C.—Leading library visionaries and experts discuss trends in
digital content technology and the current state of library ebook lending
in “Digital Discoveries <http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/28a54223>,” a
new digital supplement from* American Libraries* magazine.



“There is some reason for optimism,” said Alan S. Inouye, guest editor of
the digital supplement and director of the American Library Association’s
(ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). “However, there
remain many formidable challenges and exciting opportunities for libraries
within the digital content realm in the coming years.”



Developed by ALA’s Digital Content Working Group (DCWG), the digital
supplement examines the ways that public and school libraries are defining
their roles in the evolving digital publishing environment in a variety of
new and interactive ways. The digital supplement also details ALA’s
progress in advocating for equitable access to ebooks produced by the
world’s largest book publishers.



“Each change in the publishing ecosystem has helped us gain a better
understanding of what might be coming,” said Molly Raphael, former ALA
president, in an article that provides an overview of the existing ebook
lending landscape. “Much work remains to be done, but we can say that ALA
has made a difference in helping libraries and librarians find solutions
for working in the digital world ecosystem.”



“We are on the cusp of beginning to see the full impact of the internet on
the book business, and it will sweep away much of what we understand today
about publishing,” said Peter Brantley, director of Scholarly Communication
for Hypothes.is. In “Beating the Odds,” Brantley discusses how libraries
can insert themselves into the budding self-publishing industry by
connecting authors to readers and assisting the publishing process by
assembling tools and services for writers and editors, for instance.



In “School Library Ebook Business Models,” library ebook lending experts
Christopher Harris, Ric Hasenyager, and Carrie Russell discuss optimal
ebook licensing models for school libraries. According to the authors,
school libraries—unlike public libraries—have the option to access content
from major publishing companies via online retailer platform models, such
as Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble.



Roger Rosen provides a publisher’s perspective on the value of school
libraries in the digital era. In “Digital Resources in School Libraries,”
he explains how libraries are the “go-to destination for digital
empowerment, training, and discovery” and how librarians are those that he
“trust[s] the most to separate the music from the noise.”



In “Ebook Discovery,” Larra Clark, director of the ALA Program on Networks,
explores ways that libraries can better connect readers to new ebook
writers and titles. Libraries are currently increasing ebook exposure and
expanding their digital services in a host of ways, including partnering
with ebook distributors, developing mobile apps for readers and increasing
engagement with social media technology.



Pew Internet Project researchers Kathryn Zickuhr and Lee Rainie provide
perspectives based on three years of Pew reports on the rise in digital
services in libraries in “A New Way of Looking at Public Library Engagement
in America." According to research cited in the article, Americans’
connection—or lack of connection—with public libraries is part of their
broader information and social landscape. The authors reference research
showing that people who value and utilize public libraries most heavily
tend to be active in other parts of their communities.



The digital supplement concludes with a futuristic perspective on emerging
digital technologies in “Through the Google Glass, Dimly,” written by Roger
E. Levien, president of Strategy and Innovation Consulting. Levien focuses
on how to conceptualize the revolution in digital content, which
facilitates envisioning where libraries fit in the reading ecosystem.
Robert J. Rua of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library provides a case
study of a newspaper transitioning to the digital era and its collaboration
with the local library.



The supplement Digital Discoveries is the fourth *American Libraries*
magazine supplement on ebooks and digital content. For more information
about the ALA’s digital content activities, visit the *American Libraries*
E-content blog <http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/e-content>. Read
the full report: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/28a54223



Join the ebook discussion at the 2014 American Library Association Annual
Conference in Las Vegas. At the session “ALA and Moving Ahead with Digital
Content,” a panel of leading library and publishing experts will discuss
ALA ebook activities and detail important digital content trends, including
key policy issues that impact libraries. Print copies of this supplement
will be available at the conference. The ALA Digital Content Working Group
will host the session on Saturday, June 28, 2014, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in
the Las Vegas Convention Center, room N255/257.





-- 
Suzanne L. Sager
Oregon ALA Representative
Portland State University Library
PO Box 1151
Portland, OR  97207-1151

Phone: 503-725-8169
Fax: 503-725-5799

email: sagers at pdx.edu
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