Today I attended a forum at the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) that was all about ebooks. Librarians and student librarians were tweeting throughout the event, and socialising over morning tea and lunch on the slightly chilly terrace.
Presenters included:
Martin Taylor - founding director of the Digital Publishing Forum for digital publishing in NZ, publisher and managing director at Addenda Publishing.
Kate Eltham - CEO of QLD Writers Centre since 2006, founder of if:book Australia.
Sherman Young - Assoc. Professor and Assoc. Dean of Learning & Teaching in Arts at Macquarie, author of The Book is Dead, Long Live the Book.
John Scott - Burdekin Library Services Manager (via recorded video)
Jacinda Woodhead - associate editor of Overland literary journal, runs blogs Overland and Meanland.
Jennifer Moran - panelist and contributor to Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
Ebook lending may be the way forward for libraries, but there are many challenges along the way. Ebook channels are still evolving and the lifecycle of the ebook is not yet stable, so although there is room for error, there is also room for experimentation.
Martin Taylor had a tough job today - speaking from the publishing side. If you're unfamiliar with the cloud over publishing lately, Harper Collins USA has been very unpopular with libraries and librarians since they changed their terms of service to allow only 26 checkouts per ebook before requiring the library to repurchase the title. They say that is the average number of checkouts a paperback can withstand before it needs replacing. Some librarians have responded with an intention to boycott, and others are fighting to increase the arbitrary number of loans.
Taylor expects that ebooks will eventually follow a model not unlike the movie industry, where cost to the user decreases post-release, and the publisher makes more money in the long run than in the opening days of a release. He says public libraries will face new challenges for patrons' time, and that the greatest threat to libraries' digital success will be a bad customer service experience. He adds that terms are needed to manage channel conflict (ie; publishers-authors-libraries-schools), and that libraries will face new competition.
A partnership between publishers and libraries is Taylor's hope for the future. Within this partnership, they would talk directly to authors and publishers, challenge traditions by "opening the door" to a hybrid paid/free model, and help the public understanding of the need to experiment and change. As to the libraries themselves, they should consider and trial several access models, creating options that work at each point in a book's economic lifestyle.
Kate Eltham discussed ebook lending, both in libraries and peer to peer. New consumer models include commercial peer to peer services, which she likens to 18th century private libraries, where chosen members could borrow books. The Lendle (Kindle) and Lend Me (Barnes & Noble) "matchmaking service" style services available to US ebook readers is a step in the right direction, but it's limited by geography and a single-loan model, neither of which helps Australian libraries.
Eltham notes that the library sector is shackled with policies at the moment, but believes that libraries will deal directly with self-published authors in the near future. She thinks the internet can tackle issues of geography, access, and convenience, and that we should think about the book as a service, not as a product.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Monday, 13 June 2011
Building a Research-led Profession
Workshop 3
May 9, 2011
Ann Gillespie spoke to us about evidence-based practice. In practical terms, this means:
Evidence-based librarianship has been around since about 1997, and evolved from medical librarians working in evidence-based medicine. Ann made a case for evidence-based practice, but she also pointed to its challenges. There is a lack of time practice it, a lack of confidence, a lack of research and critical appraisal skills, and a gap between the research questions that are asked and what is actually delivered.
I can see the lack of time being one of the biggest conflicts in a workplace. If your employer does not support EBP, it would be difficult to gain permission to spend time researching. Ideally, you could show a projected savings of time and/or money if a project or report is delivered using the principles of evidence-based practice. Unfortunately these resources are often put ahead of skills and expertise.
The class discussed the meanings of two words: Professional and Research. Our pair came close to the Australian Council of Professions definition, which included an adherence to standards, a public acceptance of their special skills and knowledge, and a high level of education and training. What we missed was a professional's willingness to use this knowledge and these skills to benefit others.
It was more challenging to pin down a definition of research. It's both a noun and a verb, so it can create something tangible, and it also requires action. It's also a way of finding out information, confirming facts, or gathering a basis for comparison. The definitions from Leedy and Ormorod (2005) made research into a logical progression. The detailed breakdown really helped me to see "behind the scenes" of research - the things you do without thinking about them.
Research involves more than looking up information; you must reflect on it or critically review it. Once you're actively researching, evidence-based practice can happen. Similarly to reflecting on experiences and learning, the application of knowledge is just as important as the gathering of knowledge.
I agree with the potential benefits of following EBL we discussed - higher standards, lower risk of failure, adding knowledge to the field, informing other practitioners, and providing solutions to problems. I hope to find a place of employment where EBL is encouraged, and in the meantime I will try to consider the wider outcomes of my own research.
May 9, 2011
Ann Gillespie spoke to us about evidence-based practice. In practical terms, this means:
- Converting information into answerable questions
- Finding the best available evidence to answer those questions
- Critically appraising the evidence for validity and usefulness
- Applying the results of that critical appraisal to your professional practice
- Evaluating whether it makes a difference to performance
Evidence-based librarianship has been around since about 1997, and evolved from medical librarians working in evidence-based medicine. Ann made a case for evidence-based practice, but she also pointed to its challenges. There is a lack of time practice it, a lack of confidence, a lack of research and critical appraisal skills, and a gap between the research questions that are asked and what is actually delivered.
I can see the lack of time being one of the biggest conflicts in a workplace. If your employer does not support EBP, it would be difficult to gain permission to spend time researching. Ideally, you could show a projected savings of time and/or money if a project or report is delivered using the principles of evidence-based practice. Unfortunately these resources are often put ahead of skills and expertise.
The class discussed the meanings of two words: Professional and Research. Our pair came close to the Australian Council of Professions definition, which included an adherence to standards, a public acceptance of their special skills and knowledge, and a high level of education and training. What we missed was a professional's willingness to use this knowledge and these skills to benefit others.
It was more challenging to pin down a definition of research. It's both a noun and a verb, so it can create something tangible, and it also requires action. It's also a way of finding out information, confirming facts, or gathering a basis for comparison. The definitions from Leedy and Ormorod (2005) made research into a logical progression. The detailed breakdown really helped me to see "behind the scenes" of research - the things you do without thinking about them.
Research involves more than looking up information; you must reflect on it or critically review it. Once you're actively researching, evidence-based practice can happen. Similarly to reflecting on experiences and learning, the application of knowledge is just as important as the gathering of knowledge.
I agree with the potential benefits of following EBL we discussed - higher standards, lower risk of failure, adding knowledge to the field, informing other practitioners, and providing solutions to problems. I hope to find a place of employment where EBL is encouraged, and in the meantime I will try to consider the wider outcomes of my own research.
Friday, 10 June 2011
Wikimedia Workshop
I was chosen as one of two QUT students from IT43 to attend a Wikimedia workshop at the State Library of Queensland on Monday, May 16th. Craig Franklin, QLD representative, and John Vandenberg, Wikimedia president for Australia, taught the session at The Edge.
We began with an overview of 10 Simple Rules and the 5 Pillars of editing, then learned how the Wiki family of sites is interconnected. There's a single sign-on, so once you've registered, you can add content across all the wikis.
During the training session we edited some scanned text. The Wiki software uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read and interpret scanned documents, but it's not perfect. Faded or antiquated fonts are more difficult to process, and human eyes are needed to proofread, with a second volunteer to verify the initial proofread. In these types of content pages, the "original" copy is retained alongside the plain text, for reference and as added value. A historical document or early print edition of a book, for instance, is notable for its format and not just its content.
Craig and John assured us that Wikipedia's collective knowledge is growing and has become more reliable than when it was first started up. Some high-profile pages, for example Katy Perry's entry, are locked so that only certain accounts can make changes - this has cut down on malicious edits. The upload and naming policies aren't exactly strict (in fact, you're encouraged to BE BOLD!) and it seems more people are becoming part of this amazing worldwide knowledge network.
What astounded me was the woman in the workshop who had no background knowledge or Wikipedia at all. It's certainly not new, so I assumed anyone who'd spent any time online would have come across it and known its basic principles. But when we were editing pages of the scanned book, she noticed an earlier edit and asked, "Who is that?" and I just shrugged and said, "Some guy." She was astounded that he wasn't a professor, or a writer, or a vetted expert in the field. She just didn't understand, until that moment, that Wikipedia was literally the encyclopaedia that anyone can edit. I'm glad she came to the workshop and hope she is able to use her new skills in her work!
It was neat to edit the scanned book and learn more about OCR. I wish the workshop had been more advanced because I might end up teaching a session on wiki editing myself, along with Katya, the other participant from QUT.
We began with an overview of 10 Simple Rules and the 5 Pillars of editing, then learned how the Wiki family of sites is interconnected. There's a single sign-on, so once you've registered, you can add content across all the wikis.
During the training session we edited some scanned text. The Wiki software uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read and interpret scanned documents, but it's not perfect. Faded or antiquated fonts are more difficult to process, and human eyes are needed to proofread, with a second volunteer to verify the initial proofread. In these types of content pages, the "original" copy is retained alongside the plain text, for reference and as added value. A historical document or early print edition of a book, for instance, is notable for its format and not just its content.
Craig and John assured us that Wikipedia's collective knowledge is growing and has become more reliable than when it was first started up. Some high-profile pages, for example Katy Perry's entry, are locked so that only certain accounts can make changes - this has cut down on malicious edits. The upload and naming policies aren't exactly strict (in fact, you're encouraged to BE BOLD!) and it seems more people are becoming part of this amazing worldwide knowledge network.
What astounded me was the woman in the workshop who had no background knowledge or Wikipedia at all. It's certainly not new, so I assumed anyone who'd spent any time online would have come across it and known its basic principles. But when we were editing pages of the scanned book, she noticed an earlier edit and asked, "Who is that?" and I just shrugged and said, "Some guy." She was astounded that he wasn't a professor, or a writer, or a vetted expert in the field. She just didn't understand, until that moment, that Wikipedia was literally the encyclopaedia that anyone can edit. I'm glad she came to the workshop and hope she is able to use her new skills in her work!
It was neat to edit the scanned book and learn more about OCR. I wish the workshop had been more advanced because I might end up teaching a session on wiki editing myself, along with Katya, the other participant from QUT.
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