Yearly Archives: 2015

Data About Digital

The January/February issue of Information Today offers some interesting numbers about libraries and the digital world.

Here are some highlights that might be of particular interest to those of us working in public libraries:

  •  $3.25 – the cost of Killing Patton by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, in ebook format on Amazon.  In contrast, the cost of Killing Patton in ebook format on OverDrive (for libraries) is $60.00
  • 95% – the percentage of US public libraries that make ebooks available to their patrons.
  • 24% – the percentage of Millennials (age 18-34) who do not subscribe to any type of pay TV.  However, 61% subscribe to a “paid digital video subscription service” such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. What does this mean for us? Let’s target those Millennials when promoting our streaming and downloadable services!
  • 43% – the percentage of “younger Americans” (age 16-29) who “report reading a book—in any format—on a daily basis.”
  • 83.8% – the percentage of U.S. households reporting computer ownership in 2013 (according to a Nov. 2014 report from the U.S. Census Bureau).  74.4% of all households reported Internet use, with 73.4% reporting a high-speed connection.  If you drill down into the report a bit, you will find that our metropolitan statistical area (which includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties) has a slightly lower percentage (by less than 5%) of individual computer ownership, but a slightly higher percentage (also by less than 5%) of individual high-speed Internet use.

All of the statistics are taken from Shirley Duglin Kennedy’s article in the January/February 2015 issue of Information Today, which you can find in MasterFILE Complete.  Here’s the citation:

DUGLIN KENNEDY, S. (2015). By the Numbers Once Again. Information Today, 32(1), 8.

Incidentally, the prices of Killing Patton were taken from the Douglas County Libraries Report Pricing Comparison as of January 5, 2015. (http://evoke.cvlsites.org/files/2014/12/DCL-Pricing-Comparison-12-1-14.pdf). On the same report, The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks cost $5.39 on Amazon, and  $81.00 on OverDrive.

Mary Lee (Northland)

Continue ReadingData About Digital

eResource Challenge Lite #3

We’re kicking off the new year with a new eResource Challenge!

confettiBefore we get to this month’s scenario, we want to congratulate Rita B. from CLP, the winner of last month’s challenge.  Her chances of winning were pretty good since only 20 people submitted a response.  Let’s all make a resolution to participate more in 2015.  That includes the Digital Resources Committee.  We resolve to do our best to post the monthly challenges on the day they are supposed to go live 😉 .

Despite the low numbers, the responses were impressive.  Many of you indicated that you would show the patron how to set their preferred maturity settings in OverDrive, disable cover images, point them to our eReading Rooms especially for kids and teens , and/or recommend other eResources such as TumbleBooks and BookFlix.

And now, on to this month’s challenge.  Here’s the scenario:

A patron calls and tells you he’s made a New Year’s resolution to start investing. He’s got a list of companies he’s considering investing in, but he wants to learn more about them.  He’d like to find out their current value, how they have performed in the past, and what the professionals have to say about them.  He’s also interested in whatever guides to investing we have to offer.

You know that Morningstar offers some great tools. What do you point him to specifically? Are there other resources you would suggest?

Submit your answer/tips in the comments section by Friday, January 16th to be eligible for a prize. (Comments are moderated, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see your comment right away.)

Continue ReadingeResource Challenge Lite #3

Hoopla TV Unwrapped

As more and more tablets and laptops are unwrapped over the holidays, patrons will be excited to begin using and reusing Hoopla, which complements our physical collections well.

One section Hoopla highlights is Television, which offers many full runs of series, including multiple BBC shows such as The Office, The Inbetweeners, Wire in the Blood, Stargate SG-1, and The Addams Family.

Popular television genres are represented in full force here, from British sleuths (A Touch of Frost) to documentaries (Ken Burns, PBS, History Channel, National Geographic) to classics (The Beverly Hillbillies).

The Health & Fitness selection is also an easy recommendation that will be a big hit with patrons, especially in this season of resolutions. There are plenty of popular instructors, including Jillian Michaels, available to view right now.

Of course, there are children’s titles available as well, including Sid the Science Kid, Tickety Toc, Mike the Knight, Octonauts, Chuggington, and Caillou.

With an easy registration system and a pleasurable browsing experience, Hoopla is an easy sell that continues to get better.

Jeff, South Park

Continue ReadingHoopla TV Unwrapped