
Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.
Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.
Pinterest is taking the social media world by storm, and it isn’t just popular with individual users. Businesses, nonprofits, and even libraries are sharing ideas and information through the site as well, connecting with people from around the country and around the globe.
Whether you’re a librarian, student, teacher, or just an avowed bibliophile, Pinterest offers another great way to keep up with creative and cutting-edge ways libraries are engaging with their communities. Read on to learn about some of the many ways libraries are helping spread the word about the resources and services they offer, using this innovative new social media forum.
These laws are:
The first law constitutes the basis for the library services. Ranganathan observed that books were often chained to prevent their removal and that the emphasis was on storage and preservation rather than use. He did not reject the notion that preservation and storage were important, but he asserted that the purpose of such activities was to promote the use of them. Without the use of materials, there is little value in the item. By emphasizing use, Ranganathan refocused the attention of the field to access-related issues, such as the library's location, loan policies, hours and days of operation, as well as such mundanities as library furniture and the quality of staffing.
This law suggests that every member of the community should be able to obtain materials needed. Ranganathan felt that all individuals from all social environments were entitled to library service, and that the basis of library use was education, to which all were entitled. These entitlements were not without some important obligations for both libraries/librarians and library patrons. Librarians should have excellent first-hand knowledge of the people to be served. Collections should meet the special interests of the community, and libraries should promote and advertise their services extensively to attract a wide range of users.
This principle is closely related to the second law but it focuses on the item itself, suggesting that each item in a library has an individual or individuals who would find that item useful. Ranganathan argued that the library could devise many methods to ensure that each item finds it appropriate reader. One method involved the basic rules for access to the collection, most notably the need for open shelving.
This law is a recognition that part of the excellence of library service is its ability to meet the needs of the library user efficiently. To this end, Ranganathan recommended the use of appropriate business methods to improve library management. He observed that centralizing the library collection in one location provided distinct advantages. He also noted that excellent staff would not only include those who possess strong reference skills, but also strong technical skills in cataloging, cross-referencing, ordering, accessioning, and the circulation of materials.
This law focused more on the need for internal change than on changes in the environment itself. He argued that library organizations must accommodate growth in staff, the physical collection, and patron use. This involved allowing for growth in the physical building, reading areas, shelving, and in space for the catalog.
Glancing at your bulging bookshelf and then over at your slim reader might make you wonder if paper books will someday go the way of the dinosaur in favor of e-books. For a few reasons at least, hang on to those paper copies, as there are still some drawbacks to reading electronic fare.
SmartMoney goes through 10 things e-book sellers won't tell you, presenting a case for those who still like physical copies of their literature.
There's no such thing as "one-reader-fits all": Switching from one brand of e-reader to another isn't going to be easy, at least when it comes to bringing along all the books you've already purchased. Publishers say they aren't really your books, you've only bought access to them. And if you could just copy a book from one device to another, what's to keep someone from handing out "free" books to all of their friends? Better to just pick one brand and stick with it.
Sales are fleeting: E-books can be repriced easier than regular books, since there aren't any concerns like physical inventory and there's only one point-of-sale system to deal with. That means a sale can happen in the flash of an eye and then be gone again before you know it. Definitely not the same as browsing the dollar bin and scoring a copy of Pride and Prejudice.
E-books are getting more expensive: Competing with physical books used to keep prices down on e-books, but these days, many are selling for only a few bucks less than their paper counterparts. The six biggest publishers have been engaged in "agency pricing," and are under investigation for that practice. which lets them set the price of any book.
Borrowing from the library ain't easy: Think you can just borrow books from your library via an e-reader app? It's not that great — bestsellers are rarely available and the selection doesn't encompass that many books. Only about two-thirds of public libraries even offer e-book borrowing, and a small percentage of their catalogs are available, at that. This is partly due to publishers not allowing their e-books to be lent out at all or attempting to restrict the number of times a library can lend out a particular book before repurchasing rights to it.
For more things e-book publishers aren't telling you, check out SmartMoney.
10 Things E-Books Won't Tell You [SmartMoney]