More Info Book Media Tools - Library 101

If you intend to be a library worker you need to know how to view, download and save an electronic text files, Adobe .pdf files or how to find and listen to an audio recordings.

Hey, I'm In It For the Books. Why Do I Need To Know This Stuff?

Define "book?" This is not a trick question. Traditionally there was a physical, tangible object made of paper and ink called a book. It was and is a delivery device used to convey ideas, stories, methods and instructions. A mighty fine delivery device.

However, it is not the only way to deliver content. A book can now be:

• An electronic text file that can be read on-line or through a e-book reader and some media players. For example, if you wanted to read a book in the text format you could visit Project Gutenberg to search, download and read books that are in the Public Domain.
• In the Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf) that can represent book-like feature but allows you to search, annotate and electronically highlight sections. .pdf files are printer friendly and can be sent via e-mail, downloadable via the Internet or compose your own book for distribution. Planet PDF has free books for download such as Anna Karenina, A Tale of Two Cities and Beyond Good and Evil.
• An audio file book can be delivered via vinyl records, cassettes, proprietary audio formats (Audible.com) or in computer audio formats such as .mp3, FLAC, .wav, aiff and other electronic audio fomats. Computer audio formats can be listened to on-line, played back on certain CD/DVD players or from a media players such as Apple's iPod/iTouch, Windows Zune, Creative's Zen and many more. One place to find free audio books is LibriVox. I can personally vouch for The Prisoner of Zenda.
  

For example, you are assigned in the library computer lab. You are siting at the desk all alone on a Saturday afternoon and the tech staff is long gone. A patron comes up to you saying "I want to download Parallel Systems: The Coexistence of Subject Cataloging and Folksonomy" and save it on my USB drive. Could you help that person?

Or, you are asked to find an audio copy of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" Can you find a legal public domain version in the mp3 format? Could you also find other audio versions performed by professional actors that the patron might want to know about?

To Get You Started:

Try the recommended links and view the web sites. Now if you do this at a public library or even at PCC there may be restrictions on what you can view, download or save to an alternate device.

Some libraries will allow you to save to a USB drive but not to the computer's hard drive. Other will temporarily allow downloading to the computer's hard drive but the user needs to know how to transfer to the USB drive. Ask the staff or read the computer lab policy first.

When searching remember, it is not just about Google. Try Ask.com, Hakia and SearchMe.

Internet Archive Library Collection Development Blog

Oh the joy, the rapture! There is so much good stuff here I don't know where to begin. The Internet Archive main purpose is to record and display historical materials that are in a digital format.

If you start collecting items you have to have some kind of collection development process. Part of that process is to display the goodies that you have acquired so that your patrons have a reason to stop by and use the collection.

Hence, the Internet Archive Library Collection Blog. Here is just a sampling of what you can find at the collection blog:

• Tribute to Thomas A. Edison with links to videos of some of the first movies to be created.
• A September 11, 2001 television archive link to the events of that day using news reports from the ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC.
  
• Marriage as viewed from 1950's videos, videos from 2004 San Francisco Same Sex marriages and link to a lecture on the historical changes in marriage.
• There is a section on Airships and Balloon, the Archive has a collection of text and motion picture items on air powered flying machines.
• A collection was build around "Talk Like A Pirate Day" with examples from movies, audio, animations and text materials.

There is more but I have to pace myself. You on the other hand should dive right in and soak up the richness of combining our analog past with the digital future.

Copyright and Fair Use Resources

In this connected world we all have to be concerned about copyright and fair use issues. It is , not just what the patrons will do with the content but the libraries themselves; especially when it comes to public presentations, handouts and teaching materials.

American University's Center for Social Media has a page that deals with issues about copyright and Fair Use. The site contains downloads of guides, articles and videso that help to explain the concepts of what you can and can't do with copyrighted material. Peter Jazsi has a simple list of what you can do such as able to use any U.S. government documentation without permission and that include text, audio content and videos.

What Works Are In the Public Domain is a four page chart of what works you can freely use without concern.

There are other places to check out for assistance such as The Center for the Study of Public Domain from Duke University. This is a humorous comic book style guide that will help readers understand issues concerning copyright.

Standford University Libraries has a wonderful page full of just about everything you would want to know about the topic. There is a library resource page that contains links to other libraries that have a specific focus on the topic such as music libraries, rights to rebroadcast DVD and videotape content and more.