Tinfoil + Raccoon

Never Mind Legal Issues; Kindle not good choice for most libraries

(edited 1/30: Changed post title with qualifier "most libraries.")

(Screeching brakes)  Whoa. Wait a minute.  Stepping back from my Kindle krush and putting aside the question of whether or not it's legal for libraries to loan them, I considered the Kindle issue through the eyes of a public library manager who has to make decisions about how to get the most out of a budget. Duh!  It's a no brainer. There is no way  I could justify deploying Kindles, given the present model. The machine itself is 400 bucks and can hold up to 200 titles. Let's say that the average price of a Kindle title is 10 bucks. That all adds up to almost $2500 tied up in a resource that can only be used by one person at a time.  For that much money, I could buy more than 100 titles for check-out, a few reference sets, a year's access to a database, a bunch of cds, audio books, or DVDs,  a couple of display units, some comfy furniture, conference registration plus travel and lodging for a couple staff members, a contract with a coffee vendor, honorarium for program speakers.... 

How does it make any sort of sense for a library to loan out a $2500 resource to be used by one person at a time for 2-4 weeks? That's the equivalent of allowing only one person at a time access to Ancestry online for two weeks.  Or to check out the entire World Book set. Those ideas sound outrageous. Because they are.  It would demonstrate impeachment-level poor stewardship. Even if the price were to come down drastically, it would still be an irresponsible allocation. Now, if Amazon or someone could come up with an affordable e-reader with the same functionality as Kindle, that patrons would want to buy, along with becoming a vendor of affordable, multi-format ebooks that libraries could offer to patrons for EASY downloading, that'd be something to text home about. 

If there are practical reasons why loaning Kindles is a good thing for libraries to do (outside of trying to prove our out-of-the-boxiness), please educate me.

Loaning Kindle to Patrons a No-No for Libraries?

(Update 2/8/08: Amazon says that the Kindle can be loaned as long as it doesn't have any books on it.)

(Update 1/28/08  5:20 pm: Someone left a comment saying that they had checked with Amazon and gotten a very different response than the one I got from customer service.  Amazon!? Yeah, you! How about some clarification? Please read the comments, as some of them add to the discussion.)

(Update 1/30 10:50 am: I've submitted a request through Amazon Media Relations to get a definitive answer about Kindle, and to ask about any plans to work with libraries.)

(Update 1/31/08 8:38 am: Here is an earlier post, at LibraryLaw Blog, questioning what Kindle ToS meant for libraries.)

I've been reviewing the library's Kindle since it was placed in my hands last week. Most of the review has focused on the machine itself--features and usability. But today, I had some questions about the service itself, so I called the Kindle support line at Amazon and thought that this warranted a separate post.

Right around the time Kindle was released, I read the Terms of Service, curious to see if or how Kindle readers could be used in public libraries. My interpretation of the TOS said "NO,"

You may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party

Shortly after the Kindle came out, I saw a few posts about libraries that were loaning the Kindle to patrons. I've been waiting for follow-up posts saying that Amazon had come down on those libraries for violating the ToS, but haven't seen anything. 

This past weekend, I took our library's new Kindle home to test drive it, and found that it was very easy to add new content, via Amazon's 1-click order service.  When I got to work this morning, my phone was ringing--it was our business manager asking if I had made purchases for the Kindle.  When I said yes, she wondered how I was able to do it. Her assumption was that anyone else who played with the Kindle would have to enter Amazon/Kindle account information (email and password) to download new material. This made me further wonder how the libraries loaning it were able to keep borrowers from downloading stuff, so I called Kindle support.

I only had to wait a few seconds to get to a live person, and was immediately asked for my email address. Since I have an account with Amazon, my address was verified.  I was then asked to answer my security questions before getting help with the Kindle presumably registered to me.  At that point I interjected that I did not have a Kindle, but was reviewing one that was owned by my library and just had some basic questions.   The support person was more than happy to take my general questions.

I explained that the library where I worked ordered one just to play around with, but that we had no plans to let patrons check it out, as I understood the ToS prohibited that sort of "distribution." When I asked for a definite answer, he verified that libraries who loaned the Kindle were violating the ToS.

That response more or less explained my second question, which was about how easy it was to download content.  Since the Kindle is, legally, only supposed to be used by one user, the ordering/content-getting process was made as easy as possible. The support guy indicated that there was a way to prevent others from downloading, but I think it entails disabling your payment method in your Amazon account, which also prevents the owner from downloading content.  My question is, what if you buy a Kindle and share it with your kids, but don't want them downloading stuff to the machine?  It seems that there should be an easier way to be able to lock and unlock this feature.  Or, does Amazon literally expect customers to adhere to their non-transferable ToS, even within a cohabiting family?  Are we, as a library, in violation of the ToS, even though we're not loaning to patrons, but sharing the machine for educational purposes?  Can we demo it to patrons at the desk or at library outreach events?

The questions I really wanted to ask, and which probably would not have received straight answers are: How hardcore will Amazon be about ToS violators?  Will public libraries be getting cease and desist letters?  Or is it more of a don't ask/don't tell deal? It's kind of hard to fly under the radar when you are applauded for innovation in Library Journal. If you have seen any stories about public libraries getting a smackdown from Amazon, please send along!  (updated 1/29) Or, if you are in a library that circulates Kindles, please let us know how it's going and whether or not you had/have concerns about being able to circulate the machines.

Bottom line: The Kindle has no application for public libraries. (updated 1/29) Jury is out on whether Kindle can be circulated by libraries.

Assistant Branch Manager position in La Crosse

Admit it. You are dying to live and work in the beautiful Upper Midwest as an Assistant Branch Manager slash reader's advisory warrior. Well, today is your lucky day!  La Crosse Public Library has two charming, well-loved branches and one s t r e t c h e d thin branch manager who needs a second mate to help her with daily operations and programming and who is a passionate booktalker with broad cultural literacy and solid reference skills. It's a salaried, non-management position and the benefits are quite good. Here's a link to the job posting.  Pop me an email if you have any questions about the job, the library or the community.

(update 1/28/08: My newish colleague in Youth Services, Hedgehog Librarian also posted the job and added this: "We've got a hedgehog and a raccoon-- what can you add to the mix?"  Any other self-described animal-like librarians out there?)

(Quasi) Liveblogging the Kindle

The library's business manager was very pleased to hand the Kindle to me yesterday. I started playing with it immediately, and took raw notes in Google docs and decided that's how I would report my inaugural Kindle experience.  I'll keep updating this post as I continue to poke and play with it.  I should note that I haven't read any extensive reviews of the Kindle since I wanted to have a new user experience with it. 

Thurs. Jan 24--at work

Crap. I was hoping to be able to unbox it, but it's been unboxed, with books loaded already. (update 1/26: I just learned that these books came preloaded and that I was, in fact, the first one to download fresh content.)

Trying to figure it out without looking at user's manual. Giving it the Toaster Test.  That is, "Is it as easy to use as my 1959 Sunbeam toaster?"

Trying to mess with it and do a bunch of other things. Probably should just wait til I can focus on it. Don't feel much more initial enthusiasm for it than for any other ebook readers I've tried, including Cybook, REBsomething and a Tungsten.

Oh, swell. Stephen King came out with a ringing endorsement of Kindle today. Who cares what I say?

Putting aside for when I can focus on just Kindle and not have to multitask

Thurs evening

I keep wanting to use it as if it has a touch screen. It doesn't. (*poke* *poke*)

Okay, so I read the manual, since Kindle was not as intuitive as I thought it would be. I think if I were more clear-headed and in play mode, I might have gotten farther without looking at documentation. The documentation is VERY readable, though, and relatively jargon free. It is, in fact, pretty excellent. This brings a tear to my eye.

Now that I know not to poke things to make stuff happen, I find that navigation is not too bad. Only problem so far is the "back" bar. To me, this means "go back one page," but it means go back to last document (I think). So, if you are in a document and click "back," it will take you back to last document you looked at before current one.  "Previous page" which is on the left side of the screen, is what you click to go back one page. Since I have the machine in its case, this is cumbersome placement. But, maybe machine was not meant to be kept in case while reading.

Not crazy about content that's been loaded. I want high motivation to keep playing and learning, so I decided to download a book I've already started and am anxious to keep reading: Sabriel by Garth Nix. I stopped to read documentation about wireless since I am getting a message about not being able to access Amazon store.  I see that the high speed EVDO wireless is not available to me, but I do have a good signal to the slower network.  After a few tries, I finally get to the Amazon store. I clicked on some of the broader categories and was surprised to see that there is a lot more non-fic than fic available. Decided to use search function to find Sabriel. Wow! There it is--and it's less than $5! Surely I am allowed to download this on the library's dime, in order to become a Kindle expert.

Download was pretty quick. Although the resolution is really good, and there are five text size settings, something isn't quite right. I'm thinking that it would be better with backlighting, but maybe just better contrast. I am reading in bed, with a not-great table lamp. It's readable, but I don't like the darkness of the background. "Muddy" is the word that comes to mind.

Because I really want to get going with Sabriel, I'm just going to try and have a good, ol' fashioned reading experience.

*****

OMG. I think I am going to have to admit to not hating the Kindle. Managed to read a couple chapters without thinking that I was reading from a machine. Also, when I fell asleep, and book fell on my face, I did not get a black eye as with other, heftier readers I've had.  ;-)  Wait...I just called the Kindle a "book."  More tomorrow.

Friday night

Turned on Kindle and it took me back to where I'd left off the night before, so I just started reading. I only got a few pages when the phone rang, so I put machine down to get the call.  When I came back, I fully realized one of Kindle's biggest design flaws. It's difficult to pick up the machine (outside of its case) without clicking a next/previous page toggle. The page toggles are right on the edge of the machine, running about 3/4 of the length on both sides, so that if you need to change hands, readjust position, or pick up the machine, it's pretty easy to lose your place. It's easy enough to get back to where you were, but it's a nuisance and hopefully something that will be addressed with next the iteration.

Saturday afternoon, at the ref desk

The reading experience has been pretty seamless, aside from occasional toggle bump, so now I'm trying to figure out how to make annotations or notes, if that's even possible. When you are in a book or document, there is a ""My Notes & Marks" link in the menu. I've used the bookmarking feature with no problem, but have not figure out how to make notes. May have to cave and look at user's manual for this. (Update 1/28: Sometimes, it pays to read the manual. You can make notes, and clippings and create bookmarks.)

My coworker at the desk was asking about it, so I did a quick demo for her. She asked if font size was adjustable, which it was. Her observation was that even if font within a given text was adjustable, the keyboard would difficult to use for people with low-vision or mobility. But, that's a problem not exclusive to Kindle, but to any phones or handhelds with full keyboards.   

Library Skills and Attitudes--5th grade, 1973

Library report card--5th grade
Originally uploaded by rochelle, et. al.

Back when I was a whippersnapper and had to walk 3 miles over hot coals to get to school, we got library instruction in school. This was in the late 60s and early 70s, when technology meant filmstrips, overhead projectors, thermofax machines and 16 mm projectors and when Bill Gates was still a slacker nerd flunking out of Harvard.

When I visited my mom recently, she gave me all my grade school report cards from Hudson Grade School. There were lots of extras tucked into them, but I got all giddy when I saw my 5th and 6th grade library skills reports from my first librarian role model, Mrs. Hanson.

I had always remembered that I loved our school library and Mrs. Hanson, and most of what I know about how to use a library comes directly from that instruction. But, I had forgotten just how much I loved it and that I was an aide. So, here it is, evidence of my librarian pre-destiny. If you click through to Flickr, you can also see my 6th grade library report card. Even though I was on bed rest with Rheumatic Fever for the entire 2nd half of 6th grade, and had a tutor who came to the house, Mrs. Hanson still filled out my report card, indicating that she was pleased that I had kept up my reading and saying that she had missed having me as a library aide.

My girls were with me when I opened the report cards, and regarded Mrs. Hanson's comments as near Nostradamus-grade portents of my future. They also saw my 6th grade autograph book and wondered why in the world everyone was calling me "Fuzz," including my teachers. I still don't have an answer for that one.

Blyberg Speaks: Safe to come out of hiding

Hey kids, it's time for some uncritical me-tooism from the Raccoon. Yesterday, John Blyberg rocked many of our worlds and was able to beautifully articulate what many of us have been thinking and trying to write about, with his post Library 2.0 Debased. (A big huzzah to Kate Sheehan for her inspiration.)

I’ve been feeling, for awhile now, that the term Library 2.0 has been co-opted by a growing group of libraries, librarians, and particularly vendors to push an agenda of “change” that deflects attention from some very real issues and concerns without really changing anything. It’s very evident in the profusity of L2-centric workshops and conferences that there is a significant snake-oil market in the bibliosphere. We’re blindly casting about for a panacea and it’s making us look like fools.

There are a lot of reasons I haven't blogged in a long time (and for Pete's sake, NO, I am not really the Annoyed Librarian). Chief among them is that I have been rediscovering just how crazy I am about Mr. Raccoon and I am enjoying more of his company in an almost junior high-giddy way. Another reason is that I have been enjoying and getting what I need from the relationships I've developed via Twitter and the Library Society of the World (LSW) Meebo room. Sure, some of it is purely casual and personal, but it also feels like I'm part of this incredible librarian posse that I can take up with any time I need them, day or night. I can't wait to meet many of them at CiL in April. It will be like the Justice League, with all these specialized superheroes coming together to create a maelstrom of librarianish awesomeness.

I also stepped away from library blogging because I felt responsible, in some tiny way, for helping to cobble together the lumbering 2.0 monster.  I don't mean to imply that it's not relevant at all.  But from where I was sitting as a public library reference manager and front-liner, it seemed like tech.0 was getting a lopsided helping of attention from other bloggers and the established library press.   

I've been in and out of the 2.0 stream for awhile. It was like a life preserver when I first grabbed hold of it several years ago, after feeling like I'd been dog paddling far too long. I needed something to re-engage me, to keep me interested, to make me feel relevant. It was a the perfect flotation device. Eventually, I threw off my floaty, went into the deep end and became an enthusiastic supporter of all things 2.0. Then, I left my reference librarian position and became a reference library manager.  I was tossing out 2.0 at my new colleagues like beads at Mardi Gras (if I may abandon the water metaphor). Some of it stuck and has become a seamless part of how we work, like Meebo IM.  There's a gaming program here that's the purview of Teen services. It's regularly scheduled, well attended and means a great deal to a miniscule and static portion of our users (you know, like book clubs).   

After about six months in my position, I was able to step back, breathe, and realize that 2.0 in the tech sense was not a service priority for adult reference or, really, for the community we serve. We deployed Flickr, a blog, MySpace, even a YouTube account, most of which ended up being inexpensive experiments that had zero impact in any direction. On the other hand, our internet access is probably one of the least restrictive I've heard about in a library environment and I love that our IT folks understand that it's crucial to be responsive. At any given moment, I'd guess that 70% of our public access terminals are being used for social networking: MySpace, various IM clients, Runescape, eBay, etc. Our help or involvement is not needed or welcomed (unless time is about to run out and a patron wants an extension). Those folks don't want to interact with us. They don't want us in their space.

Our community still appears to want fairly traditional library services, slightly tweaked for the 21st century. Our circ has continued to climb, largely due to a significant increase in AV checkouts. We are buying just about every new series that comes out on DVD, and we're buying multiple copies. (Green Acres, Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD has checked out 62 times in two years. V. 1 on its own, 118 times in 4 yrs).  The reference desk is hopping. We're not reaching for print reference as much, but we still reach for it. The phone rings steadily for phone number look-ups, crossword answers, and holds for good reads. Like the rest of you, we get a little tired of explaining how to print 50 times a day or telling patrons we feel their pain about Office 2007. But, that's our job. 

A few months ago, I decided I needed to minimize outside influences about how we serve our patrons. I stopped reading about library stuff. I stopped writing about library stuff. I'm not sure I remember my Bloglines log-in information. I went underground into Twitter and Meebo where I felt I was getting a more rounded view of the library landscape. 

In November, I made my first hire: an emerging tech librarian who has no MLS and, really, no library experience. Why? First, he was, hands down, the best candidate. I also wanted to hire someone who would challenge me, who had an outsider perspective. Librarians spend too much time listening to themselves. This. Is. Not. A. Good. Thing.  My decision raised some eyebrows, inside and out, but boy, am I glad I listened to my gut.  He'll be building a new website, and has launched an intranet. But he, my emerging tech dude, is slowing our my ass down. He's questioning everything and looking at it through non-librarian eyes.  No more wholesale slinging of half-baked hot new things/ideas on shellshocked staff or a mostly could-care-less public.  (Well, not much anyway.)   

We are working toward a long-range plan. It's in the early stages, but I think we're heading to the conclusion that we need to hear more from our community.  Not from folks who walk in the door and and love us already.  Not from pundits and trendsetters in the field.  And I think we've learned enough that it's time to hush our mouths and just listen for awhile.