The ‘Thoughts…’ Annual 2010 – Part II

July

July was a pretty cool month for me personally.  As you know from June’s summary, I was pretty hacked off about the coverage on Newsnight about public libraries.  What infuriated me further was that there was no authoritative voice putting a strong case for the defence.  I truly came away from the experience convinced I could have put a stronger case forward for libraries in the digital age.  So, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and have a crack.  I was mindful that I was about to put myself out there to be shot down, but I couldn’t just keep quiet and tweet the odd grumble on Twitter.  Quite frankly, that is just not my way.

I had noticed that The Guardian were always looking out for articles for their Comment is Free pages on their website, so decided I would have a crack at pitching an idea.  Thankfully, they liked my pitch and my subsequent 800 word article and decided to publish it on CiF – much to my shock and pleasure.

Well, the response was amazing.  If nothing else it certainly raised my profile amongst others in the library profession.  I had all manner of positive messages from people both on Twitter and even people passing on messages of support via my Twitter followers.  Amazingly, it was also picked up by a number of bloggers in the US and made it into the American Library Associations’ newsletter.  It has also made appearance in numerous presentations related to breaking out of the ‘echo chamber’.  I hope I managed to convince at least one person that libraries were vital but, if not, the peer recognition is something that I hold very dear and will do for some time to come.  Without doubt, it is probably one of the proudest moments of my life.  Although I hope my current activities will top that…..

 

Wordle created from a random selection of Library Day in the Life blog posts

July also saw a blog post about the hidden secret about libraries, one that even library campaigners ignore – libraries are used more now than ever before.  Not only are they being used more, they are increasingly being used in different ways.  For some bizarre reason, this little known fact is still overlooked by some campaigners….which makes me wonder why they are failing to talk up the library service and persist in talking it down.  In my experience, talking services down only leads to one of two things: closure or privatisation.  Unfortunately, it appears increasingly likely that privatisation is on the table for councils up and down the country.  Something that should concern library users and campaigners up and down the country.

 

A couple of quick blogs contributed to the ‘Library Day in a Life’ initiative were also written in July.  Hopefully this coming year I will be able to contribute something more substantial as they were rather quiet days this year.

July was also the month I discovered Dropbox for the first time and I can honestly say I have been using it all the time ever since.  If you haven’t signed up for it yet I strongly recommend that you give it a go….it’s a fantastic utility.

August

 

August also saw a trip to Hever Castle.

August saw a flurry of blog posts all around a similar theme: library cuts and the media narrative.  Finally at breaking point regarding media mis-representations of the library service (finally? Surely that point was reached months ago!?), I put a post out there suggesting that some form of alternative to the Good Library Blog be established.  I had become deeply disappointed that this was seen as the voice of libraries and wanted something to act as an alternative that is more in tune with users and library staff.  Lucky for me, some others felt the same……

 

In other developments, I discovered Flavors.me which I am still a fan of.  Flavors allows users to create simple, personalised spaces which aggregate feeds from all your social networks.  Of course, it’s not to everyone’s taste, but I rather like the stylish simplicity of it.

August also saw an attempt by Spanish Twitter folk to get libraries (‘biblioteca’ in this case) trending on Twitter.  It was a really positive campaign to tweet positive things about libraries to raise awareness of the good things they do.  I’m quite keen on the idea of agreeing a date and a time and doing a similar thing myself…with the added advantage of getting US tweeps onboard too!

September

 

Highlight of September - a trip to Galicia in the north west of Spain.

Well, September may have been a quiet month in terms of my blog, but it was far from quiet in other respects.  September saw the establishment of Voices for the Library – a campaign group designed to offer a strong, positive library voice in the face of national library cuts.  I have been immensely proud of the campaign and all of those that have stuck with it or joined in.  It’s amazing to think how far it has come in such a short space of time.  There’s still lots to do, however, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to raise the profile of the group, the campaign and libraries in general.  It has been tough and there have been ups and downs, but nothing too difficult to overcome.  There will be many more challenges ahead, but whatever fate throws at us, I remain immensely proud to be involved in the fight.

 

October

October was a time of great relief…..finally I had completed my two option modules and was on my way to working on my dissertation.  It seemed like the time would never come but here I am, on the final straight.  Such an utter relief…but, again, there is still much to do.  The coming year is going to be pretty hectic, but I am determined to get that MSc under my belt and move my career on a stage.  Just need to manage my distractions and I should be fine…..!

Towards the end of October came the announcement from the Publishers Association that ebooks should not be available remotely from libraries but should require users to enter the building and download from a terminal – rather defeating the object of ebooks.  I still find it hard to believe that this statement could have been in any way a serious proposition.  Not only was it failing to think imaginatively about how to manage ebook delivery in public libraries, it showed a real willingness to give libraries a good kicking whilst they were ‘down’.  Quite frankly, it still rankles to this day.  Madness.

I also blogged about e-audiobooks, something I had often overlooked in the past.  Libraries now offer them as well and they are a superb service for commuters who can listen to books on their commute as well as for mor traditional audiobook users.  Another fantastic service and another example of libraries adapting to meet the needs of their users.

November

 

Also in November - a trip to Aranjuez, outside Madrid.

Ah November, a serene peaceful month where nothing much happens.  Quiet, peaceful, serene, until someone writes a load of guff about it being a good thing that libraries are being closed.  Not only guff, but guff backed up without a single, solitary fact.  I dread to think what kind of marks I would have got at uni for handing a piece of work of that standard.  I think a ‘try again’ would have been the only adequate response.  Yes, I am talking about that infamous article in a paper in the north-east.  Looking back, it kinda seems silly.  This is a broadcaster with very limited reach.  No-one down south had even heard of him (hence my provocative, yet also very accurate, title of my blog post).

 

Of course, there are those that write provocative pieces all the time, designed to provoke a response and, in many ways, this was merely another one to add to the canon of provocative guff.  However, as is always the case with guff-jocks (as opposed to ‘shock jocks’), when you call them on their guff they become predictably defensive.  Oh, it’s fine for them to talk offensive guff, but when you call them on it you are worse than a guff devil (ok, think that’s enough ‘guff’ references for now…).  Oh yes, they play the ‘I can say what I like, screw political correctness’ card for all its worth, they just don’t think it should be used against them.  Bless their sensitive souls.

Anyway, the job was done and I think it is fair to say that one guff monster was laid to rest (oops, sorry).  It did highlight for me, however, the need to challenge nonsense wherever it rears its head.  The influence these people have on their followers (sheep?) is quite immense and they should be challenged and made to justify (if not think about) their statements.  It’s not easy, but on the flip side, you’ve just made someone look an utter fool to a worldwide audience (ie Twitter).  Some things are worth pursuing.

So, what else happened in November?  Well, I was also interested in the growth of agency pricing for ebooks – something that threatens to undermine Amazon’s stranglehold on the ebook market.  Whilst I am not overly keen on this method of pricing, the fact that it levels the playing field for ebook platforms is a very good thing and, if there is any justice, Kindle will be forced to accept the ePub format rather than push their proprietary one.  Yes, it may well remain a pipe-dream, but it’s my pipe-dream and aim to cling to it for all it’s worth.  It’s either that or eternal hope that the Kindle perishes, crushed by its failure to look beyond proprietary formats.  Let’s hope for the former, I’m a gentle soul after all.

December

 

Winter strikes in December.....

December – and winter chaos fever has struck the 24hr news networks.  It even made an appearance on my blog…struck, as I was, by the way information was being distributed during the travel chaos and how some were excluded from this flow of information, leading to frustration and no little stress.  Whilst those on Twitter were able to communicate with various transport companies about their travel arrangements, others were stuck with the odd Tannoy announcements at the airport…..something that is never really satisfactory.  It certainly highlighted for me the advantages that the information rich have over the information poor.

 

I also posted my thoughts on the Wikileaks story….a story that has been dominating the news for what seems like a lifetime.  I am of the opinion that this flow of information is a very good thing.  And, despite the claims of those wishing to play it all down as nothing more than tittle-tattle, there has been some very interesting stuff coming out of the whistle-blowing organisation.

The Wikileaks story has also opened up another area for discussion however….the increasing clamour from governments and corporations to not only control the Internet, but to establish a two tier system.  Couple this with the destruction of the library service (where free Internet access is a given) and we can see the seeds of a deeply ingrained digital divide being established.  This should be cause for concern for everyone.  A two tier system would virtually ensure that there is one service for the wealthy and another for the poor.  This is a very dangerous road to go down and one hopes that we are not too far down the road that we can’t turn back.

And on that note, we come to the end of my blog review of the year.  It’s been interesting (if not time-consuming) looking back at my old posts and re-evaluating some of my thoughts at the time (or even just re-affirming in some cases!).  2011 is shaping up to be a very interesting/challenging year.  Library closures are increasingly on the agenda and cuts will start to bite deep.  That said, library campaigning is getting better and stronger and there is much to be optimistic about in the year ahead.  Yes, let’s end on a positive shall we?!

2011?  Bring it on!

The ‘Thoughts….’ Annual 2010 – Part I

As 2010 is drawing to a close, I thought what better way to commemorate the passing of one year and the beginning of a new one than to look back over the past year and revisit some of the events that I have blogged about and some of those things that I hadn’t.  There probably are better ways (getting blind drunk and dancing in the street singing Lady Gaga’s greatest hits for example – quick little 2010 cultural reference there….my finger is practically stroking the popular zeitgeist and tickling its soft underbelly), but I’ve decided to do this now so there is no turning back.  So, without further ado, here begins Part I of my review of 2010.

January

January saw my usual sceptical take on the Kindle and a bunch of statistics that Amazon had thrown at us in the immediate post-Christmas period.  Strangely enough, almost a year later, Amazon are still throwing out statistics about the strength of Kindle sales. Yet here we are, a year down the line, and I am still far from convinced that a Kindle is the right option.

January also saw me make a decision about my option modules for my course.  Looking back I still believe I made the right choices, as I think skills in both marketing and digitisation are going to be very important.

I also blogged about CardStar, an application for smartphones that allows library users to recreate their library barcode on their phone.  This had some interesting ramifications for libraries and pointed to the need for staff to be on top of developments to ensure that service delivery isn’t compromised.  That said, I haven’t used CardStar at all since I blogged about it (but then I don’t have many storecards either), but I still think awareness is key.

Finally, I also blogged about the announcement of the iPad and it’s potential to seriously rival the Kindle.  To date that post has had over 5,000 views and is by far the most viewed post on my humble little blog.  It also holds the record for most viewed post in a single day (over 500). Not bad going!

February-April

Seville's Feria de Abril

These were very quiet months for my blog……so quiet I didn’t write a damn thing!  That said, it wasn’t exactly a quiet period in other respects.  First of all, April saw my very last study school come and go.  It was kind of a weird feeling back then.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of my study schools and they certainly brought back memories of my student days.  However, upon completion of this study school I knew that I was heading towards the final straight and a long hard slog was ahead of me.  I will miss the schools and the connections they provided (I met several previously unseen Tweeters at this last study school which was quite weird…..the collision of the virtual and the real always sends me into a spin), but I am looking forward to getting the qualification under my belt and moving on professionally.

April was also fairly traumatic as my wife and I had intended on taking our daughter to the fantastic Feria de Abril in Seville for our little girl’s first birthday.  Unfortunately, Eyjafjallajökull decided to kick off and any chance we might have had disappeared before our eyes.  A sad end to April, but hopefully we will rectify this in 2011.

May

And with a quiet few months behind me, the blogging began again in earnest.  First off, I blogged about my experiences at the study school I went to in April (see above).  I hoped it might prove useful for those on the distance learning course to see what lies ahead of them.  Of course, I may have just freaked them out, but that’s the chance you take!

May also saw some exciting news on the job front.  I had been successful in applying for a library systems post at my local university and I was about to straddle that line between librarian and shambrarian (a libshambrarian if you will).  I have to say i have thoroughly enjoyed the new challenge that this has brought me and I certainly do not look back with regret and my decision to move on and try something different.

I also blogged about privacy concerns on Facebook (something I am sure will continually creep around ad infinitum) and a post about marketing in libraries wondering whether they should focus on those that use the service or those that do not.  A problem I still struggle over and I have yet to come to a satisfactory answer.

June

Gardens of the Real Alcazar in Seville

And so we reach June (or does June reach us?) and my utter annoyance at the coverage of library closures on Newsnight. So throughly cheesed off was I that I devoted a rather lengthy post to defending the library service and attacking those that fail to see its value (and indeed those that fail to defend it sufficiently). What infuriated me at the time, and continues to do so to a certain extent (although, like the Icelandic volcano, my initial eruption has subsided somewhat, causing only slight discomfort to those in my immediate vicinity), was the fact that the defence was put forward by someone with a tenuous grasp of libraries and their role and that a series of middle-class assumptions were made (everyone has broadband/internet……tell that to the 9 million people who have never….let me repeat that…..never even experienced the Internet firsthand).  Furthermore, it set in motion the narrative that has seen councils ignore the local people’s demands of a comprehensive library service (surely the Big Society is all about meeting the demands of the local community?) and force them (yes, force) to run the service voluntarily without professional guidance.  The horror.  Ironically, the Big Society seems to involve government forcing people to provide services that they feel are better provided by their local councils.  Not so much Big Government, more Bullying Government.

On the flip side, June also saw a long-awaited trip to Seville and my birthday.  See, it’s not all doom and gloom

End of Part I

So, that’s where we leave it at the end of Part I.  Our hero is sat in front of his computer, over the festive period no-less, tearing his hair out in frustration at some events that he has voluntarily decided to re-visit.  Let’s hope things pick up a little in Part II or else this experiment in creating my first blog review will remain an ill-advised experiment.  And not one worth repeating (are any ill-advised experiments worth repeating?).

The Kodak Zi8

The Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera

As some of you may be aware, we bought ourselves a Kodak Zi8 pocket camcorder for Christmas.  We decided that we really ought to have a cheap and cheerful camcorder so that we can document our daughter’s development and send videos of her back to Spain for my in-laws to see.  After reading a whole host of reviews of both the Flip range and the latest Kodak, we decided to plump for the Kodak.  It seemed to tick all the boxes.  Compact, reasonably priced and easy to use.   So far, we have not been disappointed.

The Kodak Zi8 is a neat little package.  The USB connection is in-built so you don’t have to add yet another cable to the growing collection (I’m amazed I manage to keep track of all my cables!).  Also, there is no CD-ROM packaged with the camera. The editing software is built into the camera and downloads to your PC when you first connect it via USB.  Although basic, the software does enable video to be condensed to make it easier to send via email, as well as having a quick upload feature for Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.

Video can be stored on the internal memory, but there is not much space at all.  An SDHD card is therefore pretty much an essential purchase once you have the camera.  It’s best to buy a card with a high-capacity (the Zi8 can take a card of up to 32GB).  It also recommended to go for at least a class 6 card, although we have gone for a 16GB class 4.

The camera also shoots in full HD and has an HDMI connection to connect with a HD television.  It also has an image stabilisation function (EIS) which helps to eradicate camera shake (although not entirely, for best results you really need to hold the camera with both hands).  I found when shooting video one-handed (which seems the most natural way to use it) there was still some noticeable ‘shakiness’.

A nice touch is an additional macro/landscape mode.  A flick of the switch on the top of the camera enables you to shoot up close and still keep the image in focus.  My only criticism of this is that the switch on the top of the camera can be a little stiff at first, leading to the camera shaking around all over the place whilst you try to switch between modes.  That said, once you get used to flicking between the two modes it isn’t too much of a problem.

So what about the video itself.  Well, although I said earlier I wasn’t disappointed with the Zi8, I was a little disappointed with the quality when I started recording some video of our daughter on Christmas morning.  However, I later discovered that the poor quality was due to the fact that there had been several software updates since that camera was packaged.  Once updating to the latest software there was a noticeable difference in picture quality.

It’s all very well telling you that the quality is quite good, it means nothing unless you can see it for yourself!  I shot this first video using HD mode on a bright, sunny day in Seville:

As you can see, even with the EIS function, there is still a bit of camera shake.  Also, whilst the picture quality is good, it is not quite as clear as you would expect from an HD recording.  Having said that, it would perhaps be unreasonable to expect top quality HD in a pocket camcorder that costs the fraction of a top quality camcorder.

So that’s how it performs in bright conditions, what about in low light conditions?  I shot the following video at night using the 720p mode….

Whilst not perfect, it’s not too bad.  You can still make out some of the details on the various floats and even when zooming in, the quality is still reasonable.

Overall, I am more than happy with the quality of the video from the Zi8.  Considering the size of the device (about the size of a BlackBerry) and its relatively low-cost (£114.99 on Amazon at the moment), I have been really quite impressed.  It will certainly enable us to record some decent quality video of our daughter as she grows up and, to be honest, we can’t ask for more than that.

Review of Cool-er Ebook Reader by TechCrunch

Sony Reader PRS-505

Yes, as you might have guessed, I was fortunate enough to receive a Sony Reader amongst my gifts from Santa this year.  As regular followers of this blog will know, I have been banging on about e-books quite a lot recently, mainly because they finally seem to be on the verge of a breakthrough on the market.  After years of being seen as a niche product, the release of a number of increasingly affordable models has led to a growth in their popularity.  As I have said before, I do not envisage e-books replacing paper books, not for a long time yet anyway.  Instead, I see e-books as an alternative to the paperback, a different format but not necessarily a competing one as very different markets will be interested in them.  So, that said, how does Sony’s Reader measure up?

Well, the Sony Reader is certainly an impressive bit of kit.  The design is attractive yet functional.  There has clearly been some thought put into making the Reader as comfortable as possible for the user.  On the top of the Reader, there is a power switch plus memory card slots for both Sony’s Memory Stick Pro and an SD card.  The Reader already has enough internal memory to store around 160 books (obviously dependent on size), the addition of an 8Gb card means you could probably carry an entire library in one portable machine!

Top edge of Sony Reader

To the right hand side of the screen, there are a series of numbers designed to help the user navigate through the menu screen, as well as jumping to  a specific page number.  Sony have also cleverly placed two buttons almost exactly where your thumbs would naturally rest to allow the user to turn the page (one to turn back, one to turn forward).  Personally, I really like the positioning of these buttons as they feel perfectly natural and allow the user to comfortably hold the Reader whilst reading.

The Sony Reader PRS-505

At the bottom of the Reader, there are small number of neatly laid out buttons that help the user to navigate around the reader.  On the left hand panel, there are left and right arrows that turn the pages of the book (much like the

Navigational buttons

buttons on the right-hand side of the Reader).  Above these buttons and slightly to the left, there is a magnification button that enables the text to be magnified through three different font sizes.  This has obvious benefits for those that have problems with their eyesight and are unable to read the smallest font size.  Slightly to the right of these buttons, there is a ‘Bookmark’ button which does exactly as you would expect – marks the page to enable the user to easily return to it at a later date.  The right-hand series of buttons simply allows the user to navigate the menus as well as returning to the previous menu via the ‘menu’ button.

So that’s the layout, what about the machine itself?  Well, the screen is incredibly easy to read from.  As the Reader is not backlit, it puts no strain on your eyes whatsoever.  This is also means that, should you wish to read when you go to bed, you will still require a light in order to read.  As it isn’t backlit, the Reader also has a very long battery life.  According to the blurb on the back of the box:

One battery charge is equal to 6,800 page turns (that’s enough to read War and Peace five times over on a single charge!)

Whether this is true or not is a different matter, but it is still quite impressive.  The page turns themselves may initially cause the reader some frustration.  The screen has a slight delay before the page turns and flashes rather distractingly before the next page appears.  However, this is only a minor irritation and I am not sure that the time it takes to turn the page is that much different from turning a page in a physical book.

Navigation through the menus is also pretty straightforward.  The menu enables the user to view their books in title, author and date order.  There is also the facility to congregate books into Collections if you choose to do so (which can be handy with .pdf files if you want to group together your journal articles).  Bookmarks for all of your texts are also accessible from the main menu and you can also access bookmarks for individual texts by selecting the text from the menu.  It is also possible to change the screen orientation and read horizontally rather than vertically, but I found this rather uncomfortable and decided to stick with the standard layout.

In these multimedia times, it is also possible to upload music and photos to the Sony Reader.  Luckily, there is a headphone socket on the bottom of the Reader so you won’t disturb those around you whilst you are reading.  As for the photos, due to the nature of the screen itself, any images uploaded to the Reader are only viewable in black and white.  Although it would be nice to share colour photos on the Reader, it is not really a great loss as the primary purpose of this machine is to read books, not to share your photo collection.

Much as I like the Sony Reader, it does have some slight flaws.  Firstly, unlike many other e-readers (Amazon’s Kindle for example – although this is still not available in the UK), it does not have a wi-fi connection.  Downloading books means physically connecting the Reader to a computer via a USB cable rather than just pressing a button on the Reader.  This is a pretty major flaw as I think this will be a standard feature of all future e-readers.  As well as lacking wi-fi capability, the Sony Reader also has some problems with .pdf files.  One of the things that makes an e-reader so desirable to me, is the ability to download a whole load of journal articles rather than waste hundreds of sheets of paper printing them out.  By downloading them, not only do I save paper, but I also make it easier to carry a large collection of articles around with me when I am travelling.  As I often go to Spain to visit family, it would be useful to take a few e-journals with me to read and study while I am away.  Sadly, the way the Reader displays .pdf files is hardly practical.  At the normal font setting, the text is far too small to read without putting a massive strain on your eyes.  However when the text is magnified, sentences are broken in two with full lines of text alternating with three words of text throughout.  Of course, it is still readable, but it is a little annoying.

There is one other problem with e-books at the moment, but it has nothing to do with the Reader itself.  At present, there are still not many e-books available on the internet.  Waterstone’s does offer a selection of e-books via its website, but it is by no means a comprehensive selection and is not exactly user-friendly.  This is bound to change over time and I am sure that there will be increased competition in this area once e-reader sales take off (which appears to be imminent).

Overall, I really like Sony’s Reader.  Yes it does have some limitations (lack of wi-fi being the most glaring), but it is a nicely designed piece of kit that is very easy to use.  It is still early days for e-readers, and they are sure to advance way beyond this first generation reader, but I have no problem recommending the Sony Reader to anyone who thinks that the e-book might be the next big thing.  Those who are not entirely convinced may need to wait for the next generation of affordable e-readers to hit the shelves before they are finally convinced.  Whatever your view, it looks like e-readers are here to stay.

Pros: Excellent screen, long battery life, functional yet attractive design 

Cons: No wi-fi capability, some difficulties with .pdf files