April 28, 2024

Test Driving Oyster, a “Netflix for Ebooks”

How good is Oyster, the new ebook subscription service? Linda W. Braun puts the application through its paces in a screencast series showing how to get started with Oyster, how to search titles, and what it all means for libraries.

Automation Marketplace 2013: The Rush to Innovate

In this time of transition of the library automation industry, stakes are high for the vendors that are creating innovative—or even transformative—products and competing to bring these products first to the market. Establishing momentum early is essential in the library arena, which is attentive to the successes of a vendor’s peers and risk averse.

Stakeholders Strive to Define Standards for Web-Scale Discovery Systems

There is great hope that these rapidly maturing discovery products will not only promote information literacy strategies but also deliver what metasearch (or federated search) has failed to achieve—a Google-like interface that provides a fast, single point of entry to an institution’s relevant and vetted scholarly content. However, at the moment, even as libraries are struggling to reestablish themselves as a compelling place to start research, the three constituencies—libraries, content providers, and discovery service vendors—cannot even agree on a common vocabulary to describe what they do.

Teen Book Finder App now Available in the App Store

The ‘first of its kind’ app enables users to discover titles from the lists and awards of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Happi Papi Helps Educators Discover Apps

A program created by a consortium of developers to distribute apps free of charge is gaining traction with educators and app shops alike.

Automation Marketplace 2012: The Complete Survey Data

Data collected by Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technology and Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville The following charts provide the complete statistical report for the 2012 automation marketplace. Note: at the top of each table is a search box that allows you to filter rows in the table that follows. Table of Contents 2011 Sales by […]

Automation Marketplace 2012: Agents of Change

By Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technology and Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville In this article: Three-Year Sales Trends by Category 2011 Personnel Trends 2011 Sales by Category Discovery Trends Company Profiles Author’s Note: I’ve had the privilege of writing the Automation Marketplace for a decade. During this time, the industry has seen profound changes in […]

Discovery at Dartmouth

The Ivy League university was a beta partner for the Summon discovery service in 2008. LJ asked Dartmouth administrators about their experiences on the cutting edge Visitors to the Baker-Berry Library, the largest library of Dartmouth College, in Hanover, NH, will be struck first by its size. It functions as the humanities and social sciences […]

Link: Netflix and Libraries: You Are What “Your Users” Think You Are, Not What You Think You Are – Library Hat

But we separate them for the efficiency of ‘our’ operation. Users pay by being forced to take an additional step. Probably a decision as bad as Netflix and Qwikster.