On Libraries and New Media, powered by Library Journal and School Library Journal
Library streaming media provider hoopla digital has launched LightSpeed, the 3.0 version of its user interface, which includes a faster signup process for new users, a recommendation engine, multi-tiered genre-based searching, and an algorithm designed to tailor recommendations for patrons based on the usage history.
When ebooks or other digital materials are not readily available in libraries, publishers “are missing a key conduit to a market that [they] can’t tap any other way,” Rebecca T. Miller, editorial director for Library Journal and School Library Journal, stated in her opening remarks for the “The Untapped Retail Channel: Public Libraries” panel on Friday, May 30 at the 2014 BookExpo America (BEA) conference in New York. Leaders from top library ebook and streaming media companies weighed in on this issue during an hour-long discussion.
Midwest Tape’s pay-per-circ streaming media service hoopla has announced the addition of thousands of popular movies and television shows to its lineup, through new agreements with Universal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, National Geographic, and BBC America.
Since the beginning of 2013, four major library vendors have announced the launch of new or expanded streaming services that will enable patrons to view movies and television shows at their library or at home using computers, tablets, smart TVs, or any device equipped with a web browser.
A beta test for hoopla, the new digital content platform from Midwest Tape, was launched on Friday at the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML), and will expand during the next several weeks to include tests at several other libraries.
Midwest Tape is preparing to launch a digital platform, called Hoopla, later this year. The platform is the well-known company’s first foray into the digital space.
