I was having a
conversation with one of my student workers the other day and it inspired me to
write this post.
Social media and
technology. I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about em'.
First topic.
At the ALA conference a
few weeks ago, I saw two products that I believe could be game changers.
The first one was an app
that scans a barcode and gives the person a citation (APA, MLA, Chicago, whatever), and an app that is the most user friendly ebook search tool I have ever seen.
https://www.refme.com/i/
http://www.librarysimplified.org/
I work at a college
library and most faculty and many students are not fans of the ebook.
My theory is that one
reason is that they are not the easiest to maneuver within a library
catalog.
Many require an
additional login, they do not talk to a
particular device, and/or the "bookshelf" is not user friendly. The
Library Simplified application seems like it would make patron interaction
easier, but what I believe is the "game changer" part is that the
search capability that lacks with so many ebook repositories is there. The ebooks can be searched by genre, there is a librarian suggested feature, and
the reader works with (most) ebook providers.
Recent conferences have had panels on electronic purchase models changing and
instead of someone else providing the bundle packages there is an al a carte kind of choice. I am not saying that the bundle packages are not
going away or will no longer serve a purpose. I mean, I don't know what I would
do if I did not have the EBSCO Textile
Technology Complete. And when I was working in a school with medical degrees the Allied
Health collection through Gale saved me over and over again. With that being
said, I like the idea of making ebooks for
borrow an easier process. I myself am not a super fan of ereading books, but I love it for periodicals. The
constant battle to try and convince faculty to try an ebook can be emotionally taxing and if there was not
so many steps involved I believe that our ebook circulation would go up.
As far as the reference
creation app, well anything to help students.
Second topic.
One of my workers is 18
and just got a smart watch. It isn't an Apple Watch, so I have no idea what it
is called.
I asked him why? He has
a phone that talks to the watch. His
answer was that it was a distraction from a distraction. Basically, it is technology
for technology's sake. With our watch talk, we ended up talking about friends.
And I don't remember what he said exactly, but it was along the lines that he
feels a disconnect, even though he is so connected. I told him that I hang out
with friends about once a week and he seemed impressed and surprised.
He doesn't hang out with
friends as much and he is a lot younger with no children. His final point was
social media is a ruse and actually isolating.
Not that I am surprised,
but coming from a digital native who has known life with home computers and
cellphones, it was kind of deep.
