Essential Bookmarks

It’s no surprise: As a profession, we are facing a rapidly developing issue of growing significance, and that is e-content. It comes down to this: Libraries often cannot offer the types and amounts of e-content our users want and need. A lot of material is simply unavailable for us to access and circulate in electronic format, and what is available often comes in prohibitively expensive packages. The current state of affairs with libraries and e-content is broken.

As e-content consumption grows and devices become more ubiquitous, many in our profession believe the scale of the problem puts at stake the very future of our institutions unless we find more equitable ways for our patrons to access e-content through libraries. Libraries are doing what they can to move forward (see ebooksforlibraries.com for one example), but we need solutions that are not yet on the horizon.

Issues related to terms, cost, and availability have often been decided for us, with minimal opportunities for input and that allow for little control of contractual arrangements. Our library users want and deserve the e-content they need, when they need it, and on the device on which they want it. But how can libraries possibly do that in competitive ways? More and more library staff conclude that we simply cannot. Many also conclude that to remain relevant to our users, we must figure out new ways to fulfill our missions as they relate to content provision.

To this end, we’ve compiled a collection of resources here that you can use to ensure you are informed of the major issues related to ebooks, e-content, libraries, publishers, and other critical areas. Given the namesake of this column you will find that some information comes from outside of libraries, others from within.

Sites and sources

AL E-Content blog General news, updates, opinion pieces, and updates on e-content and ALA activities around libraries: americanlibrariesmagazine.org/e-content

AL Direct American Libraries’ free weekly e-newsletter has a section dedicated to e-content news, aggregated from a variety of blogs and news sites both inside and outside the library world. americanlibrariesmagazine.org/aldirect

Library Renewal blog Regular weekly and biweekly summaries of the most significant ebook and e-content issues related to libraries. Also contains periodic editorials around major e-content issues. libraryrenewal.org/blog

TeleRead A longtime leader in reporting on issues about ebooks and e-content, with perspectives from both inside and outside libraryland. teleread.com

Publishers Weekly Digital Because publishers own rights to so much of the content our library patrons want and need, it makes good sense for us to keep up with this site. Here we can learn the public stance of publishers on e-content issues while keeping up with related developments from the publishers’ perspective. publishersweekly.com/digital

PaidContent An industry site that deals with “the economics of digital content.” Here e-content issues revolve, in large part, around money. This site helps us learn that side of the market. paidcontent.org

Publishers Lunch The publishing industry’s “daily essential read.” This site is important for many of us in libraries as well. lunch.publishersmarketplace.com

The Digital Shift Library Journal’s blog on ebook and e-content issues. thedigitalshift.com

No Shelf Required Sue Polanka (editor of the excellent No Shelf Required and No Shelf Required II) keeps you up to date with ebook and e-content issues. A place to find useful information and perspectives. libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired

infodocket Chock-full of hot news items related to ebooks, e-content, and related issues. Includes links to everything from data to press releases to editorial pieces of note. infodocket.com

eBookAnoid A variety of info about ebooks and e-readers. ebookanoid.com

If you use an RSS reader, the task of keeping up with this list will be much easier to manage. Google Alerts, Twitter, and Facebook can also help. But regardless of how you follow e-content news, we encourage everyone to make it a new priority and set aside time to do so. The moment to be informed and take action is now.

Latest Library Links

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Michael Kan writes: “Are you still using ‘chocolate,’ ‘naruto,’ or ‘monkey’ for your passwords? You really need to stop. All three are among the most commonly used passwords, putting your accounts at risk of hacking, according to new data from NordPass. The password manager’s sixth annual list of the top 200 most commonly used passwords is pulled from a 2.5TB dataset of stolen logins taken from various sources.” ZDNet offers tips for creating stronger passwords and improved security measures.

PC Mag, Nov. 14; NordPass, Nov. 13; ZDNet, Nov. 14
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John Sharp writes: “Athens and Fairhope are two fast-growing cities in the fastest-growing areas of Alabama, and there is no mistaking their conservative bona fides. But according to early statistics about library card applications, their libraries appear to be bucking a trend embraced by conservative-leaning groups and the Alabama GOP: Their patrons appear to be trusting the libraries. More than 60% of parents at Fairhope Public Library and Athens-Limestone County Public Library have signed off on all-access passes for their children with no restrictions on library usage.”

AL.com, Nov. 17
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Katie Gaddini writes: “Book bans may have mushroomed in the Trump era of reactionary politics, but they have a well-established history in America. One woman in particular, Norma Gabler, redefined the current strategy and logic behind modern book bans. Called ‘education’s public enemy number one,’ by critics in 1980, Gabler led the crusade against the so-called secular trend in school textbooks throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Even though Norma and her husband Mel worked together, Norma was the public face of their efforts for decades.”

Time: Made By History, Nov. 13
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Many members know Bill Ladewski as executive director of the Reference and User Services Association, an ALA position he has held since 2019. In early September, Ladewski added another title to his CV: director of Member Relations and Services. In this role, he and his team are charged with providing service and information to the Association’s nearly 50,000 members. Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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John Warner writes: “I understand what people mean when they invoke the term ‘institutional neutrality,’ but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are, by definition, not neutral. The Kalven report, the Rosetta Stone of institutional neutrality produced by a faculty committee at the University of Chicago in 1967, is not a call to make all work emanating from an institution ‘neutral,’ but is instead a call to make the atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and debate as free as possible.”

Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15
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Angela Hursh writes: “Ever wondered how your library’s email performance compares to others? Benchmarks help you understand how well your emails perform in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement. They also allow you to compare your email marketing performance, set goals, and stay on top of trends. However, the lack of industry benchmarks for email marketing metrics specific to libraries has been bugging me. Metrics from similar industries don’t fully capture the unique aspects of promoting a library. To help libraries accurately measure their email effectiveness, we’ve created the first-ever library email benchmark report.”

NoveList, Oct. 22
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Rachel Hendrick writes: “Students and library vendors are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher education, but there are very few resources that help librarians and scholars separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, we here at Choice love a good assessment rubric. (In fact, we made a PDF of our assessment rubric.) Even the least tech-savvy of us can use a very simple AI literacy framework to think critically about whether an AI application is worth your time.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Nov. 13