The First Chapter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskerviles (A Sherlock Holmes Novel) in a Public Domain Audiobook file
Audiobooks have been staples of public libraries for quite some time. Initially (at least at the Fargo Public Library) most audiobooks where in a special tape format for people who are visually disabled. However, audiobooks in popular format (initially cassette tape, then CD) where eventually offered.
This was great for patrons who do not necessarly have a visual imparement, and want to listen to an audiobook. Audiobooks in physical format are often prohibitivly expensive, often due to the sheer number of disks or tapes that are required to contain the whole book. For example, an unabridged recording of James Joyce's Ulysses costs 56 dollars on Amazon, and is spread over 40 disks.
Although cost isn't as big of a problem for libraries, the number of disks is. If a patron where to loose one disk, or a disk was to be scratched beyond repair, the whole audiobook can't be circulated - you can't replace individual disks on audiobooks.
Recently, audiobooks have been offered digitially, both for sale (for example, Audible.com has a subscription program that gives you 1 book a month for 15, significantly cheaper than buying one physical audiobook), for free if they are in the public domain (Librivox) and to check out from a library.
Both the Fargo Public Library and The Lake Agassiz Regional Library System (Moorhead Library) have started offering audiobooks to check out. The advantages to this for the library patron is that they have access to audiobooks, without having to worry about the problems inherent with physical media. However, the patron has to be able to support the system - having a computer and/or an MP3 player, which not everybody has. Also, like any other library item, a patron must "return" their audiobook - meaning that it comes with DRM (Digital Rights Management - code that restricts your ability to use the software) that will delete the files by a certain date. Most advanced computer users despise DRM, however, it is a necessity for the free audiobooks.
It is interesting to see how audiobook technology has changed, and how libraries have adapted historically, and how they are continuing to try to provide for their patrons. Circulating digital materials is a new innovation for the libraries, and one that can be seen as going against the traditional role of libraries. It can also be seen as libraries living up to their potential, providing new services to get information out to the people.
This is an interesting topic for me to read as I worked at the NDSU library for 2 years.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thought you had lots of good points and relevant links, though would suggest trying to find articles or websites or other blogs that are similar to your topic rather than just examples such as the Fargo Library website and Amazon link. Also might want to add an image or video to go along with your post. Multi-Media always add to one’s blog. I thought that the audio chapter you added was a very nice touch, just some additional visual images or videos would be nice too.
You might also want to change the font color of your links so that they are easier to read.
Some future entry ideas for you could be: NDSU’s library technologies, Libraries and the web, Ordering books from Libraries online, or Online journal article resources form library websites.
Also would like to thank you, as you have sparked a blog idea for my publishing blog, audio books and how they affect the publishing industry.
Keep up the good work!
I also really enjoy reading about this topic--I've always loved libraries, and going to grad school for library science is definitely my fallback plan if other things don't work out! :P
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a great job of explaining the situation surrounding audio books. I enjoyed how you pointed out that the roles of librarians have changed and how they've adapted to technologies in the past.
I also thought your specific examples of cost, number of disks, etc. were interesting and made the blog more relate-able instead of just vague.
I agree that a link to the recording was a nice touch, but I would recommend explaining the link a bit, maybe even including a graphic to go along with it. Some more visual elements in general would be nice.
Future entry ideas: the impact of free text downloads (many short stories and even full length books that can be found for free or very cheap online), a look at other ways technology has allowed libraries to offer services to people with disabilities, research how much people use books for research vs. online academic journals, and more on the changing roles of libraries and librarians.
Looking forward to reading more!
This blog post took me back to my days of books on tape! I found the information very interesting and timely and something I, and most readers, can relate to.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen this same "color theme" for my blog so I definitely appreciate it. However, now looking at it from a different perspective (And getting this same suggestion from a fellow group member) I think the links need to be a different color. It is hard to recognize when a link is present.
I would also incorporate some type of media, whether it be pictures or videos. These help to break up the text and make it an easier read for your viewers.
Future blogging ideas may include more details about mp3 books and "newer" technologies that people use to listen to books.