Comments on: Three Library Predictions for 2012

By: Articles of Interest « Evil Corner

Articles of Interest « Evil Corner — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:47:17 +0000

[...] Three Library Predictions for 2012 – Andy Woodworth [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:38:50 +0000

I’m sure that’s nowhere on anyone’s radar except to say it is good but something that is expensive and taxpayers shouldn’t pay for it.

Unriddle that.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:37:52 +0000

Yep, I know this. You know this. I don’t think they will get it, though.

By: Brigitte Doellgast

Brigitte Doellgast — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:41:13 +0000

Embargo in order to make people buy the latest bestseller? If you want to read the latest and hottest title right now, you always had to buy them. Most of the titles of the New Times Bestseller list have a looooong waiting list at the NYPL (e- and paper-editions). This has not changed in library land. But those people, who do not have the money to buy the book, then have to wait even longer in order to get it.

By: bringyournoise

bringyournoise — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:14:10 +0000

My prediction is more wishful thinking: I predict (hope) that we as a profession will become less insular and invite “outsiders” to our national conferences, which will add a much needed new perspective and diversity of opinion to our professional dialogue.

By: John Kirriemuir

John Kirriemuir — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:13:55 +0000

Predictions; meh. I hope yours are more right than I am about Mitt Romney ending up as president this November coming. Analysis in tedious detail as to why from 2 months ago:

http://is.gd/2012election

On a more related issue; do you or anyone have any idea what his policy is, or will be, on libraries, library funding, and literacy in education? Have done searches but can’t find anything he’s said about libraries. Maybe I should ask a librarian

By: Andromeda

Andromeda — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:53:24 +0000

Indeed. And I seem to recall LibraryThing Tim pointing out somewhere that the pre-ebook economic model of libraries relied on being able to use inconvenience for price discrimination — the high-priced hardcover for people who can’t wait, then the paperback, then the free-to-end-user circulations bought at the price of inconvenience (having to wait for your holds to come through, having to go physically to the library, etc.)

I don’t really have a problem with wait times and price discrimination dovetailing a bit. It just bugs me that, when I hear about some new book on the radio or Twitter or whatever, I am routinely incapable of placing holds on it, because library software can’t devour those data streams. An embargo system would just make that worse. (“as far as the library is concerned this book does not even exist until a month or two after it comes out, so don’t bother looking for it, we don’t have it AND we can’t let you place it on hold”? sigh.)

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:45:38 +0000

I think it’s a viable option for publishers, movie companies, and music makers because they can always say, “Well, we *are* giving them the content, just not right away! Blah blah blah jobs blah blah blah America blah blah blah good for the economy.” There isn’t a good counter to that, or at least a good viable one.

By: Andromeda

Andromeda — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:26:21 +0000

I think embargoes would be a whole lot more palatable if libraries were capable of letting me place preorders (note: this is different from holds), but then I start thinking about the data streams and standards involved and I have to go into a corner and cry.