Episode 3: Launching eMedia

Since HCPL started offering eMedia in 2006, the collection has grown to over 25,000 items and circulation is averaging around 30,000 per month.  Easy success, right?  Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, there are many other issues to consider when you think about libraries and eMedia, and the popularity of eBooks, in general.



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Why don't we have Harry Potter titles in the Digital Media Catalog?  The truth is that not all books are available as ebooks and not all ebooks are available to be sold to libraries.  Many publishers don't like the idea that libraries can buy a book that won't wear out and check it out for free to anyone who has a library card.  So, most of the big publishers won't sell to libraries and some, like Penguin, are now changing their minds and placing an embargo on new titles.  Others are simply charging more, which is ultimately good for libraries, but hard on the budget. [editor's note:  HP titles are now available, but concept remains the same.]

What if your vendor goes out of business? Another issue is purchasing and ownership.  When you don't have a physical book in your hand, how can you be sure that you will always have access to it?  What if you decide to switch?  Many think ebooks should be accessed as a subscription service, rather than purchased title by title, so that the purchasing is more like leasing.

Why do I have to jump through digital hoops to get a book on my device?  The rise of portable devices led to the huge popularity of eMedia.  However, compatibility issues with differing formats and devices make sure that you need some sort of chart to keep up with what item can be used with what device.  The digital rights management that helps publishers and authors feel more secure provides frustration for the users.

Amazon: friend or foe?  Library people were very excited to have Amazon Kindle compatibility with library materials, but some worried about privacy and sale issues.  Publishers are not happy with Amazon for other reasons, and libraries are caught in the middle.  What about authors who self-publish?  They have popularity in the eBook market, but how will libraries offer books not represented by a publisher?  The tangle of rights issues, compatibility issues and availability issues makes the eMedia topic interesting to watch right now.

How do we pay for it all?  Add all of this together with the fact that library budgets are not growing, to put it mildly, and adding new formats while keeping up with demand costs a great deal of money and you get some understanding of what this means for all public libraries.  Right now, we can do best by purchasing strategically, keeping up with technology, and marketing this collection and expertise to our customers.

...3,2,1 On to the Quest!

Submit your answers to the questions below using the form on Harriet. A good practice is to first type your answers into a Word document. When you are finished, Copy/Paste your answers into the form. This may save you from losing your work. Be sure to submit after you have entered all your answers into the form.

In the previous eMedia module, we had a brief introduction to different eMedia formats.  Now, let's put our hands on each of the devices and see how they work with eBooks.  Your branch should have an iPad, a Nook and a Kindle for you to use to practice.  Note that these are not the only devices people will use with library eBooks, they are just the most popular. Please check with your branch manager to use the devices at your location.  If you work at the Administrative Offices, please check with Linda Stevens or Grace Lillevig to get access to the devices.  If you need help with the exercises, the Digital Media Support Page is a great resource.

The iPad
The iPad is not yet as ubiquitous as the iPhone, but it is still the giant in the tablet market, with iPads making up around 75% of all tablets sold to consumers.  The advantage of a tablet is that you can do many, many other things besides reading or listening to books.  Some iPad disadvantages include not being able to view Flash based products or PDF documents.

1. What iPad app do you use to read eBooks purchased from iTunes?
2. What steps must you take before loading eBooks onto your iPad with OverDrive Media Console?
3. What app do you use to read eBooks from Amazon on the iPad?

The NOOK
The Barnes & Noble Nook now comes in three flavors:  the NOOK Tablet, which attempts to expand the Nook to beyond-reading activities; the NOOK Color, which is a very attractive eBook and video device; and the NOOK Simple Touch, which is the e-ink device available at your library locations for practice.  Prices are a bit higher than the Amazon equivalents, but NOOK devices have a devoted following and you can read EPUB or PDF eBooks on them.

4. What software has to be installed before you can begin reading library eBooks on a NOOK device?
5. How do you return an eBook early on a NOOK?

The Kindle
Amazon is the eBook dominator, and now also has three Kindle devices to offer:  the Kindle, the Kindle Touch, and the Kindle Fire.  The Kindle and Kindle Touch can be purchased with 3G options for constant connectivity.  The Kindle Touch is the reader available in your branches for practice. The Amazon devices are the cheapest and probably the simplest to use for reading purposes.

6. What steps must be taken if a customer receives the message "Your Kindle does not support WI-FI?"
7. What two action options are offered by Amazon when deleting a returned library ebook?

If you have submitted all the correct answers to accomplish this mission, you will receive the eMedia Space Vehicle to add to your command. This will let you dig through our cramped but coveted Cargo Hold for a chance to win a great prize. Complete The Fleet by earning all ten vehicles, and you will also receive ten Intergalactic Training Credits.

Episode 2: The EBSCO Sphere

Greetings Space Cadets, for this leg of the journey we will be exploring the vast world of Magazines and Journals.   There is an unlimited amount of knowledge to be harvested.


Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazines
When conducting research, scholars often rely on articles from scholarly journals rather than popular magazines.  See the table below for a list of some differences that exist between these two types of resources.

Characteristics	Scholarly Journal	Popular Magazine
Appearance	Sober and serious May contain graphs or charts Will not find glossy pages or photographs	Attractive appearance Advertisements Heavily illustrated Glossy paper
Audience	Scholars and students	General audience
Authors	Scholars in the field of study	Reporters, usually not experts on the subject
Documentation	Sources cited in footnotes and/or bibliography	Sources not cited or cited informally
Purpose	Report results of original research or experimentation	Provide general information
Article Acceptance Procedure	Many scholarly journals are "refereed journals" - they undergo a process called "peer-review" where other scholars in the field examine the articles before being published.	Written by hired reporters, edited by magazine editors, and published.
Examples	American Journal of Psychology Journal of the American Medical Association  American Quarterly	Psychology Today Newsweek National Geographic

  Duke University Libraries

The Difference Between the Three Choices in Our Database  
Academic Search Complete –  Provides a scholarly collection providing full text journal coverage for nearly all academic areas of study - including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies, etc. Full text for nearly 4,600 scholarly publications.


EBSCOhost – Contains information on a broad range of subjects. Database designed specifically for a Public Library environment. Searchable full text for nearly 1,860 journals, including Consumer Reports and Business Week. EBSCOhost database by way of TexShare.


Tip:  At the bottom of the description of the databases there is a link that says “Title List” if you click on this link it will list all the different journals in that database.


MasterFile Premier - Designed specifically for the public library, it offers information on a broad variety of subjects, including general interest, multicultural, and business.  Use when you want to search for popular information.

Searching Tips and Tricks


How to search by publication within EBSCOhost

1. Using Masterfile Premier, click the Publications button located just above the search dialog box.
2. Browse to find out what years are covered and whether is full text for just citations
3. Often, we might have longer coverage for just citations

Boolean Operators


And - combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms. For example, education and technology finds articles that contain both terms.


Or - combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms. For example, education or technology finds results that contain either term.


Not - excludes terms so that each search result does not contain any of the terms that follow it. For example, education not technology finds results that contain the term education but not the term technology. 


Limiters


Limiters let you narrow the focus of your search so that the information retrieved from the databases you search is limited according to the values you select. You can use more than one limiter if more than one is available.


Common limiters that can appear in the Limit your results area include:

• Full Text – Click to limit results to articles with full text. Where an article will appear in its entirety for the user, not just a summary or abstract.
• Image Quick View – Click to limit results to articles that contain Image Quick View images available.
• Cover Story – Click to limit results to articles that were featured as cover stories.
• Local Titles – Click to limit results to articles available at your library.
• Journal/Magazine – Enter a journal/magazine name in this field to limit results to articles only from that title.
• Peer Reviewed – Limits search results to articles from peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed journals are publications that include only those articles that have been reviewed and/or qualified by a selected panel of acknowledged experts in the field of study covered by the journal.
• Date Published – Use this option to search for articles within a specified date range. Create a range by using the drop-down lists to specify the months of the range and enter the last four digits of the year in the entry fields to specify the years of the range.
• Number of Pages – Enter a number in this field to limit results to a specific number of pages in length. Place the < (less than) or > (greater than) symbol before the number to search for articles with a specific page length range. For example: to search for articles that are greater than three pages in length, enter >3 in this field. You can also use a dash to enter a range of pages. For example, to find articles between five and ten pages long, enter 5 - 10.

Limiters do limit one another. If you select both Full Text and Cover Story limiters, the results that are retrieved include only Full Text items that are Cover Story items. The exception to this rule is the use of Full Text and Local Titles limiters. In this situation, use of these limiters produces a list of results that has Full Text or is part of a local collection.


(The use of limiters may also vary by database. For example, MEDLINE may handle limiters differently than e-psyche.)


To create a search using a limiter:

1. In the Find field, enter your search terms.
2. Select the limiters you want to use from the Limit Your Results section of the search screen.
3. Click Search. The Result List appears.

Subject Browse


Academic Search Complete, click on Subject Terms on top of page.  Now you can search your subject.  Let’s do Vacuum cleaners.  You have three choices on how you want to view your results.  If you click on Relevancy Ranked it will search similar a key word search.

For more in depth information please see Margaret Davis’s handout on Harriet.

...3,2,1 On to the Quest!

Submit your answers to the questions below using the form on Harriet. A good practice is to first type your answers into a Word document. When you are finished, Copy/Paste  your answers into the form. This may save you from losing your work. Be sure to submit after you have entered all your answers into the form.

Guided search

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1. For your first mission take this guided search, you must duplicate the search on your own to reach the correct answer.   From this selection which brand of Coffee maker is considered a CR Best Buy in both the A 8- to 14- CUP DRIP MODELS WITH CARAFES  and B 10- to 12- CUP     BREW-and-Dispense MODELS?  
2. In Magazines and Journals databases using EBSCOhost.  Find and select Texas Reference Center then click continue. Do an image search and find a picture from a Galveston storm and copy and paste the permalink to the form.  The permalink is located on the right hand side under Tools.
3. From the homepage using the database tab select Electronics Journal List.  Select “title contains all words” for your search.  Then select “languages and literatures” for your subject category.  Use the search Shakespeare.  How many records did you pull?
4. In MasterFile Premier click on the publications tab.  Find Men’s Health how many issues were there in 1993?

If you have submitted all the correct answers to accomplish this mission, you will receive the EBSCO Sphere Space Vehicle to add to your command. This will let you dig through our cramped but coveted Cargo Hold for a chance at a great prize. Complete The Fleet by earning all ten vehicles, and you will also receive ten Intergalactic Training Credits. 

Episode 1: Capturing Customer Service

Harris County Public Library’s definition of Customer Service is outlined in our Mission Statement.    It is our job to provide our customers with access to knowledge, not to find a way to keep them from attaining it.  We have policies and procedures outlined for us.  We are strictly bound by some policies, but on others we can be more lenient.  As Harris County Public Library employees, we all have the privilege of using our own discretion to make informed decisions for each customer.  We all know that every situation and each customer is different, so it makes sense that we can use our own judgment when deciding the outcome of a situation.

When making the decision of whether or not to be strict with a policy, ask yourself these questions:

• Is anything I am being asked to do violating this or another customer’s privacy?
• Will my decision negatively impact another customer directly?
• Does this customer have a history of abusing the system?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may not be able to give that customer exactly what they want.  You can however try to find options that will have them leaving as satisfied as possible.

On the other hand, if you answered “no” to each of those questions, you have one more question to ask yourself…   Will my decision make this customer happy and therefore more likely to be a repeat customer?  If you answered “yes” to this question, you should do what you can to make sure that customer leaves happy.

All of our libraries provide a great public service to our communities.  That being said, we do have competition out there and we need return business to stay relevant.  It is time for us to start thinking of our line of work as more Customer Service, less Public Service.

Please go over the PowerPoint below on Customer Service.  It offers some good suggestions on how each of us can create and nurture great relationships with our customers. When you are done, answer the questions that follow.

Capturing Customer Service

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...3,2,1 On to the Quest!

Submit your answers to the questions below using the form on Harriet. A good practice is to first type your answers into a Word document. When you are finished, Copy/Paste your answers into the form. This may save you from losing your work. Be sure to submit after you have entered all your answers into the form.

Answer the following questions.  Use the Policies tab on Harriet, the HCPL staff Intranet, to find your answers.

1. What is the Harris County Public Library’s mission statement?
2. What does C.A.R.E. stand for?>

Choose the best answers to the scenarios below.  Make sure you use the 3 questions listed above (in the second paragraph of this post) to help you choose your answers.  You may also use the Policies tab on Harriet as a guideline.

3. In which of these situations would you say no to the customer?  There is only one correct answer.
   Situation 1-----A customer calls and wants to renew an item.  She tells you she has been busy with a family emergency and hasn’t had time to read the book.  She has not renewed the item before but it does have requests on it and is the only copy in the system.  Will you renew the item?
   Situation 2-----A customer calls and wants to renew an item.  She has renewed it twice but is out of town and can’t make it in to return the book.  There is one Hold Request on the item, but 2 copies checked in at other branches.  Will you renew the item?
4. Remember, we can’t always say yes, but we can try to find a way to make the customer as happy as possible. From the situations above, what option(s) can you give the customer you just said no to?
5. A customer comes in to return a lost book they paid for and get a refund.  They do not have their receipt.  You look up the patron’s account and find that they paid for the item at another HCPL branch and are due a refund.  How do you help this customer?  There is only one correct answer.
1. Send the customer to the branch at which the item was paid for.  They will have a copy of the receipt there and will be able to get the refund at that branch.
2. Call the branch that has the receipt and ask them to fax you over a copy.  Proceed to give the customer the refund.
3. Inform the customer that they must have their receipt to get a refund
6. A customer comes to the circulation desk to check out books.   Her children are with her and very excited about the books they have picked.  You scan the woman’s card and see she has fines and fees well above the $25.00 limit.  She informs you that she does not have the money to pay the fine or get it below the limit.  What is the best option you can offer this customer to make sure her and the children leave as happy as possible?  There is only one correct answer.
1. Offer to hold the books for a few days until the customer can pay her fine.
2. Tell the customer she won’t be able to check out until her fines are paid below the limit.
3. Ask the customer if any of her children have library cards.  If not, inform the customer she can get a library card for any of her children and can check out the books using the child’s card.

If you have submitted all the correct answers to accomplish this mission, you will receive the Customer Service Space Vehicle to add to your command. This will let you dig through our cramped but coveted Cargo Hold for a chance to win a great prize. Complete The Fleet by earning all ten vehicles, and you will also receive ten Intergalactic Training Credits.

Enroll in the HCPL Space Quest!

Listen up, space cadet! This is your chance to rule the universe!

As part of your enrollment in the Space Academy, you will be assigned some challenging missions to help you develop your skills. Each time you master a mission, you will earn an additional space vehicle to command.

Complete the Fleet - accomplish all ten missions successfully - and you will be awarded with an Fleet Commander badge that will be the envy of all your fellow space travelers. In addition, you will earn ten intergalactic training credits!

Even better (well, certainly more FUN), each mission accomplished gives you one chance to put your name into the bidding for an item from our loaded Cargo Hold of prizes. At the end of this semester of the Space Academy (May 31), prize winners for each item will be drawn at random from the list of qualified bidders.

Boldly go where no cadets have gone before (guaranteed!). Learn to react quickly on the bridge! Swerve to avoid asteroids! Stun your opponents! Watch out for wormholes!

It's your time to shine.

-- Commander Cyborg Harry