The future of books in an academic library

The article Books and ebooks in an academic library discusses the perdictions the authors had about eBooks popularity in the future. The authors suggested that eBooks will become more popular by 2020 and will increase the number of academic libraries transitioning their collections to have more online materials than physical books. eBook purchases from academic libraries are increasing. The article also discusses the future of journal articles. Print articles are still continuing to be produced, however libraries and scholars are using a lot more electronic resources (Wells & Sallenbach, 2015). This has cause academic librarians to allocate their resources and use their budget to purchase more electronic resources and less physical materials.

I believe that electronic resources are becoming more popular, but they're are still a lot of people that prefer the physical copy of a book. Right now the academic library I work for is focusing their budget on electronic resources.

References

Wells, D. & Sallenbach, A. (2015) Books and ebooks in an academic library. 64:3, 168-179, DOI: 10.1080/00049670.2015.1041216

-Daly, Briana

Building and Managing E-book Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual For Librarians by Richard Kaplan

DiBello, Amy 

Kaplan, R. (2012). Building and managing e-book collections: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians (A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians). Chicago, Ill.: Neal-Schuman.

This one goes out to all the library paraprofessionals who felt like they were thrown into the deep end of helping library patrons with their eReaders. Until this class, I didn't give much thought to the history of eBooks or how to build or manage an eBook collection. However, Richard Kaplan's book Building and Managing E-Book Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (which is part of our additional recommended reading) is a real treat. 

I had no idea about the complexities of digital license agreements, purchasing options, and how to coordinate print and digital titles while abiding by a budget. As a library patron, I enjoy books returning themselves and being able to download and read whatever I want from the comfort of my home. But the flip side for librarians is keeping up with high maintenance conditions of user agreements, selecting the best ebook platform, and negotiating with publishers.

This books addresses various scenarios about maintaining digital collections and staying in touch with patron wishes. Kaplan includes the experiences of librarians working in academic, public, and medical librarians to show why they made specific choices to sacrifice shelving spaces, participate in pilot programs, and lend out devices to patrons.

Millennials are Library Patrons

Wilson, Shibrie

Peet, L. (2014, September 16). Pew Report Finds Millennials are Readers, Library Users. Retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/09/youth-services/pew-report-finds-millennials-are-readers-library-users/#_

Research has found that Millennials are reading just as much as adults. Millennials are defined as any person born between 1985-1998. Millennials and their involvement in library vary in numerous ways in comparison to older adults. According to the study, "Millennials read about as much as older adults, with 43 percent saying that they read a book in some format (print, audiobook, or ebook) every day. The difference is that Millennials are more likely to utilize the public library website in comparison to older patrons. This due to fact that majority of Millennials find the internet easier to use in regards to physically searching for materials. The difference with Millennials is that they do not receive full experience of library services because they are more likely to use internet. 

Opinion:

Being that I am considered a Millennial I find it disturbing that individuals feel that if the library were to close it would not impact community. This generation wants everything with a click of the button in which has its pros and cons. It is great that they are using resources in which library has provided for research, but it is important to know more that one perspective of library.