American Library Assocation Midwinter Meeting, January 23-28, 2003

Citation

Gelfand, J. (2003), "American Library Assocation Midwinter Meeting, January 23-28, 2003", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 20 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2003.23920cac.002

American Library Assocation Midwinter Meeting, January 23-28, 2003

Julia Gelfand

In freezing-cold Philadelphia during the last week in January, the ALA 2003 Midwinter Meeting took place. There were many events and actions that took place that week that have long-standing impacts for librarians and the information industry. ALA Council voted to consider the ALA-Allied Professional Association By-laws as a whole and moved to adopt ALA-APA CD5, Resolution on Fair Pay for Library Workers, which reads:

That the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association shall adopt a policy of encouraging all agencies that fund libraries, public and private, library systems, consortia, local associations, and individual libraries throughout the nation to adopt salary schedules that incorporate the issue of pay equity and adequately compensate librarians and library support personnel for their education, training and skills; that these salary schedules be, at a minimum, consistent with the standard of living in their respective communities, and with "living wage" principles; that the ALA-AIP shall designate one week each year as "Fair Pay for Library Workers Week," during which library employees shall engage in activity and publicity aimed at educating library users about the knowledge, skills and qualifications of library employees, the kinds of work they do, the necessary services they provide and the inadequate wages and salaries many of them receive, with a particular focus on the need for all libraries to pay all their employees at least a living wage and at rates commensurate with their education, training and skills …

This is but the beginning of a new awareness for the public about the special work of library personnel.

The ALA Office of Information Technology Policy (OITP) hosted a pre-conference, "Making E-Books Work: Librarians and Publishers Exchange Needs and Solutions" on January 23. It was a very full and worthwhile day that launched a positive start of the conference. Attended by about 150 persons in the publishing and information industries and a few librarians, it is hoped that the momentum and high energy that were demonstrated at this session, will be sustained at future gatherings, where perhaps better timing will allow for greater attendance by librarians.

Steve Potash, of OverDrive and the current President of the Open eBook Forum (www.openebook.org) extended a warm welcome and set the stage for ongoing collaborations between the sectors represented at this meeting. Representatives of the library and publishing community made presentations, but notably absent were the providers. For the opening session, Tom Peters from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC Libraries) provided the background on what challenges eBooks pose for libraries, specifically on the frontier of selection and acquisitions.

Pricing and terms suggest a wide range of options and are more or less parallel with real estate terminology, as one must consider whether ownership in perpetuity, rent or own options, leasing, time share or a variety of "free" options works best for one's organization. Do you want the books publicly available or just to know about them? To complicate matters, choosing the best way to acquire eBooks requires familiarity with the content and method of offer: via big deals, little deals, tough deals, simple deals, etc. Deals are made by individual libraries, by consortia, on behalf of course management systems to support distance education, parent and support organizations and individuals. Navigating one's way through the options suggests a complex multi-dimensional matrix and now there is significant experience in libraries that one can learn from other libraries rather than tread on ones own paths without knowing what lies ahead. Peters suggests that libraries carefully study the affordances, how eBooks serve many functions, and those different readership populations have a range of expectations and needs as well.

Roberto Esteves from the San Francisco Public Library shared the public library experience. By forming an E-Consortium, SFPL developed models of resource sharing, networking and communication, safe pioneering, for local commitment and for evaluation and testing. It is clear that readers in the Bay Area are eager for more eBook content in Spanish and Chinese. The Library developed a dual-track collection development policy that distinguishes between print and electronic products. For eBooks it is clear that different usage data are required, specifically turn away statistics, need to support simultaneous users, and that provision needs to be made for cataloging records that are not always satisfactory from the public domain. Pricing remains a nightmare as it seems that every vendor has a different structure complicating the acquisitions process and that business models of publishers and distributors often appear illogical. The conclusion: stay on top of the issues, try different models and hope that life with eBooks gets easier.

Two presenters from the publishing side of the equation followed, addressing the production and distribution of the eBook. Adam Smith from Random House explained the production schedules for digital production. There are three major components: Digital Asset Management – where reprinting and repurposing of the content are done based on industry standards, which are also in a state of fragmentation; eBook Production and Distribution where the relationship with technology vendors is handled. Most of that is now done in-house by publishers using ONIX and XML as we see how pdf is being leveraged for the future. Finally, Smith predicts some exciting future developments evolving that will allow for more simultaneous release of content in multiple formats, greater and improved interoperability and the availability of better digital rights management.

Chris North from HarperCollins reminded the audience that eBooks are not just a digital edition but offer many special features and thus require different content processing. He also noted that his employer is the first trade publisher to market eBooks to the library marketplace via aggregators such as OverDrive and netLibrary. He shared concerns that readers prefer single record cataloging and he wonders about how eBooks will support visual impairments, as text-to-speech output is underdeveloped.

Emphasis on the user/reader was the focus of the next set of speakers. Mark Beatty, Coordinator of the Wisconsin Public Library Consortia netLibrary Project, shared how from his experience delivery is key. A survey demonstrated that most users searched for specific items and that usability of the Web site and the size of the collection could be improved. Also, content for young adults could be stronger. The experience was positive enough to go forth and merge the collection with the academic consortia to expand access to more than 10,000 titles.

At the University of Rochester, Susan Gibbons explored the discovery and lending with eBook devices. Creating a real or virtual surrogate of the print and making users familiar with the content just in another format was done by creating an Amazon.com-like Web site. Lending issues have to be resolved; specifically digital rights that permit lending via a variety of online catalogs and integrated library systems, digital due dates or turnover, interoperability and easy downloading and copying methods will make eBooks more successful. Some devices have had a very short lifespan, so the cataloging and access issues continue to challenge libraries.

Standards was the theme of Andrew Pace, Head of Library Systems at North Carolina State University. He offered some insights into open archive initiatives and the latest configuration of institutional repositories to share information. Principles of healthy scholarly communications practices including the Doctrines of Fair Use and First Sale and digital rights management will encourage librarians and publishers to work together to achieve common goals for their products and services.

Hill Slowinski of Worthington International gave a preview of the White Paper released jointly by AAP and ALA in February 2003 just after this conference on "What customers want in digital rights management: making content as widely available as possible in ways that satisfy consumer preferences." Again digital rights management was the focus, where copyright protection in the digital context is explored legally, technically and socially with different business models. Common elements in each of these areas included interoperability, pricing, access and lending, security and back-up services, with many specific points in each category. The definition of eBook is varied but the emphasis on content rather than delivery is a part of nearly every definition used in the industry. Understanding digital rights management is also equally varied and also content-related or intensive. Slowinski's prediction of what is coming next includes satisfying the need for more research about consumer behavior, preferences, usage and experiences especially in the public library sector; some large-scale joint work between publishers and providers; and surveying publishers and retailers about users' experiences.

A panel of three speakers addressed contractual relationships between publishers, authors and agents. Peter McCarthy from Penguin Putnam Online, Michael Luby from Columbia University Electronic Publishing, and Richard Curtis, an independent eBook publisher, each suggested that they imagined that publishers have the biggest challenge in building loyalty among readers/users to a specific site or library. Flexibility with access and ease of use also are goals for all publishers.

David Seaman from the Digital Library Federation shared the kind of work in which the DLF is engaged to promote new forms and uses of electronic content. The format of an eBook is fleeting, because it does "not consider the archival form but rather a derivative and end-of-the-line item" and he suggested that content requires malleability, multiplicity and management for cross-publisher aggregation. Compatibility with hand-held devices for classroom and distance education applications is critical and he shared some experiences from a case study three years ago at the University of Virginia Library. He concluded that accessibility drives demand that eBooks will survive as long as there is an intellectual, entertainment or commercial value in the content, meaning that it must contain what people want in a way that they can easily and dependably use it.

Another experience from a public library was shared by Robin Bryan who is "Brarydog Coordinator" at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. After some experiences with Rocket and REB eBook readers, this library system registered for the SOLINET collection of >20,000 netLibrary titles. Access was restricted because the records were not loaded in the public catalog and users did not discover them. Public library users want compatibility to hand-held devices or PDAs and want a range of both fiction and non-fiction to read. This library system will also explore circulating MP3 players with audiobooks in the near future.

Gwen Jones from Wiley shared that eResources are <1 percent of overall sales at Wiley. Preference to sell through intermediaries suggests that publishers remain cautious about the marketing and support required of eBooks. Karen Coyle from the University of California's California Digital Library, and current chair of OITP, closed the session by addressing privacy and user information. Reader privacy is essential and libraries promote that by supporting the goal, "Freedom to read," and readers need to be assured that what they read and how they read it "will not lead to intimidation or harassment, much less arrest or confinement." Privacy is complex and does not seem to be on the way to becoming less so, but continued support for eBooks will offer users, librarians and publishers new relationships to foster with privacy being at the core.

Watch the OITP Web site (www.ala.org/oitp/) for additional information on its work in digital rights management, copyright, telecommunications and Internet governance.

Following this preconference, one was clearly ready to visit the exhibition hall to see many new products and to attend the first meeting of the Library eBook Special Interest Group hosted by the Open eBook Forum. ALA Midwinter does not promote programs, but instead is a working meeting with a wide range of discussion groups and sessions devoted to more audience participation. The annual summer meeting has programs with invited speakers.

Other "must-cover" and "must-follow" events at ALA conferences include the LITA Top Technology Trends session. When this issue went to press, the write-up was yet to be released, so please consult www.lita.org/committe/toptech/trendsconf.htm for what was reported.

Julia Gelfand(jgelfand@uci.edu) is the Applied Sciences Librarian at the University of California, Irvine and co-editor of Library HiTech News.