I had the pleasure of reading though David Lee King slides for Technology Trends for Libraries in 2004. I have already been keen on the health monitor bands in Maplin stores and Nike Fuelbands in stores. However, last week the Observer article about "Why audiobooks are the perfect running aid?" got me really thinking about 'wearable technology in libraries' which is the second trend on the slides.
For a while, digital audiobooks have been active in mp3 formats for iPods and Amazon Kindle. So it is understandable why such technology will impact the usage of traditional libraries in future. Afterall, it is self-reliant on the user downloading their audiobook of choice from a simple 3G or wi-fi connection and using it on-the-go. What is interesting about this article is it seems to target the niche market of working adults who have very little time to work out and still visit a library. This stirs away from targeted demographic of children’s and teen audiobooks collections that have been introduced within libraries amidst falling reader numbers.
Overdrive is one the few alternatives that is available in various libraries and accessed with your library card and PIN. Free or borrowed items can also be downloaded to PC, MAC, Kobo, Nook, and iPhone or iPAd via its app with this same method which makes more accessible to various users with different technology needs. However, the one of its greatest drawbacks is that you may be tied to one library that only offers a section number of audiobooks such alienating some users with different or more unique tastes.
Even though there has been an increase in e-libraries offering e-audio collections to target on-the-go users and interactive technology libraries (looking a bit like an Apple store layout with interactive media spaces), in the current economic and financial climate it might be better for librarians to keep an eye out for changes in audiobooks trends such as formatting to fill the gap in patron driven collections and reader usage and talking with publishers/distributors to look into large group purchases to effectively stretch budgets.
For a while, digital audiobooks have been active in mp3 formats for iPods and Amazon Kindle. So it is understandable why such technology will impact the usage of traditional libraries in future. Afterall, it is self-reliant on the user downloading their audiobook of choice from a simple 3G or wi-fi connection and using it on-the-go. What is interesting about this article is it seems to target the niche market of working adults who have very little time to work out and still visit a library. This stirs away from targeted demographic of children’s and teen audiobooks collections that have been introduced within libraries amidst falling reader numbers.
Overdrive is one the few alternatives that is available in various libraries and accessed with your library card and PIN. Free or borrowed items can also be downloaded to PC, MAC, Kobo, Nook, and iPhone or iPAd via its app with this same method which makes more accessible to various users with different technology needs. However, the one of its greatest drawbacks is that you may be tied to one library that only offers a section number of audiobooks such alienating some users with different or more unique tastes.
Even though there has been an increase in e-libraries offering e-audio collections to target on-the-go users and interactive technology libraries (looking a bit like an Apple store layout with interactive media spaces), in the current economic and financial climate it might be better for librarians to keep an eye out for changes in audiobooks trends such as formatting to fill the gap in patron driven collections and reader usage and talking with publishers/distributors to look into large group purchases to effectively stretch budgets.
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