TechKnowledge
Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 2/1/2001
E-Book Anxieties The coming of electronic books has left librarians feeling dazed and confused
Over the past year, the library world has watched with a lot of curiosity and not a little confusion the introduction of e-books. High-profile articles, such as those in Time magazine and the New York Times, have persuaded many professionals that e-books will flood the market and replace many paper books. And companies like NetLibrary are moving into the K-12 market. Thus far, however, the competing reader devices and the lack of industry agreement on a standard e-book format have left most people scratching their heads. 
For librarians, an additional dollop of consternation comes from the fact that publishers are releasing popular e-titles in restrictive formats that work on one particular reading device--for instance, a Franklin eBookman--and not on another, such as a Palm Pilot. If libraries were able to store many individual e-book files on their own servers and make the files available to users with Palm Pilots, laptops, or Franklin eBookman devices, e-books would be as easy to circulate as paperbound books. But, for now, that's just not happening. Most e-book publishers are worried over Napster-style piracy--consumers getting something for nothing. Gemstar (www.ebook-gemstar.com), a manufacturer of e-book readers for RCA, claims that publishers stand to "lose $1.5 billion through e-book piracy by 2005." So most manufacturers hesitate to release files that are easy to download onto competing e-book devices--and are easy for libraries to circulate.
At the moment, libraries have only two options for circulating e-books. The first is to download a large number of e-book files to a reader device--such as a RocketBook (the ancestor of the current RCA/Gemstar e-book reader)--and circulate the device itself. But that's not practical for large-scale e-book circulation, because not only are the devices expensive (the RCA/Gemstars cost $299 to $699 each), but e-book files cannot be transferred from one device to another.
NetLibrary (www.netlibrary.com), a Boulder, CO, company, offers a more promising scenario. The start-up has been able to persuade publishers such as ABC-CLIO and others to make their books available to library users electronically. Thanks to that arrangement, NetLibrary can now offer a library user an e-book collection--typically through a library or library consortium's Web site. The library simply purchases a collection of the company's titles. The e-book files that the libraries purchase remain on NetLibrary's server, and users can "check out" access to the files and view them online. Users can also print pages from the books, but NetLibrary engineers were careful to make printing out pages as time-consuming as photocopying them from a paper book--users must print them one at a time. Right now, most of NetLibrary's titles for K-12 students are nonfiction selections.
Has NetLibrary succeeded in convincing libraries that buying e-books--but not actually possessing the e-book files--is a good idea? NetLibrary spokesman Brian Bell thinks it has. Over the past year, he says, more than 100 public libraries have had access to NetLibrary's e-books through shared collections purchased by consortia, and an additional 64 libraries and systems have signed up for the company's introductory e-book program. NetLibrary is also talking to school districts around the country. As for not owning the files, Bell says, "Librarians see this as an advantage generally, since they don't have to spend additional funds for equipment."
How do librarians feel about the situation? Judith Hiott, assistant coordinator of the office of materials selection at Houston Public Library (HPL), admits she's worried that "if NetLibrary doesn't survive, we'll lose the collection." Still, Hiott thinks that HPL's few months of using NetLibrary have been worthwhile, especially when the library has introduced the e-book collection to users. She did an outreach program at a local private school, in which fifth-graders were trained how to use NetLibrary's e-books. "I thought the training was unbelievably fun and successful," she says.--Walter Minkel
License to Chill
You've probably done it lots of times. You purchase a piece of software for library use, and come across one of those shrink-wrap licenses that reads, "If you open this package, you're bound by the terms of this license." Or you download software from the Web, but before you install it, you must click on "Agree," binding you to paragraphs of long legal language you probably haven't read. (Few people do.)
Until now, the software industry and the courts haven't set definite limits for how responsible users are for what they do with software after they unwrap or click. But that may change soon, and not in users' favor. The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), a proposed law to be voted on by many state legislatures, intends to standardize the law regarding the licensing of software and all other forms of digital information.
Software producers and publishers believe UCITA is necessary to protect their products and profits. However, the American Library Association (ALA) contends UCITA ultimately allows software vendors to dictate limiting terms of use that threaten the rights libraries currently enjoy under federal copyright law. If UCITA is enacted, libraries may lose some of the rights they have now to negotiate the terms under which they use commercial software.
Librarians working with quick-to-click kids should also be wary, especially if a kid downloads a program, such as a browser plug-in, without approval. "Potentially what that means is that the library is now accountable for the terms of the license," notes the ALA's Carol Ashworth, the UCITA grassroots coordinator, "so basically there's a greater risk to the library because someone who is unauthorized has downloaded information and clicked on a license, thereby making the library liable to the terms of the license." For more information, visit www.ala.org/washoff/ucita .--Meg McCaffrey
GeekSpeak Words You Need to Know
Bandwidth: Although "bandwidth" has a technical meaning among electrical engineer types (literally, it's the width of a band of electromagnetic frequencies), the average Net surfer uses the term to describe how fast data moves on a particular connection. For instance, "My school doesn't have the bandwidth for kids to download MP3 files." Bandwidth becomes an issue when multimedia files (like MP3 or video files) are involved--multimedia data files are large and complex. Downloading an animated video file in five seconds, for example, takes far more bandwidth than downloading a page of text in five seconds.
SiteoftheMonth
A Call to Get on Board: Bulletin Board Ideas for High School Media Specialists
www.ccps.ga.net/bulletinboards
Librarians with bulletin boards are continually challenged to make their displays compelling to students. Judy Serritella (jserritella@lhs.ccps.ga.net) of Lovejoy (GA) High School decided that the Net would be a great resource for ideas. So she created a Web site for bulletin board ideas, and she hopes that other media specialists will use, as well as share, the catchy ideas she is receiving from across both the state and the nation.
The First Step: Serritella applied for a project grant from the Georgia Council of Media Organizations (GOMO), and received $500 from it to create a Web site of bulletin-board ideas for both high school and middle school media specialists. Using server space from the Clayton County Public Schools, where she has worked for 27 years, Serritella went to work on her idea.
The Muse: Serritella created and worked on the site herself but gathered ideas from librarians across the country. She posted requests on LM_NET, an online discussion group, and on the Georgia Media Specialists' online discussion groups, and she received a number of suggestions to add to her own. Examples of bulletin boards on Serritella's site include special events such as homecoming (photos of students past and present on a gingham background) or the holidays (a banner across the top of the billboard that promises "Books yule love to read"). Other boards promote a particular author, or celebrate student diversity. Some are accompanied by photos.
What the Future Holds: Serritella plans to expand the site and invites readers to send their ideas, or examples of boards they have created, to her online. She also plans to send snail-mail letters to all the high school media specialists in Georgia to gather new suggestions "since many of them do not belong to the discussion groups." In the meantime, she'll also be busy maintaining the Lovejoy High School's Web site at www.ccps.ga.net/lhs.
Software That Preserves Sanity
Of all the technology-related tasks that drive librarians crazy, managing public-access terminals may be first on the list. One of the better-known terminal-management applications is CybraryN (www.cybraryn.com), which frees libraries from the hassle of logging patrons on and off and policing their computer use. It now works with the DRA (Data Research Associates, Inc.) Web2 system, and there are also versions available for Innovative, Dynix, SIRSI, and other automation systems. "A library could choose to restrict Internet access for patrons who have an expired card, for instance, or who owe more than $10," explains Bob Jones of CybraryN's producer, Computers by Design, Inc. He adds that libraries can also "specify things like this particular patron is allowed filtered access to the Internet only."
TheLibrarian'sInternet
by gail junion-metz
It's a Family Affair: Filtering software at home
Unlike the attention given to filtering software for schools and public libraries, there is scant information about software for use on the family computer at home. For that reason, many of us aren't as informed as we should be about sites that supply conservative and liberal parents with home-based filtering resources. The sites listed below offer support as well as information on services and products to parents who want filtered home Net access.
Parent's Guide--Blocking and Filtering
www.yahooligans.com/Parents_Guide/Blocking_and_Filtering
A long, easy-to-view, alphabetical list of kids' blocking and filtering products (each with a brief description), and links to each of the vendor's homepages. Source: Yahoo!
Tools for Families
www.getnetwise.org/tools
Information on 133 filtering products for families are listed on this site, from blocking hate mail or pornographic content, to limiting children's time online.
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FilterReview.com
www.filterreview.com/reviews.asp
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Blocking Software Reports
www.peacefire.org
This is a site for parents who are actively against any type of filtering software. It contains reviews, critiques, and opinions about 10 of the most popular filtering programs. Also included is "Peacefire.exe," a Windows-based blocking software bypass program. Source: Peacefire, a free-speech organization for young people.
Filtered Access Providers
directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Commercial_Services/Access_Providers/By_Region/North_America/United_States/Filtered
A useful resource for parents who want to limit their children's access to certain content by using an ISP that filters out selected information. The site contains links to lots of filtered ISP homepages. Source: Google.
Family-Based Filtered Internet Service Providers
www.family.org/cforum/research/papers/a0002551.html
This Web page directs parents to a filtered ISP that may match their moral or religious values. Two charts list ISPs (many of which are Christian-oriented), as well as phone numbers and their monthly usage fee. Source: Focus on the Family.
TestDrive
Little Fingers Keyboard
Keyboard for younger children
Datadesk Technologies. 10598 Valley Road NE. #100, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. www.datadesktech.com. 1-888-327-8868. $69.95. Mac and PC.
The keyboards for most computers are designed with adult hands in mind; the Little Fingers keyboard is designed for--well--little fingers. The LittleFingers keyboard is a full-function keyboard with a built-in three-button trackball. It has the same keys as a standard keyboard, but the keycaps are smaller and spaced closer together than on even a laptop computer. This condensed layout fits most young children's hand size, helping small hands use a keyboard correctly. The pint-sized keys are also set back from the front of the keyboard, providing a built-in wrist rest. A dual-mode option allows both a LittleFingers and a standard keyboard to be connected to a computer at the same time, eliminating the hassle of switching keyboards when a grownup wants to use the PC.
I set up the LittleFingers keyboard in a K-5 computer lab using the optional dual-mode, allowing students to choose either the LittleFingers or a standard keyboard. Younger students, grades K-2, gravitated to the LittleFingers. They liked the keyboard's feel and colors. Students in fourth grade and above, however, showed little interest in using it. Several students commented that "the ball was harder to control" than a mouse, although they liked using it. It seemed that the younger the student, the more quickly he mastered the trackball. The trackball, though, was problematic for left-handers. The model tested did not use the USB connections that would make it compatible with the latest computer models; however, a USB version is in the works.
LittleFingers is compatible with both PCs and Macs. The company allows a 30-day free trial to teachers and schools through its Web site. I have never seen any research that indicates a smaller keyboard improves keyboarding skills or speeds their acquisition, but the idea sounds logical. If your early primary students are expected to develop some proficiency on a keyboard, Datadesk's LittleFingers is worth considering.
Reviewed by David McQuin
Mankato (MN) East High School
dmcqui@isd77.k12.mn.us
Making Educational Software Accessible
A new report entitled "Making Educational Software Accessible" explores how changes can be made to educational math and science software so that students with disabilities, such as impaired hearing or low or no vision, can use them.
The 48-page document was put together by Boston public television station WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media with the aid of a grant from the National Science Foundation's Program for Persons With Disabilities.
The project leaders, some of whom are educators of disabled students and experts in technology, studied much of the educational math and science software on the market for three years. Then, they produced a set of guidelines that tell software companies how products can be retooled so that disabled students can use them. For example, the guidelines suggest adding closed captions for deaf users and adding an audio component in lessons for blind users.
"These guidelines will be the difference between a disabled student participating with their able-bodied classmates or being left off in a corner while everyone else uses the software," says project manager Tom Wlodkowski. A main goal of the project, he says, is to increase representation of disabled persons in science and math fields by providing them with sufficient education in the kindergarten through postsecondary school years.
Time will tell if software producers embrace the guidelines. Sunburst Technology executives read WGBH's review of one of its products and had its engineers rework it. Because many disabled people have difficulty using a mouse, the engineers revised the software so users could interact with it by hitting keys on the keyboard instead of moving and clicking the mouse.
"It's quite fulfilling work. Helping children to learn is what this is all about," says Joan Jacobsen, Sunburst's vice president of software development. The guidelines, along with information to help librarians, administrators, and teachers identify high-quality software for disabled students, can be found at main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/ncam. --M. M.
