Week 11 Prompt

Week 11 Prompt

Prompt:
EBooks and audiobooks are a part of our landscape. What does the change in medium mean for appeal factors? If you can't hold a book and feel the physical weight of it in your hands, how does that affect your knowledge of the genre? How about readers being able to change the font, line spacing, and color of text - how does that affect pacing and tone? How about audiobooks? Track length, narrator choice, is there music?  For this week, I want you to think about how eBooks and audiobooks affect appeal factors - also think about appeals that are unique to both mediums. 

As I read through, “A Sound History” article, I was thrown back to my childhood!  As a child of the 70’s, some of my earliest memories are sitting on the floor of my room with a record playing and following along with the book.  “Scooby doo”, Disney’s “Peter Pan”, “Mickey and the Beanstalk”… I spent HOURS listening to the stories and following along with the books.  I really didn’t think about that being my first exposure to “audiobooks”!  Then, when the 80’s rolled around, we had Teddy Ruxpin who used cassettes in his body to “read” to us as we followed along in the books.  Another version of “audiobooks” I had not thought about!  My older brother would put his KISS cassettes in Teddy Ruxpin and laugh as Teddy sang “Lick it Up!” as I cried because I didn’t want him to ruin Teddy!  It was fascinating to me to read about the evolution of audiobooks.  Through my life, I have experienced them from 8tracks to records to cassettes, from CDs to playaways, and now what I use the most, digital copies! 

I am going to use my personal experience with audiobooks and eBooks to address the reading prompts; I figure since I have used all of the forms in my life as well as over 11 years in the library setting, I can give pretty good feedback from experience! 

What does the change in medium mean for appeal factors?

I personally like that one book may be available in several mediums: print, large print, CD, Playaway and digital download (whether audio or eBook).  If a patron is flexible in how they consume a book, having all of the mediums increases our chances of finding the exact title requested.  I pretty much read all eBooks these days for a few reasons: I mainly read at bedtime to clear my mind and it is easier to read on my phone in the dark, I have many different routes to locate a book- Overdrive, Amazon, and Hoopla, I can download nearly any book in the world I would like at 2am, and I find it easier to browse for books in the “e” format.  I have used a combination of two mediums on a road trip- I listened to the CDs during the drive and switched to a printed book once I arrived.  I just picked up where the CD left off.  The more options available the better! 

As I was reading the “Reading with Your Ears” article, I really was shocked at the Listener Format Preferences section.  I have helped patrons for almost 11 years find books, audio included, and I have never had anyone ask the questions brought up:  length, narrator, pacing, etc.  I wonder if larger libraries actually get those kinds of questions?      

One observation with children and youth, many will check out the Playaway with the book, especially if they are struggling readers!  It is so much like me following along with a book as I listened to the record when I was a kid!  The different formats allow those who learn differently many options to choose from: visual learners, hands on learners, audio learners, and a combination of mediums.

If you can't hold a book and feel the physical weight of it in your hands, how does that affect your knowledge of the genre?

For me, it does not really change my knowledge.  I think because I have grown up with the changing mediums as they have happened, I have just adjusted as it went along.  When we introduced eBooks at our library, we would have training sessions on how to download books.  We actually overloaded our server and crashed Overdrive because we had so many people trying to download books at the same time.  It was when Kindle was not really supported and there were SO many steps involved and the Nook was the preferred ereader. 

As I was reading “E-Books and Readers’ Advisory”, it was interesting because that was a topic mentioned.  I have been working in my library all through the introduction of eBooks and how it has changed in such a short amount of time.  The only thing we really had to help people with was how to check out and download the books.  Now we rarely get any questions at all!  We have not really noticed much of a drop off of regular book circulation but have had yearly increases in eBooks.  It seems to have reached the demographic that does not come into the library much.  This was also discussed in the “The Wrong War Over eBooks” article.  The addition of eBooks helps to reach a brand new demographic!  There was a concern mentioned that borrowers were less likely to visit the library.  I have experienced the opposite!  Our eBook users are also heavy Facebook users.  We make sure to hit that demographic with our publicity so we are drawing more people than ever into the library to our programs.  Enough so that we are breaking ground on a $5 million dollar expansion in May to accommodate the increase in usage of the library as a place. 

How about readers being able to change the font, line spacing, and color of text - how does that affect pacing and tone?

When ereaders were first available, there were not many options to change font, spacing, and color.  Now that it is pretty much standard, we get a lot of positive feedback that it helps the older generation as well as anyone with eyesight issues.  They can change colors, spacing, and size to accommodate their own personal needs.  It really does not change how the book is interpreted; it seems to be the opposite.  The reader is able to change and adjust to make the book just right for him or her.  I like that instead of dragging or tapping to “turn” a page, I now have the option to scroll.  I prop up my phone while I am lying down and just a tiny touch will move the screen down.  In a world where we like everything instant and “order the way we want”… these new options really do include a whole new group of people that the traditional book does not work for. 

How about audiobooks? Track length, narrator choice, is there music?

With audiobooks, there are also a lot of choices!  The first audiobook I ever purchased was “The Mist” by Stephen King which was a full on production in cassette tape format.  “The Mist” was my favorite short story by him and I was soooo excited as the audiobooks on cassette were available.  The narration was fully dramatized with sound effects, music, and different voices.  It was my first experience with an audiobook so I thought ALL audiobooks were like that! 

(Have to include an anecdote: when I was a kid in the 70s, I listened to Star Wars on an 8track tape!  Over and over I listened to it while I played with my hot wheels!  I knew every word and sound effect as it was a full on dramatic production as well!  I was a bit of a tomboy!  It is interesting to think of a movie in audio format as well!  Great for the hearing impaired!) 

What I really like with audiobooks, especially now, you can speed up the narration if you think the reading is too slow.  That helps with the length and pacing issue some people have.  It is great for the visually impaired as well!  Patrons just need to pay attention to those details when checking out audiobooks, especially digital downloads from our sites like Hoopla and Overdrive: the narrator, sound effects, length, etc.  I really like that audiobooks provide another avenue to absorb a story in a different sensory conductor.  In a world of being more inclusive, adding eBooks and audiobooks fit right in! 

Sources read:

• Cahill, M., & Moore, J. (2017). A Sound History. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 15(1), 22–29. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier
• Dunneback, K., & Trott, B. (2011). E-books and Readers' Advisory. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 325-9. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
• Mediatore, K. (2003). Reading with Your Ears: Readers' Advisory and Audio Books. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 42(4), 318-23. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database
• Vinjamuri, D. (2012). The wrong war over ebooks: Publishers vs. libraries. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/12/11/the-wrong-war-over-ebooks-publishers-vs-libraries/