Today is the last day of #blogjune and I am proud to say that I had a post for all 30 days!! YAY!! I hope I haven't bored you to tears!!
Today I started the day in my usual way, checking emails, facebook, twitter, google reader and came across this interesting article: Your eBook is Reading You
Basically the article discusses how the major ebook publishers, e.g. Amazon, Apple, Google, Barnes & Noble etc etc can now gather data that shows how people engage with their books. To quote: Barnes & Noble has determined, through analyzing Nook data, that nonfiction
books tend to be read in fits and starts, while novels are generally read
straight through, and that nonfiction books, particularly long ones, tend to get
dropped earlier. Science-fiction, romance and crime-fiction fans often read more
books more quickly than readers of literary fiction do, and finish most of the
books they start. Readers of literary fiction quit books more often and tend
skip around between books.
While this data provides some fascinating insights, there is the opposing side - quote: Bruce Schneier, a cyber-security expert and author, worries that readers may
steer clear of digital books on sensitive subjects such as health, sexuality and
security—including his own works—out of fear that their reading is being
tracked. "There are a gazillion things that we read that we want to read in
private," Mr. Schneier says.
From a library point of view, we collect basic data on what people read as many library management systems keep a record of what books a library user has borrowed over a period of time. I have never had a library user complain about us having this record - although maybe most of them don't realise we do. More often than not, they have often asked for the list so they can have a record themselves. Of course, we never give anyone's record out to anyone other than themselves.
But never have we been able to delve so deep to see if the library reader actually goes home and reads the book, or if they instantly started reserving others by the same author, or if they didn't like the book, why not. Imagine what a different dimension this would add to collection development, especially weeding. Our weeding is done by the basic formula of removing any item over 10 years old that hasn't been borrowed for more than 2 years (except for local studies/history material) - or is just in a really disgusting state that you wouldn't want to touch it, let alone read it.
However, wouldn't it be great if you could find out that even if the book went out - did the borrower read it? If the book went out and wasn't finished by a number of borrowers, well that could effectively become a reason to remove it from the collection. Something to think about.
There was another aspect of this article that excited me, that of the "choose your own adventure" type books. Quote:
In "Parish Mail," Kira Snyder's young adult mystery series set in New
Orleans, readers can decide whether the teenage protagonist solves crimes by
using magic or by teaming up with a police detective's cute teenage son. Readers
of "Great Escapes," an erotic romance series co-written by Linda Wisdom and
Lynda K. Scott, can customize the hero's appearance and the intensity of the
love scenes. A recent report from Coliloquy showed that the ideal hero for
"Great Escapes" readers is tall with black hair and green eyes, a rugged, burly
build and a moderately but not overly hairy chest.
In Tawna Fenske's romantic caper "Getting Dumped"—which centers on a young
woman who finds work at a landfill after getting laid off from her high-profile
job at the county's public relations office—readers can choose which of three
suitors they want the heroine to pursue. The most recent batch of statistics
showed that 53.3% chose Collin, a Hugh Grant type; 16.8% chose Pete, the
handsome but unavailable co-worker; and 29.7% of readers liked Daniel, the
heroine's emotionally distant boyfriend.
This excites me as it turns to the book into something more interactive.
So there are exciting but uncertain times ahead - as I'm sure many people don't want others to know about their reading habits, but in other ways, what an interesting study!!
Today the sun is shining and I'm up to my second load of washing - about to go out and hang my first. Then off to grocery shopping, back home for a quick bit of cleaning, then out to small one's swimming lessons, then back to small one's friend coming over for a sleep over. Let's hope it's a stress free night - I hope to finish a book that has taken me far too long to finish - not sure if it is because I'm not enjoying it as much or if my mind hasn't allowed me to get into it because it has had too many other things to think about.
Hope to see you all again during #librarydayinthelife at the end of July or before that when I reflect on my conference experience.
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