Hey look at this new app available for the Bozeman Public Library to use on your mobile phone!

Introducing BookMyne - A Library Catalog App for You!BookMyne is a mobile app for Android, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices which allows you to access your account, search for titles, place holds, and renew your materials all from the palm of your hand! BookMyne is available for free from the Apple and Android marketplaces, and is easy to set up and use. You can even scan the barcode of any book to see if the Library has a copy to check out! 






Talk about staying up with modern trends!  Pretty cool, huh?!!  I like the ability to scan any book's barcode to see if the Library has a copy of that book to check out!  Amazing!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Andriolo:E-Readers

This assignment, like all the others was an ongoing learning experience.  I have an iPad that I have downloaded books from iTunes onto. (Both free ones and new ones). However, I had not borrowed an e-book from a library before. E-books are newly available at the Bozeman Library; and in January the library offered a free training seminar to learn how to download e-books from MontanaLibrary2Go.  I thought it would be a good time to learn and have individual help if I needed it.  The Saturday morning seminar was well attended.  After a general overview of how to access and use MontanaLibrary2Go through our Bozeman library accounts, we broke into separate groups by the devices that we owned.  I did not have Adobe Reader downloaded onto my iPad.  Also, my iPad needed an update before it would allow Adobe Reader to load.  So I was unable to go through the process there, but I watched and listened.  After downloading Adobe Reader, I still could not get the book to download.  After a helpful call to the library’s tech support, I found out I had forgotten to download the OverDrive Media Console to my iPad.  I had downloaded it onto my computer; and the book had downloaded there. After that, the process went smoothly.  It is pretty neat to have a book to read on my iPad for a change of venue.  Although, I still prefer holding a book in my hands and feel the pages as I turn them.  I don’t think I will ever give up reading a real book, but it gives a person alternatives for trips where space is limited on a trip and one can take several books along to read in a nice, slim, neat form. 

One thing that I have noticed is that it is hard to get the book that you want sometimes.  For example, The Hunger Games is available only on OverDrive MP3 Audiobook and there are 128 people on the waiting list for one copy.  It takes some patience to find a book that is available.  We should look at this as a good thing though. It means people are reading! Although, more copies of some books seem warranted.  I like the extra features easily available for some of the books.  Besides just a summary of the book, there is an excerpt from the book; information about the author and some books even had reviews from reliable sources such as School Library Journal and Booklist.  If you know the exact title of a book, it is easier to find rather then just scrolling through the lists to find one. 

I see audiobooks and e-books as a useful tool for students with disabilities. The iPad 3 has close captioned reading capabilities built right into the computer.  It allows the student the enjoyment and freedom of reading by listening to the book that otherwise might not be as accessible to them.  I agree with the article provided by Colet Bartow on the “State of the e-book state in LJ”.  Budgets are being cut all the time in the public schools. With the high cost of devices and the uncertainty of how to distribute the devices, I think it would be advantageous to go through this process in stages.  First, provide the opportunity to borrow e-books through the school library with a school library card.  Have students learn the process through the school, yet have them provide their own device, which would cost the schools a lot less.  Perhaps, it would be wise to purchase mainly nonfiction books for research and curriculum enhancement.  Purchase of fiction novels would then be selective, because of the cost. Plus, the MontanaLibrary2Go has a wide selection..  There are a lot of different factors to consider with incorporating e-books into a school system.  The interactive books for elementary students would be awesome to have.  They would be very helpful in aiding the nonreader down the pathway of learning how to read. Although, the evidence is contradictory as to how much interactive books aid in learning to read.

Young people today prefer to interact with an electronic device.  Students are more motivated to read with an interactive device.  So, all costs aside, I think that using e-books would be a great route to choose, because this is the future of reading for the students of this next generation. 

Library Solutions

Currently, I do not work in a library.  Therefore, I looked through the various systems listed in Library Journal.  The ILS system I decided to investigate is Library Solutions from The Library Corporation (TLC).   TLC is a well-established company; it has been in existence for thirty-seven years.  TLC provides two ILS products:  Library.Solutions and Carl.X .   Library.Solutions is focused on services for all libraries except the very largest ones.  Carl.X was created to cover the large city libraries and county libraries. 

Library.Solutions for schools is a software tool that makes daily library activities easier.  Essential library functions like cataloging, circulation, magazine and newspaper tracking, and online tools for borrowing are all combined onto one software tool.   It has pre-formatted reports, a directory, and can be used for textbook management, also.  Maintenance is made easy with its great customer service that is available 24-7 with a real person to talk to.  Training is also provided, which is very important when providing a well-run program. Both of these accommodations are important to me as a beginning librarian.  Library.Solutions has two separate programs for online school catalogs: LS2Kids and LS2PAC.   LS2Kids has an interactive display on the home page for the card catalog.  The interactive feature is great for beginning readers.  Different icons represent various categories of interest for young students to click onto. Once inside a category, the student can choose a book.  After they click onto a book it has various icons to investigate. One icon shows if the book is available or not and another icon shows if it is a book or a different resource. Other information is also available with the click of a mouse.  For the students who can read and write, there is a search box provided to type words into. 

LS2PAC is the software for middle and high school libraries.  LS2PAC has a lot of great features like an RSS newsfeed and information feed that reviews current events and library books that pertain to those events.  LS2PAC uses Book River, which produces very attractive library titles for display in the systems’ catalog.  It can even create a map of the library to help students find various items within the library. It even has a lot of fun extras like: organizing student or staff reviews and ratings and providing reading lists. You can customize a display of your search results and rank them by relevancy and make search tags   This system offers a lot of useful tools for a library and it is nice that it all comes in one package and you do not have to buy several different software programs to fill all of these essential library needs.

  LS2Circ is a web-based circulation program for school libraries.   It allows the librarian to send text messages to students with overdue and fine information.  Updates within the system occur automatically because it is linked to the web.   Students can use the self-checkout feature.  If the student has any fines or blocks the system wont allow the transaction. Students are also able to access electronic resources offered through the school library system at home.  LS2Circ even keeps track of the little details, like a student’s homeroom teacher. Because all of the school libraries are interconnected through this system, LS2Circ has the ability to track down multiple copies of a certain book from other school libraries that have been requested and it will automatically send a request to borrow them from the various schools.

Library.Solutions has one more exceptional tool.  LS2 Mobile lets anyone with a smart-phone access the library’s catalog on line and even reserve any type of material (book, CD, DVD, etc.) to be picked up later.  A student or staff member can check their account when it’s convenient for them.  The LS2 Mobile can be used to search any library catalog that uses LS2PAC.   With the growth of smart-phone use, I believe that the LS2 Mobile will be a very popular product.

Library.Solutions offers a direct link to several vendors such as Baker & Taylor, Brodart, BWI, Ingram, Midwest Tape, and Permabound to provide a single source for shopping for your library’s collection. This would save a lot of time and be more convenient. Because it is all Web-based, the selection lists are updated weekly with the top sellers lists and award winning books. All business can be kept paperless with the Web-based orders and payments online.

Library.Solutions seems to have a lot of useful features. It is definitely a system worth considering when choosing an ILS for a K-12 school library.