Posts Tagged ‘eBook’
This month I have been reading about literature in the digital environment and it has got me rather motivated about some possibilities I have not explored before. I had some very excited “ah-ha” moments of a new direction our library can take in searching for and curating digital resources for our staff and students. Whilst our school campus is closed due to COVID-19 my team have been using it as an opportunity to promote many of the digital resources that we subscribe to including fiction (BorrowBox, Tumblebooks and EPIC!) and non-fiction (Pebble Go, Britannica and Press Reader, as well as a number of databases for the Senior school students). This has gone really well with statistics for all of our digital resources increasing. I wrote more about my findings with digital books in this post and the argument about print v’s digital rages on. We had Wheelers eBooks for two years and changed to BorrowBox one year ago because we wanted to have excellent audiobooks as well. The audiobooks have been popular and are a great resource for reluctant readers and students with additional learning needs. We need to do a lot of advocacy to ensure they are used but this results in increased use. However, it is the digital resources that go beyond just an eBook or audiobook which are my new discoveries and will research more in the months to come.
O’Connell, Bales & Mitchell (2015) describe enhanced eBooks which include;
- Interactive storybooks which have a linear story structure and have features such as oral reading, videos and possibly games and related activities.
- Hypertext and interactive eBooks which can be fiction or nonfiction and may include images, maps, audio and video elements and links to related websites. This eliterature collection includes some examples.
- Transmedia books which are non linear stories that encourage active participation through connected resources. One incredible book which uses augmented reality is Between Two Worlds.
Yokota &Teal (2014) discuss this recent trend of digital stories having the capability to be interactive story telling experiences that are film-like creations. All of these resources can use sound, images and animation to enhance a story and these elements bring an added atmospheric element than a traditional book format. I feel like I have just discovered the tip of the iceberg and know that weeding through to find the quality resources will take time. In my library our OPAC is Destiny and Destiny Discover has the capability to create collections of suggested resource lists. My goal now is to add some quality examples into our collections and then promote them to our patrons.
As well as the two examples I have linked above I will round up with a few good examples of resources that I have found and will add more as I discover them. Many of these resources are for older students.
References
Adam Savage’s Tested. (2016, October 26). Between worlds: Augmented reality in storytelling [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/YO1E7DBuqtc
O’Connell, J., Bales, J., & Mitchell, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. The Australian Library Journal, 64(3), 194-208. doi: 10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043
SBS Online. (2015, April 29). The Boat [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.sbs.com.au/theboat/
Yokota, J, & Teal, W.H. (2014). Picture books and the digital world; educators making informed choices (67). Retrieved from The Inside Track website: https://ila-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/full/10.1002/trtr.1262
All over the world people are being affected and challenged by the measures put in place by COVID-19 and this has been an interesting time for me as a parent, teacher and teacher librarian. Many students are learning from home and some parents are struggling with the balance of working from home and managing this whilst trying to manage the wellbeing of everyone in their family. The stakes are different depending on the age of the children and I truly believe that for primary aged children it will not matter if they do not complete any of the tasks set by the school if that causes stress for the family. However, of course, I am going to say that it does matter if they are not reading regularly! To me, this is a time that educators seize the opportunity of promoting reading for pleasure in different ways. This also comes with implications. For some without digital access, this is more challenging and for those with digital access there is a plethora of choices and it is hard to choose where to go. There are also the copyright implications of sharing other people’s work without permission and this seems to be an area that many people are unaware of.
I could talk for hours about the importance of regular reading and finding texts that children enjoy so that it is reading for pleasure, not just purpose. If you want to know more about that, have a look on my blog here at Why Reading is Important. Instead, I will share a selection of resources that could be useful for students reading at home. There are some very good online resources which give access to audio and eBooks. Many are offering free access whilst so many schools around the world are closed. My colleague Fiona Shea helped me to compose a list that we shared at work and we found Common Sense Media and Kate Messner’s information very useful if you want to look for even more great resources. I think the greatest challenge for many parents and educators at the moment is that there is so much available online that it is challenging to choose what resources to use! One role of a teacher librarian is to curate resources and help eliminate this problem of information overload so here is some of what I have curated.
My top 5 for free audiobooks and eBooks
| EPIC!
https://www.getepic.com/ |
EPIC! Is always free for teachers to create an educator account. They are offering a 90 day free trial for parents. Sign up at https://getepic.com/promo. Choose families and you will be asked for the promo code (3monthsfree) during the signup process. |
| Amazon Audible
https://stories.audible.com |
For as long as schools are closed, Audible are letting children everywhere instantly stream an incredible collection of stories with titles in six different languages. |
| World Stories
https://worldstories.org.uk/ |
World Stories is a free online interactive resource which hosts a library of over 150children’s stories. All of the stories feature in English as well as over 30 additional languages. |
| International Children’s Digital Library
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ |
This library promotes tolerance and respect for diverse cultures by providing access to the best of children’s literature from around the world. |
| Gutenberg project
http://www.gutenberg.org |
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. |
As well as finding eBooks and audiobooks there are so many authors who are streaming virtual storytimes. It was hard to narrow it down but here are a few of my favourites for primary school students:
My top virtual storytimes
Information for educators about recording stories and the copyright implications
There are copyright implications of sharing other people/s work without permission and this seems to be an area that many people are unaware of. It is an important connection for children to listen to their own teachers reading at this time and many educators are making recordings or virtually streaming storytime. In normal times, this would be breaching copyright law, although some argue that there is the element of fair use involved. Here is a link to all of the publishers who are giving permission rights for teachers to record themselves reading their stories. In most instances, the publishers ask the teacher to credit the publisher, author and illustrator and email them to inform them. In addition, it should be shared within a schools intranet and it should be taken down by the 30th June 2020 (when hopefully most schools around the world will be open again).
Some authors have given educators direct permission to record themselves reading their stories at this time without contacting the publisher. It is still good practice to acknowledge them and their publishers, as this is demonstrating respect for intellectual property and acknowledging their generosity. They are in essence potentially sacrificing income to do this. Here is a list my colleague, Fiona Shea, and I made of books in our primary libraries.
| YOUNGER READERS (including some lovely picture books for older readers) |
| Author |
Books in our Libraries |
| Mo Willems |
Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus, Elephant and Piggie series |
| Todd Parr |
Be who you are/ The Peace book/ The feel good book, It’s okay to make mistakes/ The goodbye book |
| Peter Reynolds |
The Dot, Going Places, I am Peace, I am Yoga, I am Human |
| Peter Brown |
Mr Tiger goes Wild, My teacher is a monster (no, I am not) |
| Karma Wilson |
Bear Snores On |
| David Litchfield |
The Bear and the Piano |
| Neil Gaiman |
All of his books including Chu’s Day, Cinnamon, Crazy Hair Day |
| James Mayhew |
All of Katie series, Boy, Bubble and Squeak and all other titles |
| Teresa Heapy |
Very Little Red Riding Hood |
| OLDER READERS |
| J.K. Rowling |
All of her books |
| Neil Gaiman |
All of his books including Coraline and The Graveyard Book, Fortunately the Milk |
| Peter Brown |
The Wild Robot series |
| Kwame Alexander |
Booked, The Crossover, Rebound, Solo |
| Saviour Pirotta |
Classics Collection including Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, Robin Hood |
Kay Oddone, who is the Head of Libraries at The Australian Internation School (AIS) in Singapore created this useful infographic for her staff. She shared it with our teacher librarian network and I will finish this post by sharing it with her permission here.
References
Messner, K. (n.d.). Read, wonder, and learn! Favorite authors & illustrators share resources for learning anywhere – spring 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.katemessner.com/read-wonder-and-learn-favorite-authors-illustrators-share-resources-for-learning-anywhere-spring-2020/?fbclid=IwAR3H2lgvfdp1wyTwG-exbXthrpt_XmubD_XerM38OgAetYMFqkx8-V1Am4Y
Oddone, K. (2020, March). Copyright principles [Infographic].
Ucciferri, F. (2020, March 27). Free online events and activities for kids at home. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/free-online-events-activities-kids-at-home-coronavirus?j=7711684&sfmc_sub=171944700&l=2048712_HTML&u=143747070&mid=6409703&jb=1986&utm_source=covid19_freeactivities_20200323&utm_medium=email
Four years into my masters and I am finally completing a subject about children’s literature and I am delighted. The start of ETL402- Literature Across the Curriculum has involved reading about the changes in both parenting and the experience of childhood and how children’s literature has evolved over time. We have been asked to reflect on our vision for the future of children’s literature and who will be the drivers of change. I have had a lot of thoughts regarding this and my biggest hope is that the lack of diversity in children’s books is addressed. I also hope that digital technology can continue to enhance the reading experience, without taking over from print and if the last decade is any indication, I believe that is where we are headed.
Short (2018) and Harvey (2015) talk about how there is still strong growth in the print book market, whereas other readerships have stagnated. I also reflected on this in a previous post, Digital and Print books for children where I had discussed how there used to be fear that the demand for print books for children would decrease as digital took over. The children’s book market is one area where this has not occurred and many enjoy the benefits of using both digital and print. In fact, in a recent survey I conducted in my school students indicated a preference for print but an openness to use both. There are many studies to back up this reading preference. We recently changed to a different eBook library at school, because we wanted a company that also offered audiobooks. We are now using BorrowBox and have discovered so far that students have a preference for audiobooks to eBooks.
Wolf (2014) argues that technology can enhance the world of story and gave examples of beloved books where this has been done. These included Lane Smith’s It’s a Book, Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. She discussed how when movement, sound and interactivity enter the scene an enhanced experience can occur. There is no disputing this. In fact, in this subject module, we have been shared these incredible interactive stories, which I will be sharing with staff. My belief is that the concern should not be what content is being used by our children, but whether they have opportunities to discuss and evaluate after consuming the print or digital resource. Are their teachers, parents and friends engaging with them in meaningful literary discussions?
Short (2018) in her study into children’s literature trends expressed concern regarding trends in cultural diversity and also put the responsibility onto teachers to ensure they are “selective in the books shared in classrooms to avoid establishing and reinforcing stereotypes” (p.295). Short was very much looking through the lens of American publishing but from my experience, it is the same globally. My experience is mostly with British and Australian books and the concerns are similar. There are not enough books where the main character is not middle class and white, there are more male characters than females and there are more male authors published than females. The Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls phenomenon started a brilliant movement with creating awareness and promotion of inspiring women in books. I often share this video, The Ugly Truth in Children’s Books with parents, staff and students and it starts some fascinating conversations. In my school, this has led to us changing some of the texts that were studied in English. We reflected on how the majority of them had a male character which related to the mistaken belief that boys will not want to read about female characters, yet girls would be less discerning with regards to the gender of the protagonist. When changing some of our texts though it did prove more challenging to find some middle-grade books with strong female characters that appealed to the masses. We were also looking for cultural diversity and we were trying not to choose realistic fiction because we were already using some excellent examples of that genre. For our new Year 6 text the strong contenders were Rooftoopers by Katherine Rundell, Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi, Thief by Mallory Blackman and The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.
The topic of cultural diversity in all literature, but particularly children’s literature is one that teacher librarians aim to address when developing their library collections. Living in Singapore, which is a melting pot of cultures, allows me to be exposed to a plethora of children’s literature from around the world. One experience that really helps with that is being in the Red Dot Book Award committee, where we longlist and shortlist a selection of books in different age categories. One major criterion is for us to look for Diversity. Diversity in the countries where the books have been published, a range of countries represented in the story and the genders of the protaginists and of the authors is also part of the selection criteria. More on that in a post to follow. Another committee that I am involved in is the organising committee for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. Our theme for the 2019 festival was Diversity and particularly exploring books published and set in Asia as a focus. I reflected on this with a Singaporean colleague recently when she connected so deeply with the main character in Kelly Yang’s Front Desk. She mentioned that she had hardly ever read a book as a child with an Asian character. As Short states “the continued lack of diversity in children’s literature is devastating for children as readers, many of whom rarely see their lives and cultural identities within a book” (p.293). Fortunately, I have seen first hand that Asian publishers are growing stronger in the marketplace and my hope is that the future sees more of theses titles included in mainstream publications.
So although, I can not do any crystal ball gazing my hope for the future of children’s publishing are backed on some research and experience. The drivers to this change needs to be the consumers, including educators so that publishers react to this demand of needing more diverse stories. My hope is that every reader can see mirrors as well as doors in their reading experience.
References
Chibana, N. (2015). 10 mind-blowing interactive stories that will change the way you see the world [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://visme.co/blog/ 10-mind-blowing-interactive-stories-that-will-change-the-way-you-see-the-world/
Favilli, E., & Cavallo, F. (2017). Good night stories for rebel girls: 100 tales of extraordinary women. London, U.K.: Particular Books.
Harvey, E. (2015, December 8). Five trends affecting children’s literature. In Book Business.
Potter, B. (2006). The world of Peter Rabbit: Box one. London, UK: Frederick Warne.
Rebel Girls. (2017, March 7). Goodnight stories for rebel girls [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Jbd4-fPOE
Short, K. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.
Selznick, B. (2008). The invention of Hugo Cabret. London, UK: Scholastic.
Smith, L. (2011). It’s a book. New York, N.Y.: Roaring Brook Press.
Wolf, S. (2014). Children’s literature on the digital move. Reading Teacher, 67(6), 413-417. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1002/trtr.1235
In my blog post, ‘Developing a library collection’, I reflected on how ELT503, Resourcing the Curriculum, has come at just the right point in my journey as a TL. The library budget has been allocated for next year and our curriculum is changing to reflect the new National Curriculum. I have started selecting and evaluating resources to be included in the library collection to incorporate this change. Johnson states that “collection is both an art and a science. It results from a combination of knowledge, experience and intuition” (2009, p.108). There is a danger that TLs can rely solely on intuition or opinion. Having a CDP in place that is regularly used and reviewed will ensure that selection aids and selection criteria are used to ensure that the collection is developed to meet the needs of the school and the curriculum (Hughes-Hassell and Mancall, 2005; NSW Department of Education, 2015).
Currently there is one Dulwich College Library Policy which includes aspects of a Collection Development Policy (CDP) and a Collection Management Policy (CMP), as well as library procedures. With my new armour of knowledge, I am now in a position to create a new CDP and CMP with the other members of our library team. Most collection decisions have been the result of my predecessor and having a thorough knowledge of the existing collection is an ongoing process for me. I was, and still am, delighted to be working in such a well resourced library and at the beginning of the year I was very happy to announce that we had over 9000 books in the collection. In my blog post, ‘Getting my weeding gloves dirty,’ I mention that Baumbach & Miller discuss that quality is more important than quantity and argue that “misleading, inaccurate, out-of-date information is never better than no information” (2006, p.6.). This statement has had a big impact on me and has helped guide how I will move forward with deselection and the acquisition of new resources, including digital resources. This year, I have also worked in collaboration with teachers and students to select new resources. Hughes-Hassel & Mancall (2005) discuss the importance of the community being the driving force behind resource selection. Although I agree that the TL should have the final decision on resources selected, it must be a collaborative process.
This subject has also been crucial in helping me to understand the importance of the library remaining current with constant advances in technology. The Oxford Dictionary (2017) defines ‘future-proofing’ as making something unlikely to become obsolete. Decisions need to be constantly made to ensure that this does not happen with the library space or collection.
Advances in technology play a large part in how a CDP and library practice will need to be regularly updated to keep up with current technologies. An Ebook library has been added to our collection this year and in my blog post, ‘Digital and print books for children’, I reflected on the mixed reactions to this and how in my school library many students prefer a print book rather than the electronic version. Rosenwald (2015) and O’Connell, Bales & Mitchell (2015) discuss how digital resources have not ‘taken over’ print resources as had been predicted. To ensure that money is well-spent on digital tools for our primary school library, the library must be promoting Ebooks and many other digital subscriptions, including online encyclopedias, newspapers and search and referencing tools. Once promoted, they are well used, but if not the user statistics have remained low. They must also be carefully selected and evaluated following guidelines in a CDP. Even as early as 2005, Wade discussed how there needs to be two distinct databases in the library: the traditional library catalogue; and a second catalog which consists of carefully selected websites that meets curriculum needs. At present, that does not exist in my library, but I have added it into the action plan for the next academic year. By carefully evaluating the collection, I have identified that the non-fiction collection is underused and will need to be regularly and carefully weeded. Rather than the money spent on new print books, time will need to be spent on creating libguides with carefully selected websites and resources.
As the year draws to a close I am using McKenzie’s (2009) guidelines to create an annual report. I am effectively evaluating our collection and creating a CDP that will ensure that the DCSG library is future proof to ensure we are serving the school community in a relevant and inspiring way.
References
future-proof. (2017). English Oxford Living Dictionary. Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/future-proof
Hughes-Hassell, S. & Mancall, J. (2005). Collection management for youth: responding to the needs of learners. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au
Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of collection development and management. Chicago: ALA Editions.
McKenzie, D. (2009). Importance of creating an annual report. [blog]. Library Grits. Retrieved Nov. 2016.
Mounsey, S. (2017). Getting my weeding gloves dirty. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/paws/2017/05/19/weeding-a-library-collection/
Mounsey, S. (2017). Developing a library collection. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/paws/2017/05/01/developing-a-library-collection/
Mounsey, S. (2017). Digital and print books for children. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/paws/2017/04/30/digital-and-print-books-for-children/
O’Connell, J., Bales, J., & Mitchell, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. The Australian Library Journal, 64(3), 194-208. doi:10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043
Pickett, C., Stephens, J., Kimball, R., Ramirez, D., Thornton, J., & Burford, N. (2011). Revisiting an Abandoned Practice: The Death and Resurrection of Collection Development Policies. Collection Management, 36(3), 165-181. doi:10.1080/01462679.2011.580426
Rosenwald, M.C. (2015, February 22). Why digital natives prefer reading in print: Yes, you read that right. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/why-digital-natives-prefer-reading-in-print-yes-you-read-that-right/2015/02/22/8596ca86-b871-11e4-9423-f3d0a1ec335c_story.html
Snow, R. (1996). Wasted words: The written collection development policy and the academic library. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 22(3), 191. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=9606153744&site=ehost-live
Wade, C. (2005). The school library: phoenix or dodo bird? Educational Horizons, 8(5), 12- 14.
My school library has only just started offering eBooks and it has been interesting to see the mixed reactions to this. We have subscribed to Wheelers eplatform as part of a consortium which was a much more affordable option than using OverDrive, which we had initially thought we would try. Initially, our eBook library was met with a lot of interest and excitement initially by the student, staff and parent community. There has also been some resistance from parents who had concerns that their children used devices too frequently and would rather they read from print than from a device. Rosenwald (2015) discusses how many students have commented they would rather have the print book than the e version and interestingly we have had a lot of similar feedback. Numerous students have also said to me that they don’t want to read an eBook, they would rather wait for the print version to be available, even if it meant being in a wait list for many weeks. It is too early to draw conclusions in our school setting but I will be regularly reviewing the usage statistics and undertake some research before any conclusions are drawn. One massive benefit is immediate access to a book that is required by a student or staff member. Also, the fact that we can offer books to be available every day of the week, even through school holidays. I do however feel that for the library collection to remain relevant the non-fiction collection must be regularly weeded and ebooks and databases must play a very large part in providing students with a place to go for researching.
This decision has made me reflect on the changing digital landscape and my exposure and reaction to Ebooks. I do not have an e reading device but have read a few ebooks on my phone or Ipad. I love a printed book, the smell, the feel and the whole experience of holding a book in my hand. I don’t rule out the fact that I may buy an e reader at some point but for now, the pile of books beside my bed, and the ones I still want to read in my school library is too large to warrant it. I have also been following, with a great deal of interest, the statistics and predictions on how children’s books sales have been affected by the introduction of Ebooks. As someone who has published children’s picture books, I have attended a number of conferences over the past ten years where this has been a hot topic of conversation. Shatzkin (2015, 2016) shares his views about how the digital landscape has changed the book publishing world and how ‘The Four Horsemen’- Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple influence and direct consumers in their book-buying choices. Like many literature buffs, I have always liked to support small independent bookstores and live in the hope that some of them will continue to thrive even though book sales are dominated by online booksellers. I do use and appreciate the convenience of The Book Depository, which was in fact bought by Amazon in 2011. This dominance of ‘The Four Horsemen’ has numerous implications for school libraries when developing their collections because all of the “discovery” of new titles is mostly done online, driven “search engine optimization, social media promotion and word-of-mouth, and online retailer merchandising” (Shatzkin, 2016).
Ten years ago there was so much concern that print books would disappear entirely but in the children’s market, they have demonstrated that they are here to stay. For a print lover, I am delighted to see that but as a TL I am also grateful for the convenience that eBooks bring when resourcing the school curriculum.
References:
Rosenwald, M.C. (2015). Why digital natives prefer reading in print: Yes, you read that right. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/why-digital-natives-prefer-reading-in-print-yes-you-read-that-right/2015/02/22/8596ca86-b871-11e4-9423-f3d0a1ec335c_story.html
Shatzkin, M. (2016). Book publishing lives in an environment shaped by larger forces and always has. The Shatzkin Files. [blog]. The Idea Logical Company. Retrieved from http://www.idealog.com/blog/book-publishing-lives-in-an-environment-shaped-by-larger-forces-and-always-has/
Shatzkin, M. (2015). Big focus at DBW 2016 is the tech companies that are shaping the world the book business has to live in.The Shatzkin Files. [blog]. The Idea Logical Company. Retrieved from http://www.idealog.com/blog/2015/11/