print down slightly, video up sharply
Video circulation from Massachusetts public libraries doubled from 1998 to 2006. Over the same period, print item circulation fell slightly. Audio and video items together now account for 32% of total item circulation from Massachusetts public libraries.[1] Audiovisual circulation in libraries in other states might account for somewhat less, perhaps a quarter of total circulation.
YouTube, which was launched in November, 2005, now generates about 10% of broadband subscribers' Internet traffic in North America (Ellacoya findings).
Video attracts much more attention than print. Historically, persons have spent on average relatively little leisure time reading. Most of the growth in leisure time from 1925 to the present has been absorbed in watching television. Now persons have on-demand access to large, diverse collections of videos, similar to what they have had for books.
Book digitization and internet publishing makes texts more readily accessible. But changes in access to video will have much larger effects than changes in access to print.
Reference:
[1] Data from Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, Public Library Data, Summary Report 2006, p. 29. This is also the source for the above graph.
Tags: audiovisuals, collections, libraries, Massachusetts, print, video
3 Commentsread the writing in the sky
As part of the 2007 Planet Arlington World Music Festival, Jack Sanders, Robert Gay, and Butch Anthony have installed solar-powered LED's, covered with plastic drink bottles, atop steel rods of varying length in the traffic island between N. Lynn Street and Fort Myer Drive in Rosslyn, Virginia. The work is entitled CO2LED. The Arlington Cultural Affairs Division explains:
CO2LED promotes the use of alternative energy sources as well as recycling and responds to Arlington’s environmental initiative, FreshAIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions). ... The use of energy-efficient, solar-powered LEDs, rather than conventional incandescent bulbs, has the power to significantly reduce the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment. Conventional lighting, fueled by power plants which generate energy through burning fossil fuels, requires far more energy than LEDs, resulting in increased carbon dioxide emissions. Being solar-powered, CO2LED produces long-lasting illumination, free of toxic by-products.
Robert Gay is an enthusiastic support of the Arlington arts scene, while Butch Anthony has already made a great contribution to Arlington with his magnificent bike kiosk.
Bicyclists breathing, regrettably, produce CO2. But the effects of all gaseous output from a local cycling team probably has less effect on global warming than does an equivalent number of cows farting. Economic analysis, by a duly certified economics Ph.D., indicates that, on balance, cycling is good for people and the environment. So get on your bike, ride past CO2LED, and breath some of Arlington's fresh air!
Tags: Arlington, art, emissions, global-warminglibraries have long lent more than books
In 1914, books accounted for 74% of items circulated from the Cincinnati Public Library. Prints accounted for 13% of circulation, lantern slides, 6%, and music rolls, 3%.[1] The Cincinnati Public Library at this time was one of the largest and most lavish public libraries in the U.S. These statistics indicate the scope of services that a leading public library provided.
Data for U.S. public libraries in 1955 show less format concentration in holdings and greater concentration in circulation. Books comprised an estimated 67% of libraries' items and 94% of libraries' circulation. Photos, pictures, and prints, which made up 20% of items, accounted for only 2.2% of circulation. While sound recordings and films accounted for small shares of items and circulation, these formats had relatively rapid turnover in lending (see Table). A film was lent on average 13.3 times per year. A film could be viewed much more quickly (perhaps a half hour for films of this time) than a book could be read, and loan periods for films were probably much shorter than those for books. The ratio of circulation per item suggests considerable interest in viewing films in public libraries' collections.
| Format | Share of items | Share of circ. | Circ./item |
| Books | 67% | 94% | 2.9 |
| Photos, picturs, prints | 20% | 2/2% | 0.2 |
| Uncatalogued pamphlets | 9.2% | 0.74% | 0.2 |
| Sound recordings (titles) | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3.4 |
| Music scores and misc. items |
1.0% | 0.46% | 0.9 |
| Maps | 0.8% | 0.03% | 0.1 |
| Slides, filmstrips | 0.4% | 0.30% | 1.5 |
| Microfilms (titles) | 0.2% | 0.00% | 0.0 |
| Films (titles) | 0.1% | 0.40% | 13.3 |
| Notes and Sources: see [2] below | |||
Notes:
[1] Data from Papers and Proceedings of the Berkeley Conference of the American Library Association, uly 1915, published in the ALA Bulletin, v. 9. The number of (book) volumes at the end of 1914 was 463,521. The source does not give item counts for the other formats. Total circulation for all formats was 2,164,310. A large number of piano rolls are available digitally here and here.
[2] Data from U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States 1954-56, Chapter 5, Statistic of Public Libraries: 1955-56, Tables 9-13. The number of library systems reporting non-book items was only 26% of the number of systems reporting book volumes. I've scaled all reported figures by number of systems reporting. If systems reporting non-book items had larger than average non-book holdings, the non-book figures are over-estimates. Because nearly the same number of systems reported items and circulation, scaling matters little to the circ./item figures. For further analysis, see the underlying data for this table.
Tags: audiovisuals, circulation, holdings, librariesMotorola will produce show-and-tell device next summer
According to Communications Daily (June 21), Motorola CEO Ed Zander stated in his keynote address at NXTcomm that Motorola next summer will have a mobile device that allows persons to talk and share photos at the same time. Much evidence suggests that such capability has significant value in communication.
While delivering video to mobiles is attracting more industry attention, I think that the possible upside for show-and-tell devices is bigger than for mobile video. Design and marketing will be significant challenges. On the other hand, in-stream photo sharing is closely related to highly successful mobile voice and SMS charging models. In-stream photo-sharing can easily draw upon well-established user understandings of payment for communications services. That's not the case for watching video on mobiles.
Tags: communication, mobile, Motorola, show-and-tell, video
father's day
Your son is charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, and first-degree kidnapping. Leading national newspapers report these charges on their front pages, along sensational accounts of the allegations, false statements, grossly slanted reporting, and your son's photograph.
You know that there is no credible evidence to support the charges. Anyone who seriously examined the evidence could recognize that the charges have no credible support. More than a year later, after a 90-day review of the evidence, the Attorney General will declare: "there was no credible evidence to support the allegation that the crimes occurred."
But right now, hate-filled persons are assembling around a large banner screaming "castrate." "Wanted" criminal posters are going up on the campus of your son's university. Professors at your son's university are condemning him and his friends. The university suspends your son because of the charges.
You see the District Attorney engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The District Attorney fails to disclose exculpatory evidence. The District Attorney makes false statements to the court, to defense attorneys, and to the State Bar. The District Attorney makes extrajudicial media statements that materially prejudice the proceeding and heighten public condemnation of your son.
Does anyone care? They say, "Let the criminal justice system run its course." The course of the criminal justice system is unjustly causing your son enormous damage. It's a travesty of justice, a fiasco. Meanwhile, crime profs spotlight each other on a blog (that's said to build traffic). Ferocious blog-critics of traditional media prefer not to consider the performance of the traditional media in this case. Perhaps they're afraid, and they have common sense for career advancement. Far too few persons in positions of power and influence act to help stop this injustice.
Your son is steadfast in the truth in his suffering. He is witness to the best of what human beings can be. He is, finally, exonerated. You might have easily missed news of this development.
[if you don't see the video, look here]
Thank you, with a thank you as wide as the sky, for fathers who raise sons like David Evans.
Tags: David Evans, Duke, fathers, fiasco, justice, lacrosse, suffering
library users like audiovisuals
Sarah Ann Long, a former president of the American Library Association and currently director of NSLS, a library consortium in the northern suburban region of Illinois, recently noted public library users' interest in audiovisual materials:
In 2001, the NSLS conducted an informal survey of member public libraries and found that in a few libraries, loans of AV materials were about 40 percent of all loans. The same survey was just repeated and the numbers have grown. Many libraries now report that AV borrowing is in the 40 percent range. The Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin said that almost 57 percent of their loans were for AV materials and the Glencoe Public Library reported that AV accounted for 63 percent of all items borrowed.
Some libraries are adopting innovative collection management approaches to audiovisuals, such as having the library subscribe to Netflix.
National censuses of U.S. public libraries provide more comprehensive information on audiovisual materials in U.S. public libraries. Audiovisual materials as a percent of the number of book volumes in libraries’ collections have increased from about 3.5% in 1987 to 9.5% in 2004. The share of videos grew much faster than that of audios, with videos rising from 0.6% of book volumes in 1987 to 4.6% in 2004. Estimates based on cross-section variations in libraries' collections indicate that videos account for about 20% of libraries circulation in 2004, and audio and visual materials together (audiovisuals), about 35%. Thus the reported figures from northern Illinois appear to be representative of the situation in the U.S. as a whole. The popularity of audio and video materials compared to books is consistent with a variety of other evidence from the communications industry.
Public libraries' provision of audiovisual materials has received relatively little scholarly attention. The Library Media Project, which sought to foster the development of public libraries' video collections, recently expired. Nonetheless, public libraries have provided and are likely to continue to provide many services besides lending books.
Update: Some state library websites (search them here) provide data on audiovisuals circulation. The data I've found are in the table below. These data suggest that audiovisual circulation for libraries across the U.S. might be closer to 25% of total circulation in 2006.
| State | Year | Video Collection Share |
Video Circulation Share |
Audiovisual Collection Share |
Audiovisual Circulation Share |
| Kentucky | 2006 | 4.6% | 18.4% | 8.7% | 28.3% |
| Massachusetts | 2006 | 3.8% | 23.1% | 7.2% | 32.4% |
| Rhode Island | 2006 | 4.1% | n/a | 7.1% | 29.6% |
| Maryland | 2005 | 4.3% | 14.8% | 10.1% | 25.6% |
| New Jersey | 2005 | 3.7% | n/a | 7.4% | 26% |
| North Carolina | 2005 | 3.0% | 11.4% | 6.5% | 17.3% |
| South Carolina | 2005 | 3.8% | 20.8% | 7.6% | 20.8% |
| Source: public library statistics on state websites. | |||||
saturated in literary discourse
In English literature, the direct speech of imaginary characters is typically marked with quotation marks. An imaginary character says, "Do not throw trash in the tray." Perhaps your mother?
Literary style seems to have become a deeper part of consciousness than verbal grammar. An ATM deposit envelope provides the setting. Written on it is a bare noun phrase, although it could be an imperative statement if the ATM had needs: DEPOSIT ENVELOPE FOR ATM. Then a stern, laconic voice says, "NO COINS".
The whole world is not naturally made of narrative. Historical contingencies of intellectual life and technology have constructed it that way.
Tags: constructivism, narrative, narratology, real world, reality, signs