Legal Research

Our eReader Poll

By admin

A few weeks ago I asked my blog readers to participate in a poll about eReaders in libraries. It was an unscientific survey of self-selected readers but it was still very interesting. I promised to share the results and here they are:

Open ended comments on Q1:

? I have my own kindle
? Planning to buy e-readers and test them with teachers and students
? I use my own.
? We will have e-readers for clients to borrow as soon as the staff finish playing with them

Here are some of the others listed in the comments:

iPad, Kindle 1, Sony base model, Sony Reader, Computers, Smart Phones with Apps, Computer Screens, (Does it have to be sold as an E-Reader?), Sony Reader Prs505, Amazon Kindle International, Sony Pocket Edition, Sony Reader. Our Nook is on order. We also had an iTouch, Apple iTouch, Sony Touch, iPod Touch, Sony Reader (2nd Gen And 1st Gen); Kindle (not sure If DX)

Open-ended comments on Q4:

? Other competing priorities (still catching up on older tech…not ready for the “newest” stuff yet, sadly)
? We learned this with the kindles. They have their own. And now the iPad is coming!
? We’re relying on what staff have as an indicator of what the customers will want. We don’t intend to loan e-readers.
? Library admin says this is an “IT” function; “IT” doesn’t know they exist!!
? We’re part of a very big system that’s a bit slow on innovation

I was surprised and happy at how many countries responded to the survey. Although it was mostly the U.S. and Canada there were responses from the United Kingdom, Australia, Finland, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, and Slovakia too. Thank you. This is clearly interesting to library folk everywhere.

It’s great to see a culture of experiementation in many libraries. You don’t always need a committee or a staff assignment. Sometimes you and your team can just play and learn a lot. That’s one way to be future-ready.

Keep an eye out for more polls on this blog. The latest one is here.

Thanks to all those who participated!

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on April 29, 2010 (boomark / email).