Print On Demand - The Espresso Book Machine

A long tail solution?
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2009/05/12/f-espresso-book-machine.html

The Library Rebooted

How libraries are changing to stay relevant in the age of Google
http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/09108?gko=ef8aa-1876-27600325

7 Imperatives for Library Leadership
1. Rethink the operating model
2. Understand and respond to user needs
3. Embrace the concept of continuous innovation
4. Forge a digital identity
5. Connect with stakeholders in ways that pure internet companies cannot
6. Expand the metrics
7. Be courageous

A Checklist for Strategic Thinking

A three-part Infopeople series from Joan Frye Williams and George Needham on the questions we should be asking when allocating our budget resources in tough economic times.

1. Will it show?
• In tough times, we need to make sure that our stakeholders can see what we’re doing.
• Prioritize things than can be seen and are valued by stakeholders/the community (rather than backstage, behind-the-scenes things)
• Will the stakeholders see the results and notice?
• Does it match the priorities that the stakeholders value? What do they want and appreciate?
• Does it foster community connections? Will it result in opportunities for the community to converse and interact?
• Is it green?
• Does it strengthen the local economy? Does it make the library part of the economic solution? Does it contribute to economic development?
2. Can it grow? How do you decide what activities have a future? And once you make that determination, how can you be sure that you have the staff and resource time to keep the activities going? Another important question as well: are you ready for success?
• Is it scalable without an increase in staff costs? Can it (the service, the innovation, etc.) grow even if we don’t get more staff? Are you ready for success? Is it designed and planned so that it can absorb popularity/success with our customers?
• Is it targeting a growing clientele (e.g. multilingual customers)?
• Does it respond to the exception or to the routine things that you want to encourage? Policies should be designed for the 99.9%, not for the exception – e.g. cell phone policy. Deal with the exceptions as one-offs, rather than penalizing the whole community with a policy designed around the exception.
• Will it encourage repeat business? Is it more important to get the book back or to get the customer back?
• Does it use staff as facilitators rather than gatekeepers? We need to set up the candystore and then get out of the way – set up policies and tools that let people be successful on their own, and consult staff for the non-routine and difficult transactions.
• From a job satisfaction perspective, it’s more fun to say yes than to say no. Saying no burns staff out and repels customers.
3. Does it flow?
• Does it fit into the flow of what you’re doing?

http://www.infoblog.infopeople.org/2009/04/george-joan-thinking-out-loud-a-checklist-for-strategic-thinking-part-one/
http://www.infoblog.infopeople.org/2009/05/george-joan-thinking-out-loud-a-checklist-for-strategic-thinking-part-two/

Digital Future Project - 2009 Report

Who is online and who is not? What is the impact of the Internet on consumer behavior, communication patterns and society? Each year, the Digital Future studies and reports on more than 100 major issues, focusing on Internet users vs. non-users, as well as light users (five hours or less per week of use) compared to heavy users (more than 24 hours per week of use).
Among the highlights of the 2009 Report:

• The amount of time that Internet users spend online now surpasses an average of 17 hours per week. The study found very large differences between the online hours of heavy users and light users. Light users spent an average of 2.8 hours per week online, compared to heavy users who average 42 hours a week online.
• 81 percent of Internet users said that government Web sites were generally reliable and accurate—about the same as in 2007.
• Faith in news pages posted by established media (such as nytimes.com and cnn.com) has decreased.
• The percentage of Internet users who said that most or all of the information provided by search engines such as Google is reliable and accurate rose slightly in the current study after a decline in 2007.
• Although Internet users express strong negative views about advertising online, they prefer Web ads to support Internet pages rather than personally paying for content.

http://www.digitalcenter.org/pdf/2009_Digital_Future_Project_Release_Highlights.pdf