iPod shuffle: not your average library fixture
Jason sent along this news
about a public library in South Huntington, Long Island loaning out iPod shuffles loaded with books on tape. This
innovative use of new technology brings a smile to our faces.
The news source went on to describe an idea for starting a similar program in high school libraries, to generate interest in those students who aren’t so interested in sitting down with a book and reading the classics - why not listen to the classics instead? I think this is a fantastic idea, considering some people prefer aural learning to the more traditional academic text-based approach. What do you think - would this be a positive addition to the learning environment?
(via WWWAC)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kathleen said 4:17PM on 6-16-2005
Great idea! We support indigenous libraries in AU and books just aren't being borrowed the way everybody had hoped. We want to get audio books by the dozen in these spaces, knowing how well they will be received and improve access to information and entertainment. There are ideas here we can build on to make this a more viable option.
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Captin said 5:40PM on 7-02-2005
Well I was wondering does The New 20 Gig ipod still continue on the Market. Well you see I went to the Ipod site and to my suprise the One Colour (Blue) 20 Gig and the U2 special edition has been replaced with a colour screen. So im wondering is the production of the blue screen ipod over! Plz can someone reply with a decent answer thanks!....
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Ryan said 1:25PM on 8-24-2005
Yeah - until you have to replace it for $100 when someone steals it - or until someone before you replaced the book with the latest Britney Spears album... I don't think there is any way to lock down the iPod Shuffle - if you connect it to a new computer, you can reformat it and make the new computer it's "daddy"...
Not a bad idea, but not a good one either.
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Steve said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
I agree.
Also, while audio books are nice for commuting or what have you, I think it's a mistake to use them to introduce young "readers" to classic literature. As if the literacy rate in our country weren't already bad enough...
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Nic Ward said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
A library providing i-Pod shuffles? Where did they find the money for that? Think you're having your leg pulled...
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Garry Schafer said 3:35PM on 8-15-2005
Hey - just posted to the wwwac that this story is showing up on gizmodo and engadget without the wwwac thank (Jason was one of the fathers of the wwwac back in the day) -- and here, on our own wwwacie Laurie's hidie-hole, I see a wwwac-thank.
Thanks!
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barb dybwad said 4:41PM on 10-07-2005
Jeez, you all want to be so practical - how boring! ;) I hear what you're saying - I still think it's pretty interesting.
Regarding literacy in this country - I've always been an avid reader and an advocate for literacy, surely. But if schools really want to get more kids' attention, they're going to have to realize and cater to the fact that people have different learning styles, and preferred ways of absorbing information. Instead of forcing everybody to learn the same way, I think it's cool that this program is acknowledging this and providing alternative ways to access information.
It's a catch-22, in some sense - for some kids there is no culture of interest surrounding picking up a 200 year old book because there's no initial perception of how that might be relevant to their lives. The iPod shuffle has the cool factor, though, so kids will respond to that initially - then, after being exposed to some of the ideas in the works, it could potentially make that connection as to why the classics are still relevant. Think of all the new things out there for a young person growing up today to take interest in - we have a harder job of convincing them how this "old stuff" is still relevant. If it can be delivered in some novel way that kids find interesting, and it makes the connection as a result of that - I think that's a positive outcome we could look at, instead of insisting that the only way to get to the classics is via the traditional method. It's just not true anymore, and what's more important is finding a way in to literature for kids that's actually meaningful to them in their own lives.
My $0.02 ended up being more like $0.10 there, I think... ;)
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tom said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
"Posted Feb 23, 2005, 4:01 AM ET by Nic Ward
A library providing i-Pod shuffles? Where did they find the money for that? Think you're having your leg pulled..."
Long Island has a LOT of money.
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fuddes said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Does anyone else see a problem with using the iPod SHUFFLE for this? Audiobook mp3s are separated by chapter. You'd never be able to hear the chapters in order, which would be extremely annoying.
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barb dybwad said 4:41PM on 10-07-2005
You don't *have* to keep the shuffle on random. The on/off switch has a third position that says "just play the freaking playlist in order, already 'cuz my life is random enough as it is."
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ya librarian said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Actually, audiobooks are a proven way to improve the reading skills of all ages of people. Not every adolescent is a visual learner-- the audiobook taps into the kinesthetic and aural strategies to make the words on a page hold meaning. This is an excellent idea, especially for technology-poor patrons and teens.
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Laurie said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
Oh no! Grimm found me! I haven't forsaken the WWWAC... just been, um, really really really busy.
Back on the subject at hand. Thanks to Audible.com, my iPods and about an hour a day in total spent on one train or another, I am able to "read" way more than I have in years. And yes, I even load audio books - in their proper order - onto my Shuffle. The first audio book I listened to on my iPod was Tale of Two Cities, a classic I remembered enjoying when I was in highschool, but wanted to revisit in a different way.
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David said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
The article I saw
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66756,00.html
said that this actually saved the library money. They said books on CD cost the library around $75, while MP3 books cost $15-$25. I must be dim though because I don't see how a $149 iPod plus a $15 MP3 book is cheaper than a $75 book on CD. While it's true that you can delete the MP3 book and use the iPod again for another book, I do not think it is the library's intention to delete the books after some length of time. Any thoughts on what I am missing?
Thanks.
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bob smitten said 4:14PM on 6-16-2005
This is my library and they are pushing the bounds of traditional libraries. The only books on ipod are for adults, not children or even teens. The risk of someone taking an ipod shuffle at 100.00 or 149.00 a piece is the same risk as a reference book not beinging returned. Think about how much your text books for a college class cost. Besides the cost of an audio book on CD is about 75.00 while downloading the MP3 from the publisher is about 15.00 to 25.00. So the units actually save money in a very short time. How do I know all this? I asked the reference librarian who was on-line one night. Yes this library has librarians who have on-line chat sessions to help patrons. Like i said this library is pushing the edge of traditional libraries and services to the community.
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