Aaron Cohen Associates » library technology

Creating a Culture House – Library Design the Teton County Way

acohen — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:29:59 +0000

In Libraries Open Doors, Data to Digital Art Displays, learned about LED light installations that use library data to create a cultural aesthetic. Back in 2007-2008, ACA worked with the Teton County Library to developed a plan to enhance the “library as place.” After an exhaustive building development project, the library added additional square footage and created a destination that is called the Filament Mind.

Filament Mind is a human information-driven installation by E/B Office which is designed to visualize the collective curiosities and questions of Wyoming’s Teton County Library visitors through a dynamic and interactive spatial sculpture.

The project was inspired by the concept that our civic spaces should be intelligent and responsive, communicating as much to us as we do to each other, enabling a form of intra-environmental social interaction between our thoughts and the material of our built environments. More images and architects’ description after the break.

This project is an example of the innovative use of space that can be employed in a public library project. Deb Adams, Dail Barbour and the entire Teton County Library Board showed great creativity in the development of the design for the library. The Library should be commended for making the “library a place” a priority for the community. The result shows why Teton County is one of the nicest places to live in the USA.

Fair Use for Libraries – Its time for libraries to start digitizing.

acohen — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:09:40 +0000

The definition of Fair Use recently expanded – implying a new era for libraries. The federal judge oversseeing a major copyright-infringement lawsuit brought last year by the Authors Guild against the HathiTrust digital repository and its university partners judged that transformative uses are a logical part of the fair use clause.

What counts as fair use was a limiting factor to many academic libraries. Their ability to digitize educational works seemed like a dead end in the current climate. The ruling enables libraries to continue to transform content from print to digital. The ruling will allow Academic libraries’ to index and digitize their works for educational purposes.

Judge Harold Baer, of the U.S. District Court in New York, wrote in a ruling issued late Wednesday, October 10, 2012 – “I cannot imagine a definition of fair use that would not encompass the transformative uses.”

Learning Commons – Touch and Gesture Sensing for the Real World

acohen — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 13:13:03 +0000

The learning commons will be an interactive space with technology that allows for instant interactions with knowledge resources. The big challenge today is to make the environment more flexible and adaptable. Touché, a new sensing technology developed by Disney Research, proposes a novel Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing technique. It can detect a touch or personal interaction and simultaneously recognize complex configurations from the hand and the body.

The new technology will significantly enhance computer interactions, allowing for a broad range of applications in the classroom, library and the learning commons. For example, the product will enable learning environments (classrooms, museums, libraries) to enhance conventional touchscreens and lower the cost of hardware installations. It will create scenarios for library patrons to be able to browse e-books just like they were browsing a book stack. We can envision techniques to cross the digital boundary without hard-wired displays.

The technology will enable learning environments to add complex touch and gesture sensitivity to computing devices and everyday objects. It will enable the designers of learning environments to create virtual objects with touch sensitivity making it easy and straightforward to interact with technology.

The product illustrates that a single wire is sufficient to make objects and environments touch and gesture sensitive. Indeed, the next generation of learning spaces will be fluid and interactive. In the next couple of years, this technology will change the way we interact in the learning environment. It will enable virtual browsing to become a reality.

Librarians are Digital Curation Specialists

acohen — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:49:10 +0000

Content is everywhere – librarians need to reach out and expand their knowledge of digital curaton techniques. The development of digital resources is an essential role for librarians. However, the wheels of technology can move fast, leaving you behind the curve. To catch up fast, Librarians need to be knowledgeable of how digital repositories can be developed. They need to learn how discovery services can be developed to improve the utilization of the library as a shared resource.

The digital curation is a strategy that library staff should embrace to be relevant to researchers. The following links help define methodologies that can support digital collection development efforts. They can be used to support the development of a digital library or repository.

Elements of a data management plan

An Extended Digital Curation Lifecycle Model

DCC Curation Lifecycle Model

Open Archival Information System —Reference Model

The OAIS Introductory Guide

Research Data Lifecycle example

Data Management Lifecycle Models

The Library’s Value – Print and Digital Books Endure.

acohen — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:34:18 +0000

The Pew Internet Project Digital Differences Report provides critical research on the role of the Internet in American life. Since 2000, it has shown that there are a big differences between those who were using the internet and those who were not. It is not trivial for some demographic groups, especially when it comes to access to high-speed broadband at home, struggle to access the net.

We believe Libraries can make a difference by increasing access to the internet, cloud resources, electronic databases and digital repositories. The main findings by Pew are as follows:

In the LA Times article, “even e-reader owners still like printed books,” the pleasure of reading endures in the digital age. According to a USC Dornsife/L.A. Times poll, 6 in 10 people say they like to read ‘a lot. It also shows that young adults read about as much as many of their elders.

Although many Californians who own Kindles, Nooks and other e-readers love their gadgets, they still prefer books the old-fashioned way — on paper. Even with sales of e-readers surging, only 10% of respondents who have one said they had abandoned traditional books. More than half said most or all of the books they read are in printed form.

It turns out that e-books create more readers not less.

The pleasure of reading endures in the digital age, even with its nearly boundless options for entertainment, according to data collected from 1,500 registered state voters.

object of meaning - the book

Library Planning, E-Book Reader, Sales Predicted to Increase

acohen — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:32:05 +0000

From a library planning and development perspective, the statistics in this article will be of great significance to the development of library buildings in five years. The library built in today’s world will have to adapt to the e-reader. However, other formats will exist. It is the library collection that will be unique to the knowledge hunters of tomorrow. It is the contents of the physical + virtual library that will be a gathering place for learning and education. It is the librarians that are curators of the collection regardless of the format.

The Economics of Ebooks

acohen — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:50:30 +0000

Readers are taking advantage of the rapid expansion of digital technology and starting to use digital books or e-books. The attached diagram illustrates the projected growth of digital books. Indeed, the library’s ability to provide new digital reader services is a key to the future institution. As you can see in the image below, publishers and content providers are moving toward more digital book releases.

Property: Albert N. Greco, Institute for Publishing Research

Some companies have started to leverage e-books in new ways. For example, Overdrive is looking to provide new ways to distribute digital / e-book service. Harper Collins is putting a restriction on using digital resources. This will be a trend to control library use, but also illustrates how libraries will be a valued venue to promote and market new titles to the community. This momentum will undoubtedly ensure that libraries are part of the marketing mix.

Below illustrates how the economics of ebook is different and how digital only copies will be difficult to market. The publishing industry should note that new ways to market their products are in their neighborhood public library. They should look for ways to partner with libraries to widen their appeal.

origionally published in the WSJ

Digital Library Volenteers: New Library Services: Digital Repository Building

acohen — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:51:48 +0000

The National Library of Finland is a creative enterprise. They have a new library service to improve digital collections. The library started a project call Digitalkoot a mashup of digital content and volunteer participation that builds bibliographic data for digitized collections. It is truly an innovative concept that will serve to share NLF digital collections with more and more patrons.

Digitalkoot, a project run by the National Library of Finland will index the library’s collection by participating in online games. The project will make e-resources searchable on the Internet via crowd-sourcing technology. The project goal is to allow everyone to easily access the National Library of Finland’s cultural heritage.

Evaluation Methods for Library Space

acohen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:56:45 +0000

There are complex, complicated and simple library building projects. Our clients typically ask us:

How much space do we need?
How much does it cost?
How long will it take?
How many stakeholders should we interview?
How satisfied are the stakeholders?

ACA’s approach incorporates a quantitative analysis of library services and operations. This is done with a series of survey instruments that capture customer data (visits, temperature, humidity control, # of seats, # of computers, # of staff, type & # of collections). The outcome is a building program of library services including user seating, collection, staff and operations.

This blog is focused on the Narrative Evaluation of Library Space, Services and Operations.

Complex Areas of Research:
Chaotic Areas of Research:
Simple Areas of Research:
Complicated Areas of Library Research:

The Ecology of Information: Library Walls

acohen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:38:48 +0000

The library building can communicate with us through the use of media walls. One design idea is to integrate communication into the walls. For example, Büro Hirzberger’s office space in Vienna features “Digital Wallpaper”, or illuminated walls that “stream” video and realtime content.