I'm so excited for all your videos to get more attention and for your channel to reach more subscribers. You've taught me that libraries and information science are a really powerful form of civic engagement and this channel is an accessible way to understand how that works. Thanks for teaching us, Peter!
You're a librarian. I'm still amazed by the fact that the electronic book readers for those who like to read have just exploded how much they actually read. Three of the ladies I work with read probably metric tonnes of actual books per month. They each go through about a book every two-three days. Each has their own genre (romance, suspense, and biography) that they discuss quite frequently. Before, a $4-7 paperback might be an issue due to weight. Now, phsaw. They download them, devour them, and then archive if good or delete if bad. It makes me pretty happy. Which is also odd about the rise of people listening to radio again as podcasts. How fun.
Some day I'll graduate and THEN I'll be a librarian! for now, I'm just a librarian-in-training. :D And yeah, I NEARLY discussed ebooks especially within the context of textbooks, because I MEAN COME ON it doesn't get much lighter, right?! After all, if given the choice of tons of textbooks or a single ebook reader, one is obviously more back-friendly. The flip side to that is, depending on the publisher of the ebook, there may not be a way to "give up" a book other than to delete it from your device. While there may not be an obvious need to do so (why get rid of an ebook, if it doesn't take up space?), there might very well be considerations that we haven't made yet in terms of why having a "ton" of digital material to your name isn't necessarily the best idea. For one, I can't give my copy of an ebook to a library, which is a shame because the digital object only helps one person, even though digital objects are perfectly suited to help the masses.
Physical book metadata can also greatly assist in the logistics of moving books from point a to point b and back. In other words. It’s nice to know what size package the book needs to be in in order to be shipped. :) Also useful when a book is lost. How big was it? Color. Even the number of pages can make a difference.
I'm such a nerd. I stumbled upon your videos as I am frantically cramming for an interview later this week. Cataloging...so underrated. People don't understand the tremendous importance of this art. Worked in Tech. Services 8.5 years ❤❤oh, metadata is definitely fascinating!!
Q: Wait, isn't this part of that "meta Monday" thing you were talking about? Why isn't this being released on a Monday? What am I to do with this feeling of betrayal?! A: OK but to be honest, in the metaphorical week that we call life, don't we all find ourselves in the Mondays of our own creation? :D
Question: Do you think that audiobook versions of university textbooks will become commonplace in the future? How could someone turn a text on math or science into a series of audio files that's cheaper than a physical book, but still communicates the information effectively? Hope that question makes sense!
This is a GREAT question! I hope that in the future audio textbooks become more commonplace, because of the obvious value to folks who are visually impaired. Presently it often falls to universities themselves to create audiobook versions of textbooks (an act of reproduction that is protected under copyright laws because it's a) transformative and b) not for profit. Here at UBC, that falls to the Office of Access and Diversity (students.ubc.ca/academic-success/academic-supports/academic-accommodations-disabilities). I think that a likely path forward on audio textbooks is going to be intertwined with the Open Textbook initiative, primarily because currently textbooks that are made and sold by companies are not easily converted to audio because of formatting. OTOH, open textbooks (like those by BC OpenEd -- open.bccampus.ca/) often start their lives as digitally born, which necessitates the use of markup languages that would allow for much easier, potentially machine-narrated, text. But it also makes it a lot easier for a human to read! Does that make sense?
Fair, but for folks who can't see they're awful handy. Surely there's space in the textbook environment for print, audio, and and other as-yet-created formats!
But you know what? I think we really like to talk based on a theory and its quite easy anyway. Talking based on theory honestly just make me a lot more idealistic than i already am. Back when i was in my metadata class, i remember my lecturer was so strict on us we basically have to memorize everything in AACR2 (yes,2 years ago we still use AACR2). All the commas, all the capitalization, it all have to be exactly the same as in the standard. It was so hard that i got my worse score in uni from that metadata class. But anyhow as i said before it made me think that THAT is also what happens in the real world. I was surprised when i participated in a project where basically i have to do cataloguing and classification of one organization's collections and input it into their database. I looked on the collections that have been done by their staffs and it was quite messed up. I dont know the standard they were using, i dont know which subject headings standard they were referring to, and i basically just have been told to do the cataloguing and the classification based on the other collections. Like i was thinking how am i supposed to do that. It all has to be consistent for things to actually work out. And that really just made me realize that honestly some people, even those who work in this field, dont really give enough attention. Well at least here in my country. And that also what eventually make people underestimate us
I like thinking about medival University students margin doodles! 😆 Must go do some googling to see if this is documented somewhere. Looking forward to more about metadata! 😊
I'm so excited for all your videos to get more attention and for your channel to reach more subscribers. You've taught me that libraries and information science are a really powerful form of civic engagement and this channel is an accessible way to understand how that works. Thanks for teaching us, Peter!
You're a librarian.
I'm still amazed by the fact that the electronic book readers for those who like to read have just exploded how much they actually read. Three of the ladies I work with read probably metric tonnes of actual books per month. They each go through about a book every two-three days. Each has their own genre (romance, suspense, and biography) that they discuss quite frequently. Before, a $4-7 paperback might be an issue due to weight. Now, phsaw. They download them, devour them, and then archive if good or delete if bad. It makes me pretty happy.
Which is also odd about the rise of people listening to radio again as podcasts. How fun.
Some day I'll graduate and THEN I'll be a librarian! for now, I'm just a librarian-in-training. :D
And yeah, I NEARLY discussed ebooks especially within the context of textbooks, because I MEAN COME ON it doesn't get much lighter, right?! After all, if given the choice of tons of textbooks or a single ebook reader, one is obviously more back-friendly. The flip side to that is, depending on the publisher of the ebook, there may not be a way to "give up" a book other than to delete it from your device. While there may not be an obvious need to do so (why get rid of an ebook, if it doesn't take up space?), there might very well be considerations that we haven't made yet in terms of why having a "ton" of digital material to your name isn't necessarily the best idea. For one, I can't give my copy of an ebook to a library, which is a shame because the digital object only helps one person, even though digital objects are perfectly suited to help the masses.
Also... I delayedly get the joke.
*Rimshot*
Physical book metadata can also greatly assist in the logistics of moving books from point a to point b and back.
In other words. It’s nice to know what size package the book needs to be in in order to be shipped. :) Also useful when a book is lost. How big was it? Color. Even the number of pages can make a difference.
Excellent point! Metadata is great for logistics.
I'm such a nerd. I stumbled upon your videos as I am frantically cramming for an interview later this week. Cataloging...so underrated. People don't understand the tremendous importance of this art. Worked in Tech. Services 8.5 years ❤❤oh, metadata is definitely fascinating!!
Q: Wait, isn't this part of that "meta Monday" thing you were talking about? Why isn't this being released on a Monday? What am I to do with this feeling of betrayal?!
A: OK but to be honest, in the metaphorical week that we call life, don't we all find ourselves in the Mondays of our own creation? :D
I used to have that same edition of The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams. I wonder where it got to...
Got a kick out of the margin note on the page at the end!
YESSSS FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICED!
Really interesting stuff! Thanks for making this, I really enjoy your channel.
Also, your shirt is adorable.
Fantastic discussion and t-shirt 😉
AW NO YOU ARE
Question: Do you think that audiobook versions of university textbooks will become commonplace in the future? How could someone turn a text on math or science into a series of audio files that's cheaper than a physical book, but still communicates the information effectively? Hope that question makes sense!
This is a GREAT question! I hope that in the future audio textbooks become more commonplace, because of the obvious value to folks who are visually impaired. Presently it often falls to universities themselves to create audiobook versions of textbooks (an act of reproduction that is protected under copyright laws because it's a) transformative and b) not for profit. Here at UBC, that falls to the Office of Access and Diversity (students.ubc.ca/academic-success/academic-supports/academic-accommodations-disabilities).
I think that a likely path forward on audio textbooks is going to be intertwined with the Open Textbook initiative, primarily because currently textbooks that are made and sold by companies are not easily converted to audio because of formatting. OTOH, open textbooks (like those by BC OpenEd -- open.bccampus.ca/) often start their lives as digitally born, which necessitates the use of markup languages that would allow for much easier, potentially machine-narrated, text. But it also makes it a lot easier for a human to read!
Does that make sense?
That makes sense! I didn't realize that copyright law already allows access-related offices to produce audio-textbooks. Thanks for the links!
GOD NO!!! As a student, I and many of my classmates are too visual to make audiobooks mainstream.
Fair, but for folks who can't see they're awful handy. Surely there's space in the textbook environment for print, audio, and and other as-yet-created formats!
Maybe part of this series could include an episode about metadata for music scores and audio recordings!
Perhaps I could wrap +12tone into that conversation! :D
oh that'd be awesome!
I am going to check out the book for myself first. My kid can wait. ;)
But you know what? I think we really like to talk based on a theory and its quite easy anyway. Talking based on theory honestly just make me a lot more idealistic than i already am. Back when i was in my metadata class, i remember my lecturer was so strict on us we basically have to memorize everything in AACR2 (yes,2 years ago we still use AACR2). All the commas, all the capitalization, it all have to be exactly the same as in the standard. It was so hard that i got my worse score in uni from that metadata class. But anyhow as i said before it made me think that THAT is also what happens in the real world. I was surprised when i participated in a project where basically i have to do cataloguing and classification of one organization's collections and input it into their database. I looked on the collections that have been done by their staffs and it was quite messed up. I dont know the standard they were using, i dont know which subject headings standard they were referring to, and i basically just have been told to do the cataloguing and the classification based on the other collections. Like i was thinking how am i supposed to do that. It all has to be consistent for things to actually work out. And that really just made me realize that honestly some people, even those who work in this field, dont really give enough attention. Well at least here in my country. And that also what eventually make people underestimate us
I love it when these videos pop up!
AWWWWW
I like thinking about medival University students margin doodles! 😆 Must go do some googling to see if this is documented somewhere. Looking forward to more about metadata! 😊
Take a peek at the description, there's a link to Erik Kwakkel's blog which is a great place to start :D
"What Makes a Book?"
lol, I do. But that's neither here nor there.
Har har har, Jon, very good