Management of Electronic Materials:
Issues
There are many issues related to electronic materials collections. What does the future hold for electronic collections? What are the issues in developing and maintaining website collections?
Read Turning The Page by Doug Johnson from School Library Journal (November 2004). Johnson predicts a future of electronic materials in libraries.
Issues
From Internet safety to copyright issues, young adults and their adult supervisors face many issues in working with electronic materials. PBS has a great area focusing on technology and libraries.
Read The Wikipedia Wars by Kathy Ishizuka in School Library Journal (November 2004). This article discusses some of the issues of online resources.
Read the following resources at this website and the links from Teacher Tap:
- Acceptable Use of Electronic Materials
- Filtering Tools and Issues from Teacher Tap
- Copyright Issues from Teacher Tap
- Citing Sources from Teacher Tap
- Plagiarism
from Teacher Tap
E-books and Library Restrictions
Although e-books will play an important role in libraries, there are some serious limitations that must be worked out in terms of management and distribution.
Read Google E-Bookstore Offers Librarians Limited Use by Lauren Barack in School Library Journal (December 9, 2010).
The Digital Divide
While some people view the introduction of electronic reading as increasing the digital divide, others see technology as the answer to literacy issues around the world. For instance, Worldreader.org is striving to put books in the hands of children around the world. Read the FAQs to learn more about this program. According to Worldreader, digital books have three advantages over physical books. First, they provide nearly instance access to a huge collection of books. Second, the cost of shipping is near zero. Third, the cost of digital content is low. The Magic Treehouse series is a collection that will be available through this program.
Electronic Collections
Many libraries are updating their policies and procedures with electronic collections in mind. For instance, how will passwords be provided for access to electronic databases? How will e-books be distributed on e-book readers? Let's say you have the electronic version of the DC comics in your library. How will young people access them?
Read the Electronic Book Loans page from Fairport and Gates Public Library. Notice their guidelines for e-book circulation and use.
Explore the Electronic Collections Development page. Although designed for college level, these policies could be adapted for collections for children and young adults.