Catching Up
Many of you have been writing or Tweeting for updates on the Nook program we had planned to launch last fall; unfortunately, several factors slowed our launch date for the program, including:
- a lack of clerical help this academic year
- an incredibly busy schedule of instruction (a good problem to have!) in the library; since the teaching and learning focus comes first, we prioritize our energies into that effort first
- significant delays in the communication process with Barnes and Noble in processing our ebook purchase orders
At this time, we own 50 Nook Simple Touches; Nooks 1-35 are designated with our Barnes and Noble Managed Digital Locker program for classroom use, which could include literature circle book study or independent reading selections. Nooks 36-50 are for circulation to students who return a parental permission form or who would like to use them in the library during a class or lunch visit. I worked with Dan Boon, my Community Relations Manager at the Alpharetta Barnes and Noble, to establish groups of Nooks so that it would be easy for B&N to deliver the eBooks we order via purchase order to the appropriate Nook devices.
Challenges with the Digital Managed Locker Program
In terms of the digital managed locker program, there have definitely been some problems that I have experienced as have many of you.
1. Barnes and Noble has frankly not done a very good job in educating its employees about the Digital Managed Locker program. As you can imagine, librarians who are trying to inquire and find out more information about the program feel frustrated when they can’t get the answers they need, and the B&N employees also feel frustrated that they may not have been provided the information and training they need to help implement the program with school librarians or classroom teachers in an effective manner. I know these concerns have been concerned to B&N management from those of us in the trenches as well as from employees, so I’m hopeful they are committed to being more systematic in communicating the information more effectively. If you are not able to get the answers you need from someone at the first store you visit or call, I recommend contacting a neighboring store or the regional Barnes and Noble manager for your area.
2. In some store locations, the community relations manager or person designated as the “go to” person for the Digital Managed Locker program is just swamped with multiple responsibilities; consequently, they may have difficulty dealing with the communications from librarians or teachers in a timely manner. Since there is no electronic/virtual interface at this time that librarians can access to submit purchase orders and manage eBook (or app) orders, eBook orders can be delayed significantly when there are gaps in communication. We as librarians and teachers desperately need a virtual interface to manage these orders; email is simply not an efficient means of managing the orders; we as customers need the option of having more control over reassigning texts to different devices if needed. While I appreciate that B&N is doing a lot of the management for me, I need to be able to have a point of access to do it myself when needed.
Our local store and representative are committed to helping B&N address these concerns; I very much appreciate that Dan has shared my suggestions for improving the communication channels and order management with those who work at a higher level in the company. In addition, I appreciate that Dan is willing to come out to my school site if I need assistance with devices.
In terms of technical issues, they have been minimal so far. We have not had any issues connecting to wireless, and the downloading process has been fairly seamless. We did have one device go bad as we could not unlock it; after not having any success with the 1-800 technical support, our representative Dan was helpful in resolving the issue and actually bringing us a replacement device (a major time saver–thank you!). We did have one device not receive the appropriate eBooks assigned to that device, but we are working on resolving that issue as we speak. One other helpful hint: it took me a while to realize that the power button is on the back of the Nook; thankfully, the covers we bought are designed to stay on and have the Nook symbol on them so that you can press it and power the device off and on without having to remove the cover.
First Steps of Implementation, Spring 2012
We have now started circulating devices to students for free reading (yes, I let them take the devices home—students and parents sign an acceptable use agreement, and we also bought a 2 year warranty), so I hope to have their feedback for you soon. The initial impressions, though, have been very positive–students really seem to like the “swipe” technology as well as the size of the devices (it fits in their pockets). One student in particular is absolutely thrilled to have the chance to use a modern eReader—I am not exaggerating when I say he was giddy and glowing when he left the library! At this time, the free circulation Nook collection (36-50) is purely student driven like our Kindle eBook collection since students submit eBook request forms when they turn in their permission forms). At this time, the loan period is one week although we hope to extend that in the future.
Our other initial pilot group is Deborah Frost’s 1st period 9th Literature/Composition class. The majority of the class, boys, chose to read Monster by Walter Dean Myers; the remainder of the class, girls, selected The Secret Life of Bees. Since many of the students in the class are self-described reluctant readers, we”ll be surveying them regularly about their reading experiences on the Nooks to see if the medium of reading has any impact on their feelings about reading. The students are excited (as are we!) to be the first pilot group; I hope to provide some updates in April when they finish their unit of study.
Questions via Email and the Blog
First I want to apologize if you have emailed me in the last month, and I have not answered your email individually. For the last year or so, I have tried very hard to answer each inquiry individually and in a timely manner. However, the number of inquiries has come to a tipping point, and I’m just not able to continue answering inquiries personally at this time. I’m hopeful that either this blog, my Kindle LibGuide, my Nook LibGuide, or my recent chapter in No Shelf Required II edited by Sue Polanka, will give you the answers you’re seeking; you might also want to follow my Scoop.it magazine on eBooks and eReaders.
I’ve received several emails as of late about how we are circulating the eBooks via our OPAC and tracking what students read. At this time, there is no way to do either–neither Kindle eBooks on a Kindle device nor a Nook book via a Nook device. I do not assign MARC records to the eBooks for Kindle or Nook although I do catalog the devices; as I’ve written before, I don’t catalog the Kindle or Nook eBooks individually because 1. you can’t really “circulate” them via your OPAC and 2. I don’t assign them to the devices in the MARC record because media specialists in my district do not have rights to edit existing MARC records. If you need to track that kind of data or circulate eBooks electronically, then you will need to look at an eBook platform like Follett eBooks or Overdrive that is designed to function in those ways.
Next Steps
We’ll now provide students post-reading surveys about the Nook reading experience to determine if they are a good fit for our students; I’ll also be working with Ms. Frost to get her feedback as a classroom teacher. While I’m still looking for an eBook platform whose licensing agreements are acceptable for my library and learning environment, especially as our district is now ready to implement a bring your own device policy for 2012-2013, I still think there is a place for circulating the devices themselves since so many don’t have one of their own. I look forward to giving you a new update in a few weeks as I document our journey of learning and exploration of eBook and eReader experiences and options.
Great post, Buffy! We’re looking into this service for our public library as well, and your insights are very valuable!
Keep it up!
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We are considering purchasing Nooks or Kindles for our middle school library student use. You mentioned Kindles in this posting and i wonder which you like the best or find easier for students to use.
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Right now it’s hard to say since we just started circulating the Nooks this week. Stay tuned, and I will give an update in a few weeks once we’ve had a chance to get some student feedback. Thanks! Best, Buffy
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Wow, I really appreciate that–thank you so much! I’ll focus more on the user perspective in the next post once we get more feedback. 🙂 Thanks again!
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Thanks for this very thorough run down of pros and cons. Actually, it was your earlier comments about Kindle (via a LinkedIn library group) that got me started following you!
I’m not in a position to buy e-readers extensively (yet?), but this post outlines a LOT of the footwork that goes into starting!
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Thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us Buffy. It is SO helpful to me as I assess how to best utilize electronic reading devices and digital books in my own middle school library. I have old Kindles (version 1!) that have circulated, but with no true management features, it wasn’t working well. I am just beginning a trial use of the Follett e-book platform, FollettShelf, in conjunction with my district’s Feb 1 introduction of a bring your own device policy. What I like about this is: 1. integration with our Destiny online catalog to manage/report on circulation, including students’ ability to checkout e-books themselves and 2. support for multiple personal devices including smartphones (iPhones and Android), IPADs, iPODs, computers, tablets, etc.
It will be interesting to compare yours and my experiences with these trials in terms of students’ experiences and feelings about use of the technologies, as well as our experiences managing the technologies. I look forward to hearing more from you as you blaze new trails!
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Timely post, Buffy! Your posts, guidance, and ebook policy have got an elementary (K-5, 640 students) school up and running with 6 ereaders. We are circulating nook tablets, nook 1st generation, a sony, and nook touches with our students. Our loan period is one week. So far we have signed permission slips from 74 students and have serviced 36 of them since the beginning of January. Our youngest nook users are 1st graders, if you do not count the principal’s son (kindergarten) who used the device while I was promoting it with the boss! I’ve had one student reset the nook and plug in their own email address, and one download a book because I neglected to password protect it. Currently I am purchasing with my credit card (hate it) and I am trying to get our district to use gift cards for this reason. Teachers are catching on because kids are bringing their own ereaders to school. It’s exciting, and I thank you for giving me the confidence I could handle the “extra” responsibilities with a fixed schedule and little, but great clerical help!
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Thanks for the update, Buffy! We don’t have as many eReaders as you, but our students have been so excited to be able to use them. We have students who bring their own eReader and about a fourth of our patrons (grades 6-8) have brought back user agreements and checking out the 10 Nooks we have to circulate. I’ve just added five Kindles and we’ll see how they like those soon. I need a good way to track what they read, but right now, I’m just asking through surveys online. Always appreciate the info you provide!
–Glovis (@bravesread)
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Thanks for chronicling your Nook program. I do have two questions:
1. Which covers did you purchase for your Nooks?
2. Are you 36-50 Nooks not managed with the digital locker program? If not, what is the benefit to that? Flexibility?
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1. I’m on Spring Break, so I don’t have access to my original order, but your B&N can make recommendations for covers.
2. All Nooks 1-50 are managed with the digital locker program.
At this time, I can’t endorse the digital managed locker program—there are too many challenges B&N needs to get worked out before I get it two thumbs up.
Best,
Buffy
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I want to congratulate you for all the hard work (researching) you have done in reference to the e-Reader technology in school and libraries. We are in the process of purchasing e-Readers and are undeceive between the Kindles or Nooks. We are a school district and need to make sure our web filters block inappropriate content. Both of these devices promote their shopping stores and our web filters have no way of blocking inappropriate searches (porn, sex) for books, magazines, etc. How are you guys handling this issue in your school district? Any information would be gladly appreciated. Thanks
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Hi Buffy,
I ordered Nooks through a managed care program for my school. However, I have run into a big problem with them and can’t let the Nooks be used. Barnes and Noble has put ads for their top 100 books on the Nooks. Many of these books are highly innappropriate for school aged students; one of the books is from the 50 Shades series! I have contacted my local Barnes and Noble and nobody there seems to know what to do to get rid of these ads. I can see a thumbnail size photo of the book covers as soon as I turn on the Nook. If I connect to wifi I get a full size cover and a lengthy summary. Have you had any experience with this? If so, were you able to resolve it? I notified Barnes and Noble of this problem last week and there has been no resolution. Although I don’t want to, I think I will have to return the Nooks. Thanks for your help.
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