November 13, 2013

 

Question

 

Katrice Stewart (FL)

 

Hello all.

 

So, earlier this year we had much discussion about Freegal, Zinio, EBSCO, and Overdrive regarding whether or not they were databases.  At that time, someone suggested a consensus page one the wiki of what was decided about how to count these things.  As an aside, there was also much discussion about bodily harm in these discussions.  At that time I didn’t get it, but I SURE DO NOW.  I’m finding I want to beat my head against the wall…..

 

One of my libraries wants to count Freegal and TumbleBooks as databases.  If I look literally at the definition, Freegal isn’t a database as it is not facts, bibliographic data, abstracts, or texts; it’s just music.  The library feels they are databases since they have “deluxe subscriptions” and do not pay per item.  Our consensus page only got as far as Freading being a database.  I think Freegal is not a database and should be counted under audio-downloadable units.  Did I miss a consensus on this back in January?

 

What about TumbleBooks?  Again, a “deluxe subscription” which is paid for in total, not by download.  Does it get back to whether or not the library chose the titles available? 

 

For this newbie, databases is clear as mud…..Help !

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SDC Comments

 

Ann Reed (OR)

 

Freegal = database.

 

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Nicolle Steffen (CO)

 

Agreed. J

 

It’s murky water indeed, here’s what I told the Colorado libraries:

We’ve had several questions—and some interesting conversations—about how to "count" Freegal. I’ve done some investigating, lots of chatting with library and data folks, and I’ve concluded that Freegal is a database and should be counted as such. Near as I can tell Freegal is to music, as EBSCO is to journal articles. Here's my reasoning...

 

As with magazines and articles in a database, with Freegal...

·         The library does not select any of the albums or tracks.

·         The library does not own any of the albums or tracks.

·         The patron goes into the music database, selects the track they want, downloads it for their personal use, and does not return it.

       

Therefore Freegal is a service to which the library subscribes, and as such Freegal’s content is not part of the library’s collection.

 

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Michael Golrick (LA)

 

Thanks for laying it out this way Nicolle! I hope that your explanation can be captured, immortalized (even) for the future. Conceptually, it is right up there with “unit of purchase” which Susan used at our last meeting.

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Susan Mark (WY)

 

Don't worry, Katrice, it's as clear as mud to us oldbies as well.

 

I can use an answer to this as well -- one of my libraries has Freegal. They gave me the downloads number, and I put it in their e-circ, but if it's a database I need to take it back out of there.

 

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Laura Stone (AZ)

 

I think we need to map this out (again!) when we are in Saint Louie.

 

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Ann Reed (OR

 

The principals we laid down last year still apply here to Freegal.  With Freegal, you get the contents of the Sony catalog.  You have no control  over content.

 

A lot of my libraries made that argument that people could download and keep up to 3 songs a week.  Note that a user does not have exclusive access to any song, and does not “return” the file or have it disappear.  I thought about this a great while.  In a database, you can print out an article, and take it home and keep it for decades.  Not much difference.

 

The key we determined is in the nature of the selection and licensing, not in the type of thing something is.  I’m counting it as a database, and not including downloads in circulation.  As I point out to libraries, they don’t include printouts of articles in circ either.

 

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Scott Dermont (IA)

 

Yep, I agree with Ann’s definition here. I tell my libraries to count Freegal and TumbleBooks as databases. They have no control over the content here. To me it is similar model to EBSCOhost. There you download the article and keep it if you wish. You don’t count it as a circ. Same thing is happening in Freegal. With TumbleBooks, don’t you pretty much just use their website – is there any downloading going on at all?

 

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Katrice Stewart (FL)

 

Thank you all for such a quick response!  It really helps to think about the use and the fact that with a database, a patron keeps the material forever just as they would with Freegal. 

 

 Now, what about TumbleBooks….. I just saw Scott’s comment about asking libraries to count TumbleBooks as databases as well.  Are those books kept in perpetuity just as a Freegal song?  Or is it because it is service being offered like EBSCO?

 

Thanks so much!

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Scott Dermont (IA)

 

My understanding is that there is not a download involved with TumbleBooks. I thought you just used it from the website. I don’t think the patron actually takes possession of anything. I could be wrong. But once again it is an issue where the library doesn’t control the content. Since TumbleBooks is the content decider, I don’t count it as part of a library’s collection, and therefore do not count circulation.

 

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Katrice Stewart (FL)

 

That is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO helpful!  Thank you all. 

 

By the way, I’m updating the wiki page to help us if we want to continue this next month, well and forever!!!!!

 

Now, where’s that staple gun…

 

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Laura Stone (AZ)

 

Where does that leave Zinio? Some people select their own titles; some take xxx most popular.

 

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Terry Blauvelt (MO)

 

Missouri counts it if the library selects it for their collection, but counts it as a database if they did not select it for sole use of their library.

 

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Robert Geiszler (VT)

 

For Vermont? What Terry said. 

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Lisa Hickle (OH)

Here is a tentative copy of what we are planning to provide for our libraries…subject to change.   Please feel free to provide input if you feel anything is incorrect.

 

	Count Collection as	Count as Circulation?
Overdrive	Separate statistics into Downloadable Video (7.4), Downloadable Recordings (both Audiobooks and Music) (7.7), and eBooks (7.9) and report as appropriate	Yes
Freegal and Freading	Report as Local Database (7.11)	No
Hoopla (Midwest Tapes)	Report as Downloadable Video titles (7.4)	Yes
Zinio (Recorded Books)	Report as eBooks (7.9)	Yes
One-Click (Recorded Books)	Report as Downloadable Recordings (both Audiobooks and Music) (7.7)	Yes
3M Cloud Library	Report as eBooks (7.9)	Yes
Axis 360 (Baker and Taylor)	Separate statistics into Downloadable Recordings (both Audiobooks and Music) (7.7), and eBooks (7.9) and report as appropriate.	Yes
Ed2Go	NA Counted as a program: Ed2Go should be counted as 1 program and the patrons who use the service should be counted as attendees to the program	No
Freedom Flix/ TrueFlix/BookFlix	Report as Local Database (7.11)	No
Tumble Books	Report as Local Database (7.11)	No

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Ann Reed (OR)

 

Yay!  Can I poach a copy for my FAQ?

 

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Nicolle Steffen (CO)

 

Lisa, this is great—I love the table! When it’s finalized may we reprint?

 

Speaking of deceased equine, I have one additional question…

What about Zinio magazines? I still don’t have a firm handle on how that service works—I’m getting conflicting reports from the field. Is a download a circ? Do you count each title even if the patron can only get the latest issue (i.e., no back issues, even from the current year)? The download feels like a circ, but the collection feels a bit like a database. Thoughts?

 

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Lisa Hickle (OH)

 

Of course.  This was done earlier in the year, as we were receiving questions from our libraries.  I note that I need to change wording to “Downloadable Units”.  I was hoping for input from the SDCs and also plan to have our Ohio Ebook Project Administrator review it, as she has a better understanding/handle than I on these.  I am finalizing our new survey, thus this recent thread …made it clear that not only does Ohio’s libraries need a source of reference, but I need to verify we are reporting what each of your states are.   

 

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Katrice Stewart (FL) 

 

Love this as well, Lisa!!!!!

 

Nicolle – love the deceased equine words but don’t love that Zinio has magazines as well!!!!!  And just when I thought I about had it all understood.

 

Very funny – As I was writing this email, one of my libraries called and had a question specifically about Zinio magazines.  My library said that is works a lot like Freegal so the patron downloads the entire magazine and gets to keep it.  I’m leaning toward it being a database rather than circ……

 

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Joyce Chapman (NC) 

 

We count Zinio as circs not a database. The reason we do this is because no one – local officials, funders of any type --  cares about or understands the statistic that is called “databases.” Library staff are the only people who might possibly understand what that means. Even if you understand what “databases” means, it’s a fairly meaningless statistic!  But funders do care about statistics related to “circulation.” I don’t understand why we count databases but not circs for databases. If our goal is to present a somewhat accurate portrayal of what public libraries provide to their communities and how their communities make use of that, it doesn’t make sense to me that we have a single category of things that we’ve decided not to report usage statistics for, despite reporting usage statistics for everything else. Obviously the contents of our databases are used… why not shout it from the rooftops? Particularly when the trend is that e-material circs are on the rise and analog material circs are decreasing.

 

So when possible we pull out the databases that we have the option to count as something else (like Zinio) so that their circs are reflected in our stats.

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Michael Golrick (LA)

 

I want to give Jay Bank (KY) credit….he did a list which he shared with us back in October:

 

It is also how we are asking Kentucky libraries to count things. 

I put a chart (“What Goes Where”) on our web page to help sort out some of the fuzzy items in our annual report (and to help me give consistent responses to questions!):

http://kdla.ky.gov/librarians/plssd/Documents/WhatGoesWhere.pdf

 

Jay Bank

KY SDC

 

I am still working on my version for Louisiana, the major change being the numbering of the questions I ask.

 

I was off on Friday and Monday, so that is why I am late to this conversation.