Netflix and the library. This meme goes on......

Rebecca Fitzgerald post on tame the web Using Netflix at an Academic Library seems to have gone wild. Her original comments pointed the following :-

Our academic library in New York started a Netflix subscription last Fall. We started out with one account allowing for the maximum number of DVDs, 8 at a time. By the middle of Spring semester, we had two accounts. The New Media professor took over the prior, and we made the new one for all other courses. New Media requires many movies for students to watch. Our library has a very limited budget when it comes to film purchasing, especially popular titles. Netflix has saved us an enormous amount of money (around $3,000) by allowing the physical rentals as well as instant play. The streaming movies have been a great success; instead of students waiting for the one DVD on reserve, they can go to the computer or into the library’s film viewing room, where we have a Roku player set up, and watch the movies on our flat screen TV. The amount we save just having the instant play is significant; it’s almost like having multiple copies of the movie on reserve.

I was a bit concerned about this. It obviously goes against terms and conditions of netflix contract. These being that the films are for PERSONAL use only. Other have also mentioned this in more detail.

Read write web has an interest article on the subject called Netflix Turns a Blind Eye to Illegal Use by School Libraries. Seems that:-

Steve Swasey, Netflix' vice president of corporate communications, but indicated no plans to enforce the rules. "We just don't want to be pursuing libraries," he said. "We appreciate libraries and we value them, but we expect that they follow the terms of agreement."

Not sure that the film studios would agree with that sentiment. As the experts on copyright etc libraries should be upholding it, rather than using it to our own advantage.

Library Survey

(Found via here). If any one has time their is a library survey here. The Survey, we are told is:-

I am conducting research for my book Effective Blogging for Libraries (working title), from Neal-Schuman as part of its forthcoming Tech Set series created by Ellyssa Kroski. The book is almost complete, but I need your help! I am looking to find out what has and has not worked with library blog(s).

Anyone got time, it only takes a couple of minutes to complete.

Congratulations to Michael Stephens

Michael Stephens of Taming the Web fame has his Dissertation Bound. The dissertation is entitled modelling the role of blogging in librarianship. Looks a really good read. I wish mine was still online, I have to sort this out.

Why no comments article via ttw

Taming the web has linked to an interesting article entitled 'why no comments' (via here). In it, TTW says (sorry this is poor practice but still):-

One of the stumbling blocks for libraries when we talk about blogging is the fact that so many library blogs never get comments. This article - focused on associations - might be very useful for strategic planning for the library blog.

I especially like this one:

2. Open and easy. If you really want to build comments, you have to be open and make commenting easy. Limiting your blog content or commenting features to members also limits what you can achieve with your blog. A members-only strategy may be appropriate in some cases, but not if your goal is to engage a vocal audience. In fact, to truly be open, try setting up a blog with

No login;
Easy to find comment links;
No captchas—those annoying things that make people spell out letters to prove they are human;
No moderation. (You can always be notified of new posts and moderate after the comments are posted.) The instant gratification a new commenter feels when they see their name and content post to your site is not to be underestimated.


I totally agree. So many times i've spoken to libraries and ease of access is such a stumbling block. It could be I don't sell it well enough, but I think any blogger feels content when they recieve comments.

Please feel free to comment ;)

Job hunting and blowing your own horn

I read an interesting blog found called blowing your own horn. Ahmed Bilal writes:-

Self-Promotion is something most of us are uncomfortable with - and it's not just the prospect of 'selling' that turns us off, in reality its insecurity (cleverly dressed as modesty) that holds us back.

Whether by nature or by society, we are programmed to sell ourselves short.

I was interested in this, as i have just finished my course, and working through my last few weeks at my present job. Therefore, application forms are presently my main source of reading material. Not the most interesting thing to do.

Therefore, when re-reading through a job application, how one needs to do it not only within application forms but also when working within a library.

In this point I mean the idea of advocacy. In the last few weeks I noted Meredith Farkas discussing the Mudflap girl,
who is now being used as an icon for Wyoming's libraries to indicate they 'are as expansive as the state, and as close as down the street.' I always find it interesting how libraries blowing there own horn.