Cathy Enlow, Technology Services Librarian

  Good gravy! Don’t you sometimes want to just wait until some Star Trek like device just allows you to grab any music or movie you want out of some all access computer? 

  The old records my grandparents had for their Victrola were 16 or 78 rpm. They were useless on the 1940s player we had for singles or the 1950s stereo which played 45 or 33 1/3 rpm. In the 60s cassettes were supposed to make all of these obsolete because they were portable, less breakable and played on battery-powered or car players. Then there was the 8 track.

  Cassettes are still around but primarily for audiobooks. They are particularly useful because you can start up right where you left off. This may not sound important to you now, but is greatly appreciated by those with vision problems. Since the 80s we’ve had CDs which have lasted longer than Betamax and videodiscs.  VHS is slowly easing out while CDs have morphed into MP3 discs and several forms of DVD. 

  The library’s Playaways are fully contained recorded books and only the beginning in the iPod generation of recordings. So what’s a library to do? Every time the predominant format changes the library can’t afford to abandon the old and fully stock up on the new, especially knowing that the format is going to change again exponentially quicker. 

  The newest media option for libraries is downloadable movies and audiobooks. Downloads can’t be transferred to other media and the files have a time limit. Downloadable media works best with broadband access and a fairly new PC.  It currently costs more than the library can afford, but is something to be watched and considered

          - Cathy Enlow

    Technology Services Librarian