TechBits

Reading Journey in Libby

If you're a Libby user like me, you may have noticed some new information on your reading history in Libby. It's called your Reading Journey and it works like this.

From your Shelf in Libby, tap on the "due in X days" to see your reading journey for individual titles. I recently finished Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly and you can see that I listened to this book for 13 hours and 58 minutes and picked up the audiobook 28 times. Libby also told me when I checked out the book, returned it, placed another hold, and checked it out again (yes, I didn't finish it the first time). For Educated by Tara Westover, Libby tells me that I'm on track to finish listening to the audiobook in 8 hours and 13 minutes. Not only for audiobooks, similar information is available for ebook checkouts. 

While this can be interesting information to have, if you or your patrons are at all concerned about this information, you can turn this feature off. I also want to share OverDrive's Privacy Policy to reassure you and your patrons that the timeline information is not shared with publishers or stored by OverDrive. Here's how to turn off your timeline. **Updated 10/30/2020: Once you turn off your timeline, you can't turn it back on without resetting the app so only turn off the timeline if you really, really want to. 

On a related note, the next session of the OverDrive Support Course (for SCLS member library staff only) starts next Monday, November 2. In this 5-week course, you'll learn about providing support for Wisconsin's Digital Library including answering Libby questions like this one. Register here!

Spotting a dark pattern on the web

A few days ago I was present for an excellent discussion that was briefly side-tracked by confusion about the pricing of a newsletter service which is widely used by libraries. Here's roughly what the fly on the wall (me) heard:

Librarian A: "We have 20,000 subscribers, so we're paying over $1000 for Service X."

Librarian B: "What?! Service X says they only charge $15/month for 100,000 subscribers!"

Frustratingly, the company's own pricing page was the source of the confusion because it's an example of a dark pattern: "a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying overpriced insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills" (Wikipedia).

Because recognizing dark patterns is key to avoiding their tricks, let's take a quick look at what that pricing page says about their Standard Plan, near the top of the page:

Did you notice that small-print "Starting at $14.99" language? I didn't, at first, but it matters in a big way. (If you click the big "Select" button, you're asked to sign up for an account, gradually making you more invested in the service without being entirely clear about the price you'll pay—and you have to actively check a box to OPT OUT of receiving their marketing spam.) When we scroll further on the pricing page and interact with the price chart, by choosing the specific range of contacts, THEN we see that 20,000 subscribers is, indeed, a great deal more than $15/month!

Irksome, isn't it? They haven't tricked us into doing anything (yet), but they're chipping away at our resistance to signing up by featuring a price that seems like a better value than it really is. That's a dark pattern!

Next time you're shopping online or signing up for a new service, keep a lookout for anything misleading or deceptive about the process—you may be interacting with a dark pattern. (And if you, like me, need to see some dark patterns analyzed and cataloged, there is website and a hashtag to shame the offenders and air our collective grievance.)

Good Calculators, Google Forms, and more

WVLS has shared some short (3-15 min) "Digital Bytes" training videos recently that may be of interest to you or your library patrons:

Good Calculators
Time: 5:01
Jamie talks about an educational and fun tool that can help library patrons of all ages.
Watch

Google Forms
Time: 15:11
Anne talks about creating a Google Form and how to share it.  Watch

Social Media Message Optimizer
Time: 5:26
Jamie talks about using CoSchedule’s Social Media Message Optimizer to see if you’re getting the most out of your library’s social media posts, based on several factors. Watch

JCW Resume Builder
Time: 10:29
Anne talks about using the Job Center of Wisconsin online resume builder. Watch

Using Bluejeans
Time: 10:46
Jamie demonstrates how to use Bluejeans as a moderator.  Watch

Scanning Documents On Your iPhone
Time: 3:24
Don’t have access to a scanner? Jamie talks about using your iPhone to scan documents as a PDF file.  Watch

You can find more of these "Digital Bytes" here on the WVLS website: https://wvls.org/digital-bytes/

Looking at those birds

Hungry birds in Madison

Recently we added a bird feeder to our backyard and it's provided some enjoyable bird watching of the very hungry birds. So far, we haven't had much bird variety but luckily the Internet has videos of birds!

One fun web site is the Bird Library. The Bird Library has a fancier bird feeder than my backyard bird feeder, and attracts a wider variety of birds. There is a YouTube channel in addition to the web site, which has archival videos as well as information on the library's patrons.

Another great resource is All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They have a number of live feeds and tons of information about birds. If you have a spare moment, take a look!

Practice touch typing with classic novels

I know I could always use a little more practice when it comes to touch typing (no, I don't hunt and peck!). I recently stumbled across a website that not only gives you the opportunity to practice touch typing but also read a classic novel while you're doing it. 

The website is typelit.io

Here we have a neat website that currently contains 32 classic novels ranging in length and style that you can interactively read by typing the text. It appears that the creator is actively developing the site with more content and features.

Check it out!