Midwest Tape Presents a Free Webinar on Audiobooks

Curious as to how Midwest Tape can be your one-stop audiobook shop?

Join presenter Elaine Schlagheck for a free webinar focused on audiobooks. In this 60-minute seminar, you’lll learn about our durable SoundSafe case, designed exclusively for libraries; our flexible, obligation-free Customer Standing Order Plans; our expanded replacement program; and our wide selection of bestselling titles from over 175 publishers priced at an average of $39. 

Audiobooks: The Real Advantage

Aug 25, 2010
2:00–3:00 p.m. EDT

Register now for this free webinar.

The SmartBrowse Series: Sorting and Exporting

In the series’ first installment, you learned five ways to search specific in SmartBrowse. Here, I’ll show you how to easily organize your SmartBrowse findings by sorting and exporting.

Sorting
After you make your selection on the Search Summary page, SmartBrowse will direct you to a sortable list of search results.

Here you can arrange the information alphabetically or numerically in ascending or descending order by clicking on the column names.

For example, clicking on price will sort the titles from lowest to highest. Clicking again will reorganize the information in reverse order.

 The price sorts titles from lowest to highest price, then highest to lowest price. 

Similarly, this action works for stock number, title media, misc, genre, release date, and sales rank.

The released date sorts titles from newest to oldest, then oldest to newest.

Exporting
Once you are satisfied with your search, you can transfer your results to an Excel spreadsheet.

To do this, click the Export button.

After a brief download, Excel will open and display a spreadsheet of your SmartBrowse search results.

Now that you know how to sort and export in SmartBrowse, look for our final installment of the SmartBrowse series about filtering. In the meantime, play around with SmartBrowse yourself and share your insights and experiences here as comments.

Library DVD Rentals Surpass Netflix

According to a recent study released by OCLC, a nonprofit library co-operative and research organization, more people are visiting libraries to rent movies rather than receiving them through the mail, using distribution kiosks or going to traditional movie rental establishments.

The survey, conducted in January, found that, “public libraries in the United States lend an average of 2.1 million videos every day, slightly more than the 2 million that Netflix ships.”¹ On a daily basis, libraries also distribute more videos than Redbox (1.4 million) and Blockbuster (1.2 million), according to daily averages provided to OCLC by company representatives.² And while the graph below from OCLC's study presents slightly different stats than the text cited above, one would assume the discrepancy lies in the 2 million DVDs NetFlix ships versus what they distribute overall, including the online market.


The dominance of libraries as a source for DVDs clearly indicates that libraries are no longer a place for just printed books and reference materials. According to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Loans of “video materials per capita more than doubled during the study period, increasing from 73.5 video materials per 1,000 people in [Fiscal Year] 1999 to 166.7 video materials per 1,000 people in [Fiscal Year] 2008, an increase of 126.6 percent.”³ The institute also confirmed that audio collections, like CDs and audiobooks, have increased nearly 50% between the fiscal years of 1999 and 2008.³

As circulations increase so does the rate of patrons visiting libraries. According to a survey of Seattle library users, “In the past decade, visits to Seattle libraries increased nearly 57 percent, from 4.6 million in 2000 to 7.3 million last year.”⁴ As the country fights to emerge from a recession, it seems natural that more people are taking advantage of the free resources libraries offer. When borrowing from the library, patrons only face the occasional late fee. Comparatively, according to OCLC’s study, “Americans spend over $22 million for DVD rentals at outlets like Netflix and Redbox.”²

According to Time Warner Inc. CEO Jeff Bewkes, movie-loving patrons may also be looking beyond DVD mail distributors and kiosks for their rentals because of delayed new releases at Netflix and Redbox.⁵ Certain studios like 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Universal Home Studios Entertainment have placed a 28-day window on their distribution of new releases to rental kiosks. Libraries, on the other hand, are not subject to the delays and can offer patrons access to materials the same day they hit retail stores nationwide.

With more patrons turning to libraries for audiovisual materials, it is important to keep relevant and robust collections. Luckily, Midwest Tape makes finding popular titles easy. The first panel on our website always features new DVD, CD, Audiobook, Blu-Ray and Playaway releases. You can also find the latest Hot New Releases, under the Quick Links tab.

Additionally, Midwest Tape offers numerous flexible Customized Standing Order plans for audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs. Our experts are constantly researching and finding the hottest and most popular titles. Every two weeks, you will receive a cart of hand-selected titles ready for your collection. Click here for more information about specific standing order plans.

Do you find your patrons borrowing more DVDs than other materials? How is your library preparing to keep up with the increasing demand for DVDs?

¹http://articles.courant.com/2010-07-26/business/hc-library-movies-0726-20100725_1_library-services-library-circulation-higher-circulation-rate

² http://www.oclc.org/us/en/reports/pdfs/214109usf_how_libraries_stack_up.pdf

³http://harvester.census.gov/imls/pubs/Publications/pls2008.pdf

⁴http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012490850_library31m.html

⁵http://www.homemediamagazine.com/rental/time-warner-ceo-windows-hurting-kiosks-20229

Midwest Tape Adds Auto-Complete to Site Search Bar

Unsure of a spelling? Fuzzy on a name? Term on the tip of your tongue?

Midwest Tape has launched Auto-Complete, a new website feature that will better aid searches. Now when you use our site’s Search Bar, Auto-Complete will offer search suggestions.

Using Auto-Complete with SmartBrowse
Enter a term in the Search Bar. Note that fewer letters typed in the Search Bar will produce a wider array of suggestions. Likewise, more letters typed will produce more specific suggestions.

Upon entering the search term, a dropdown list of suggestions appears. With SmartBrowse, Auto-Complete will make suggestions related to format, people, titles collections, and categories.

 If you select a format suggestion, results appear in a sortable SmartBrowse list:

If you select a people or title suggestion, results that match the suggestion appear in SmartBrowse’s Search Summary:

Person selection “Harry Paul” results

Title selection “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” Results

Using Auto-Complete with Search
Uncheck the “Use SmartBrowse” checkbox underneath the site’s Search Bar and then begin typing your search term. Note that fewer letters typed in the Search Bar will produce a wider array of suggestions. Likewise, more letters typed will produce more specific suggestions.

Once again a dropdown list of suggestions will appear, but suggestions will pertain to format and titles only.

 If you select a format suggestion, pertaining results will appear in a Search Results list.

If you select a title suggestion, product details for that title will appear as the Search Results.

What do you think of auto-complete? Share your thoughts and questions here as comments.

The SmartBrowse Series: Five Ways to Search Specific on SmartBrowse

Search is a great way to find what you’re looking for when you know exactly what you’re looking for. But what happens when you just have a keyword in mind or a just a fuzzy idea of what you’re seeking? When searching in basic Search, general keywords can produce laundry lists of results with no organizational scheme—or worse, no results at all! Check out what happened when I typed “Big.”

Fortunately, Midwest Tape designed SmartBrowse as a tool for finding specific results with general inquiries. I decided to play around with SmartBrowse myself and develop some tips for successful searching. Here are five ways to find specific results with general searches using SmartBrowse:

1.   Shop selectively using category searches:

“I want to enhance the action section of my library’s DVD collection.  But I want Academy Award winners only.”

1. Search “Academy Award” in the SmartBrowse search box. 

2. Under Categories, select DVD results in line with VIDEO::FICTION::ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS.

3. Sort by Genre to view all Academy Award films categorized by the Action genre.

4. Scroll through the listings; view product details, Academy Awards won, and Rotten Tomatoes ratings without leaving your search. 

2.   Search series names to find all titles related:

“I need to make sure I have all the audiobooks in the Anita Blake series!”

1. Search “Anita Blake” in the SmartBrowse search field.
2. Expand the Series results in the Search Results screen by clicking the plus symbol.

3. Select the Audiobook results in line with Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Your results will appear in a sortable list.

4. Click on column headings to sort your list and identify the titles you need to round out your series. You can even scroll through the listings and view product details without leaving your search.

3.   Round out collections by focusing on people:

“I want to beef up my Bruce Springsteen CD collection.”

1. Search “Bruce Springsteen” in the SmartBrowse search box.
2. Expand the People results, and select the CD media format. Your results will appear in a sortable list.

3. Click on column headings to sort your list. Try sorting by Sales Rank or Release Date to quickly identify hot Springsteen titles.
4. Scroll through the listings; view album tracks, product details, and AllMusic Guide ratings without leaving your search.

4.   Enhance your international collection while adding to your language-learning selection by searching languages:

“I have Korean-speaking patrons who want to learn English, and English-speaking patrons who want to learn Korean, and they’re all interested in Korean films and music!”

1. Search “Korean” in the SmartBrowse search box.
2. Expand the Language results.

1. Select Audiobook results to view Korean for English Speakers and English for Korean Speakers titles.
2. Click CD results to view Korean music.
3. Select DVD or Blu-ray results to view Korean films.
3. After reviewing results for your format of interest always click “Return to Original Search” to return to the SmartBrowse Search Results screen. 

5.   Got a keyword in mind?  Look for collections that relate.

“2010 Emmy nominations were just announced!  I want to shop those titles!”

1. Search “Emmy” in the SmartBrowse search box.
2. Expand the Collections results.
3. Select the DVD format for 2010 EMMY NOMINATIONS; results will appear in a sortable list.

4. Click on column headings to sort your list. Try sorting by Sales Rank or Release Date to quickly identify hot titles.
5. Scroll through the listings; view product details, Emmy nominations, and Rotten Tomatoes reviews without leaving your search.

These are just a few examples of how to best use SmartBrowse for collection development. Play around with SmartBrowse yourself; share your insights and experiences here as comments.