Hi
I'm totally in agreement with Laura/Matthew here - I think there's a good reason why freegal's the only provider and it's not because they've cornered the market. I'd put this in the same category as some of the high expense but low functioning Library Apps that seem to give heads of service something to impress their cabinet member with but end up as expensive white elephants. How many people will identify so strongly with individual council services that they'll install a "library app", "planning app" or "bins app"?
The first question should always be "is this new service meeting or stimulating a genuine demand?" and the only answer to this question is to conduct thorough research with your users and other authorities who may already have tried it. I'd ask for hard stats though as we're all sometimes a bit prone to exaggerate our successes and downplay our failures.
Kind regards
Phil Jones
Academic Liaison Librarian, ISES & ISE
Information & Learning Services
University of Worcester
Henwick Grove
Worcester
WR2 6AJ
Telephone: 01905 542566
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Visit the website of the ground-breaking Hive, a completely unique facility housing an integrated University and public library: www.thehiveworcester.org
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