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Cache in on Apps

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Anne Macdonald in Library Blog, Library Services, News

As of early 2013, mobile device users spent 158 minutes daily on their devices, and 127 minutes using apps. Only 31 minutes were spent on a browser. Most smartphone and tablet users spend 80% of their time on apps, of which 32% is spent on games and 18% on Facebook.

You don’t have to be a business librarian to find this information interesting. If you’re developing apps or wanting to publish online games, you NEED to know this information. For example, if you want to make a living from the app you developed, you need to know that the platforms get about a 30% cut of any revenue generated from your app.

Or, you have an electronic game you want to publish. Here is some industry trend information that may be of use to you: The global electronic games industry is so vast that it already rivals the categories of adult and children’s books in terms of total 2013 revenues (at least $65 billion globally including hardware, software and subscriptions).  Analysts at PWC estimated the global market for electronic gaming is $63.4 billion (2012), and projected growth to $86.9 billion for 2017. The “traditional” game segment (PlayStation, etc.) peaked, and will decline to $43 billion in 2016 (PCW), which at that point will be only about 50% of the total market.

The fastest growing segment is mobile games played on smartphones and tablets. Mobile gaming has, to a large extent, become an industry of its own, with startup firms such as Rovio and GungHo showing stunning growth. This is information you can use if you’re entering that market.

Is there a way to access this and other industry information in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand way? Can you get the industry and market trend information free?

Yes!

Computer User

All of the research and information above came from one source, Plunkett Research Online, one of the many business databases accessible from the Poudre River Libraries AnswerCache eResource collection. Plunkett Research Online tracks over 40 industries from Advertising and Branding to WiFi, Wireless and RFID industries. From Alternative Energy industry to Hotels and Hospitality industries, from Green Technology to Nanotechnolgy. Plunkett presents the total picture of an industry, including finances, markets, technologies, statistics, regulation, research and development and globalization; and provides financial and contact information for thousands of global and U.S. companies. Need gaming industry statistics? Need to know which trade associations might help you with your app development?  Need to know the leading game publishing companies? Plunkett has the latest industry and market trend information.

Plunkett Research Online is only one of several industry and market research publishers accessible through the Library’s business eResources. The Library also subscribes to First Research, a collaborative publication by Hoover’s, Dun & Bradstreet and Mergent. First Research tracks industry and market trends for over 900 industries, including finances, markets, technologies, regulation, research and development, statistics and globalization. Unlike Plunkett, First Research also provides business challenges, competitive landscape and cost benchmarks comparing industry ratios.

Other industry and market trend information can be found in the Library’s Encyclopedia of American Industries which includes detailed profiles of over 1,000 manufacturing and service industries; Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries which details industries that are pioneering new technologies, and newer industries such as biometrics, risk management services, satellites, special tourism and more; and  Encyclopedia of Global Industries which chronicles the history, development and current status of the world’s most lucrative and high profile industries.

Keyboard

Okay, back to apps: The most popular apps include games, such as Angry Birds, tools such as Google Maps, the Facebook app, and entertainment and media related apps, such as those for Pandora Internet-based radio and for leading newspapers. At the same time, important apps provide tools for business people, travelers, students, hobbyists, wine drinkers, people who like to cook, job seekers, students, children, sports fan, shoppers, car enthusiasts and myriad other special interest niches.

One problem for app developers, however, is marketing their products. Aside from “Top 10” lists on store web sites, it is difficult to reach potential consumers with new releases among the hundreds of thousands of others available. Developers are hiring “pay for install” companies that promise set numbers of installations (helping new apps to rise from obscurity to best seller lists). Costs for the service run from $1.50 per $1.80 per installation. Developers are also pre-buying a number of downloads. Analysts at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers estimate that developers are spending between 60% and 70% of their gross income on marketing (Plunkett Games, Apps and Social Media 2013).

First, there was dial-up and Internet service providers like the original AOL.com; we were “sometimes-on.” Then, with the adoption of broadband (via DSL, cable modem or smartphone) and higher Internet access speeds, we became “always-on.”  Now we’re “always-with-you.”  Soon, according to industry experts, the industry trend will be “always-around-you.”  We’ll be connected to, and collect data from, an astonishing array of objects ranging from automobiles to appliances and air conditioning systems to monitors that record our individual health statistics. We’ll have wearable computing devices, such as Google Glass, and embedded computing that enables rooms to recognize you when you enter and automatically configure nearby devices to your personal preferences.

You can find these and more industry trends by having the Library “always-with-you,” at home, at the office, coffee shop–anywhere you have Internet access by going to www.poudrelibraries.org eResources Business & Finance AnswerCache eResources. 

 

 

apps, behind the scenes, Business Resources, Library Services, material collection, News Release, technology Read More

Support the Library through Colorado Gives

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Paula Watson-Lakamp in Library Blog, Local Happenings, News

During this time of winter reflection and 2014 resolutions, we think about what is important in our communities; support the organizations that bring us local art, education and culture.

A great way to support locally is to participate in Colorado Gives Day on Tuesday. The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado serves as the Larimer County Regional Champion for Colorado Gives Day, an annual initiative to inspire and unite Coloradans to “give where they live.” One-hundred percent of every donation made on this day goes to the charity, you can even pledge in advance so you don’t miss the day.

A recent column in The Coloradoan helped to profile the wonderful local organizations that are seen on www.NoCoGives.org. Local public radio station KRFC has given of their time to highlight the local organizations also.

orange logo

This effort is truly a community wide “give” and Poudre River Library Trust would like to thank everyone who has stepped up to make sure these community nonprofits succeed in their missions to Northern Colorado.

Please let these nonprofits know you think their time and talent is important by pledging today, even a small amount will help!

READ ENTIRE COLORADOAN COLUMN

 

Thank you for helping us to enhance

Old Town Library and Library Park!

 

Learn more about the Poudre River Library Trust:

www.ColoradoGives.org/PoudreRiverLibraryTrust

 

Colorado Gives Day, Library Services, News Release, Poudre River Library Trust Read More

NaNoWriMo Midway

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Library Staff in Library Blog, Library Services, Local Happenings, News

I think the hardest part about writing for NaNoWriMo is that it’s a competition with yourself. You’re not letting down anyone but yourself, and if you think about all the things you could let yourself down with, what’s a failed novel, right?

I mean, of all the things to fail at, writing a novel is one that is forgivable, right? I mean, it’s not like I failed to fill the gas in my car, or do my laundry.

So, going to the write-ins at the library, and various other places like Panera, Lucky’s Teahouse, and the Wild Boar have been tremendously beneficial for me. There, you compete with other people, and if you get stuck on something, there is always someone there to brainstorm with.

In short, it’s fantastic.

The other hardest part of NaNoWriMo, I’m discovering, is research.

When I first set out to do my novel, which unfortunately involves a lot of dead characters, I realized something very important. I, in my admittedly banal experience in life, have no idea how long a body stays at a morgue. Are they easy to sneak into? What do you call someone who works at a morgue?

And sure, the silence that fell when I asked, “Does anyone know if morgues have opening and closing hours?”  was followed by laughter, but it always lead to very helpful answers.

But that’s sort of the fun thing about the write-ins. There is always someone who knows, or knows how to find out, and it cuts down on researching time and lets you actually get to writing those 50,000 words instead of trying to figure out what they are!

Still, it’s the end of second week hump, and NaNoWriMoers all seem to have wisdom about that. The trick is, I’m told, is just to keep writing. So I am. And if my face looks a little bit like this while I try to find the words, ah well.

nanowrimoface

November is now over… check back to see how my novel writing went.

early literacy, Library Services, NaNoWriMo, News Release, Novel Writers Read More

Meet Rosie – the bookworm robot living in Old Town Fort Collins!

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Library Staff in Library Blog, Library Services, News

Meet Rosie, one of Poudre River Public Library District’s hardest working staff members.

Named for Rosie the Riveter, this unrelenting worker helps the circulation staff with getting all of your materials back to the right shelves for you to find.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to your books when you feed them into Rosie (automatic materials handler), you may be disappointed to find out that magic elves aren’t involved in the process. But, don’t be disappointed for too long, because Rosie and her helpers may just impress you with a little bit of magic of their own.

To watch the magic… check out this video:
http://youtu.be/DY40NYHyA7o

As you may have noticed, at the Old Town Library, there are two automatic check-in boxes, (one inside and one outside) and one manual drop box. The manual drop box is there for those who don’t want a receipt or to wait for their book to check in. Both drops get your checked-in items to Rosie.

But before I can explain the next part, I have to ask you a question. Have you noticed when you open up a book, there is a sticker that says “Poudre River Library District”? That’s the book’s RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, each unique to each book. That’s why when you check out at Poudre Libraries, you only need to set your books down on the table-top self-checks and our computer automatically knows what books you are checking out!

Well, Rosie also can use the RFIDs to check-in your books and sort them for the circulation staff, which saves them a lot of work, and even better, a lot of repetitive hand sorting!

rosie1

Rosie sorts every book, DVD, and audiobook that gets checked back into the Old Town Library into nine different bins. Each bin contains different genres or codes, so circulation staff can efficiently re-shelve them, because the Library District has a floating collection, all the materials that Rosie checks in stay at Old Town Library until someone puts them on hold for pick-up at another location or drops them back off for check-in at a different library.

What happens at the other libraries that don’t have a Rosie to help out? Just take a look:

harmonycheckin

This picture was taken at Harmony Library in the check-in room after the 2 day flood closure, and every single one of those books has to be individually checked in, and then sorted to the right piles which the staff has to take out and shelve. What a difference Rosie can make!

However, Rosie is not quite as perfect as she sounds! The workers who use Rosie for manual check-ins find themselves inundated with books they want to read/check out! Every book and DVD that passes through their hands is a temptation! Okay, maybe it really is as perfect as it sounds.

So three cheers for Rosie! One of our libraries’ hardest and important workers!

 

AMH, behind the scenes, Library Services, material collection, News Release, technology Read More

NaNoWriMo Begins!

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Library Staff in Library Blog, Library Services, Local Happenings, News

Some of you may have heard the term “NaNoWriMo” bandied about, or seen posters at the library about “write-ins”, and thought maybe this was probably some sort of covert library gang that politely schedules meeting times in community room.

Fortunately, as accurate and awesome as that description may sort of be, NaNoWriMo is an international movement which is short for National Novel Writing Month. It takes place every November, and tens of thousands of writers try to complete a novel, or 50,000 words (which supposedly equates to a novel, but it’s really more of a novella).

It’s a crazy notion. Write 50,000 words in one month, and have a novel! It’s utterly mad, right?

Well, it may be mad… as in mad fun.

The Poudre River Public Libraries even make it more fun for writers who decide to torture themselves with this seemingly impossible task. With write-in, word-count competitions, and games to inspire further writing, it’s no wonder that NaNoWriMo participants in Fort Collins do so well!

Somewhere around 13-14% of NaNoWriMo novels suceed. The Fort Collins regional average? It hovers around 30% success rate, which is one of the highest in the world. That’s how great the support staff is for NanoWriMo.

At the Meet and Greet (don’t worry if you missed this! You can still join in all the Reindeer Games!) we did fun things like drawing our inner-editor, or basically that voice in our heads that stops us from completing a story because it needs to fix everything.

Here’s mine:

p51215.tf_25101318505912b.nanowrimo

What we do with this drawing is simple: get rid of it. NaNoWriMo is not a time to let our inner editors get the best of us! Either we give our inner editor to someone for safe keeping until December, or we destroy. It depends on what’s best for you. Some confessed to burying theirs, and others to burning them. I haven’t quite decided yet what I’m going to do with mine yet, but I may be climbing to the top of Horsetooth and letting loose in the wind because being dramatic is fun like that. Plus, it’s a good exercise.

As I said, the Fort Collins Municipal Liasons (NaNoWriMo support staff) are incredibly helpful. They have scheduled write-ins every day of the week, and have organized all sort of tricks to help us get the word flowing. What those tricks are, we don’t know yet, but the NanoWriMo alums have promised that it will be fun and beneficial to getting the book done on time.

One of their tricks that isn’t a secret, though, is this Yahtzee sheet which is meant to encourage our participation in all the events that will guarantee our novel getting finished.

p51215.tf_251013185011e28.nanowrimo_1

Now, I’ve been a NaNoWriMo-Er before, and I’m sad to say that I never get past 20,000 words. This year, however, I’m convinced I will be successful with the library’s help! I’m excited to be a first time NaNoWriMo-er at Fort Collins. Cheer for me, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

If you would also like to go, sign up at http://www.nanaowrimo.org and choose Fort Collins as your home region.

The weekly write-ins are:

Monday – Happy Lucky’s Tea House 232 Walnut Street 5-8PM
Tuesday – Panera Bread Company 2721 Council Tree Ave 5-9PM
Wednesday – Everyday Joe’s 144 S Mason St 5-9PM
Thursday – Wild Boar 1510 S College Ave 6-10PM
Friday – CSU Computer Lab 6-10PM
Saturday – College America, 4601 S Mason St 6-10PM
Sunday – Old Town Library, 201 Peterson St 1-5PM

Library Services, literacy, NaNoWriMo, News Release, Novel Writers Read More
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Including the collection of Front Range Community College, Larimer Campus