LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Audiobooks interest group. http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:52:30 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PegasusLibrarian/~3/124BjFKiRk4/15-things-about-me-and-books.html Photo by Lin Pernille A while back, some other librarians revived an old meme. Way back then, I started this list. Today, I found it in my drafts. I was a late reader. I don’t remember exactly how late (being home schooled at that point was probably a blessing). I do remember being a little mortified when my younger sister and I were both reading the Little House books at the same time. She’s six years younger, and was a very early reader. I think she was four at the time. Part of our normal school day included my mom reading aloud to us. She did this well into my middle school years (at which point my youngest brother was probably 4-ish). She read everything from Charlotte’s Web to the Lord of the Rings while we kids did quiet crafts on the living room floor. The saddest I’ve ever been at the end of a book was when the dogs died in Where the Red Fern Grows. Mom was reading it aloud, and we kids were scattered around the room trying not to look at each other as we each bawled softly. What a day. I remember being curled up under the coffee table and pretty sure I’d never come out again. Dad tried to read to us at bedtime up until I was about 11. He was insanely busy getting a PhD from Harvard, though, so books would take us an astonishingly long time to finish. To this day I think of Great Expectations as a 1000+ page book. Each time we sat down to read, Dad would have to recap the entire book up to that point and then read a chapter. Luckily, Swallows and Amazons fell at a time when he could read to us at least a couple times a week. The first librarian I ever knew worked in the children’s section of our public library in Dorchester, MA. She had a cupboard way up high where she’d hide new books that she thought I’d like so that I could be the first one to check them out. ... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:44:25 +0100 825342 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibrariansMatter/~3/DvVADqrxgdw/ ….made up of scraps I had lying around that you might enjoy…eclecticism ahead… 1. Public libraries and the future Role of public libraries in supporting and promoting digital participation – from the British Museums, Libraries and Archives council , examining the role of the public library in the “Digital Britain” Strategy. The bookends scenarios: Alternative futures for the New South Wales Public Network in NSW in 2030 . Four possible scenarios are discussed – Silent Spring, Buildings Learn, Neuromancers and Fahrenheit 451 – based on matrix of the degree to which libraries and their content are valued and how orderly or chaotic society is.  The longer post I had about this is just not going to be finished, but Jo Ransom has written two great responses to it that are worth reading – Thinking about the bookends report , and Bookends scenario . 2. Digital preservation guides for small libraries Preservation guidelines – from the Digital New Zealand site, updated 8 March 2010. Has some great tips about backup formats and procedures. Creating and keeping your digital treasures – from the State Library of Western Australia, update 10 January 2010.  Written for a non-technical audience, it outlines the minimum file format and quality standards for material archived by the library . 3. ebooks Books in the age of the iPad .  by Craig Mod. March 2010. Beautitfully illustrated and laid out, this article distinguishes between “formless content” which can go digital without any loss and “definite content” that relies on its container for complete enjoyment of the work.  It discusses the future potential and advantage for both. Web standards for e-books by Joe Clark  at A List Apart . 9 March 2010 . ... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:05:40 +0100 825201 http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/LHALGZXP4qw/reading-multimedia-overload I love all the new literary platforms filling my days with fresh pickings, but I also miss taking one book at a timeTwo years ago, I had a very straightforward reading pattern. Every few days, I'd read a book. I would immerse myself in its characters and storylines, swim in its style, snatch every opportunity throughout the day to return to its enveloping world. Then I would finish it, and start another one. Things were so simple then.I wish I could blame it on the Christmas eReader, but my evolution into schizophrenic multimedia literature butterfly started long before it landed in my lap – via iPod and Audible, Twitter and Gutenberg, and brick-like new-writing magazines that take weeks to digest. My reading has taken on a strangely driven, guilty quality, as I try to justify the cost of all those subscriptions and all that hardware by consuming fiction in an unprecedentedly multiplicitous and simultaneous way. Secretly, I long to return to a world in which I had a loving, stable relationship with one paperback at a time.A day in my life as a literary butterfly starts at 7.30am, with a few snatched paragraphs of the short story in last weekend's Sunday papers over a morning cup of tea. By 8.30am, I'm fully plugged into my latest audiobook as I stride to the station. On the tube, it's the rush to plough through the story and poems in the latest, expensively imported edition of the New Yorker, before next week's lands on my mat. Throughout the day, I might catch up on a Twitter novel every few minutes, or check out the latest freemium offering from an enterprising new author. Lunchtime, and it's this quarter's Granta, now so stuffed with good things it has become Bolaño-weight and lives on my desk, banned from travelling. Back on the tube, I crack out the eReader, scroll past the 100 free books I haven't even dipped into, and try to settle into the download I just had to buy to see if it worked. ... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:37:30 +0100 824853 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/03/08/meet-adrian-praetzellis-audiobook-narrator-for-librivox-org/ Most of you are probably aware of LibriVox. For those who aren’t, it’s a FREE service offering audiobooks utilizing books and other text documents in the public domain. Simply download the audiobook either as a podcast (the book in three installments per week) or browse/search the catalog find what you want to listen to and then download as a Zip file. This page has more details and yes, you can listen to LibriVox content with your iPod,iPhone,iTouch, and in the near future, your iPad. Access the catalog (browse or search here) of audiobooks here. So, with that 30 second intro complete you might want to take a look and enjoy an interesting article from the Santa Rosa, CA Press Democrat. The article is about Sonoma State University anthropology professor Adrian Praetzellis, who is also a “narrator” of the books (more than 75 hours so far) LibriVox offers as audiobooks. From the Article: His solitary and unpaid exercise in story-telling has reached close to half a million listeners through LibriVox, a free and communally run library of digital audio recordings. The operation was started four years ago by young Montreal techie Hugh McGuire, with the altruistic mission of making as many texts as possible available to a limitless number of people around the world in audio format with no filters, no judgments and no fees. It not only is nonprofit {they’re having a fundraising drive at the present time], but has no paid administration. The only real restriction is that all the texts must be non-copyrighted and in the public domain. In the U.S. that would include anything published before 1923. Some 3,500 people like Praetzellis have posted recordings — 3,175 books and 65,000 other audio texts ranging from poetry and plays to government documents and important letters and speeches on the site, LibriVox.org. [Snip] What the Jewish Praetzellis has mastered well is Yiddish. ... Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:34:06 +0100 824604 http://liszen.com/trends/story.php?title=Comic_About_Trying_to_Download_Audiobook_from_Library Ouch! Web designer and cartoonist Brad Colbow calls this strip Why DRM Doesn't Work--but the subtitle reads "How to Download an Audiobook from the Cl (Source: pligg - all) Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:08 +0100 824443 http://lisnews.org/comic_about_trying_download_audiobook_library Ouch! Web designer and cartoonist Brad Colbow calls this strip Why DRM Doesn't Work--but the subtitle reads "How to Download an Audiobook from the Cleveland Public Library." Colbow's not taking a shot at Cleveland Public, but at the frustrating (for him--and, I admit, for me, too, as a patron) experience of trying to use Overdrive...one that ends with the strip's protagonist choosing to "give up on [the] stupid library" and head for BitTorrent. (Source: LISNews.org) Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:28:10 +0100 824375 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/netbib/DFxV/~3/dQ-thQFkzt0/ In dem Strip Why DRM Doesn’t Work – Untertitel: How to download an audio book from the Cleveland Public Library – werden die erforderlichen Schritte bis zum Anhören sehr schön beschrieben. Ähnliche Erfahrungen machte ich vorletztes Jahr, als ich die die Dienste der onleihe in den Bücherhallen Hamburg ausprobierte… Ein ähnliches Ärgernis sind ja die unerwünschten Beigaben auf gekauften DVDs, ich will nicht zwangsweise darüber informiert werden, dass ich den Film nicht auf einer Bohrinsel zeigen und auch keine Raubkopie erstellen darf usw. Die Unterschiede zwischen gekauft und (illegal) kopiert beschreibt diese Infografik , die auf Spreeblick eingedeutscht wurde, ganz gut… (Source: netbib weblog) Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:32:12 +0100 825177 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NetbibWeblog/~3/dQ-thQFkzt0/ In dem Strip <a href=”http://www.bradcolbow.com/archive.php/?p=205″>Why DRM Doesn’t Work</a> – Untertitel: How to download an audio book from the Cleveland Public Library – werden die erforderlichen Schritte bis zum Anhören sehr schön beschrieben. Ähnliche Erfahrungen machte ich vorletztes Jahr, als ich die die Dienste der onleihe in den Bücherhallen Hamburg ausprobierte… Ein ähnliches Ärgernis sind ja die unerwünschten Beigaben auf gekauften DVDs, ich will nicht zwangsweise darüber informiert werden, dass ich den Film nicht auf einer Bohrinsel zeigen und auch keine Raubkopie erstellen darf usw. Die Unterschiede zwischen gekauft und (illegal) kopiert beschreibt diese Infografik , die auf Spreeblick eingedeutscht wurde, ganz gut… (Source: netbib weblog) Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:32:12 +0100 823443 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Davidrothmannet/~3/txDaVQx9gmo/ I love these solely based on my experience as a patron of a public library, trying (and failing) to enjoy the ebooks and audiobooks they offer. I’m sure the good folks at the Cleveland Public Library have seen this by now: Click for full-size _______________ Feed-only Footer: A few books I think are essential. What else should I add to this list? What are the books that no medlib geek should be without? (Source: davidrothman.net) Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:03:05 +0100 823269 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/1R_makhBIQk/ A few months ago, I answered a questionnaire for John Hilton III, who was writing a journal article about motivations for creating Creative Commons-licensed derivative works. He was interested in interviewing me based on the version of Cory Doctorow’s book Content that I marked up for eReader. Now Hilton has gotten the paper published in First Monday, and here it is. He starts out by explaining what derivative works are, reasons for allowing them to be made from one’s own works, and that the study focuses on derivative works of the sort meant to extend the audience of the original rather than new creative efforts based on it. Hilton finds that there are two reasons people create derivative works: to make the work more accessible to others (e.g. converting into an audiobook for the blind), and to make the work more useful to oneself (e.g. converting into an eReader file for one’s PDA). The average time spent creating such a work, Hilton says, is 19 hours. Participants were on the whole glad they had created their derivative works, and had several ideas for encouraging the creation of more such works. I found this to be a decently-written study, even if the results did not exactly surprise me. It’s good that the Creative Commons is getting more attention. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:06:00 +0100 823124 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/VACfN7ju5uA/ This is a great comic entitled Why DRM Doesn’t Work or How to Download an Audio Book from the Cleveland Public Library. Unfortunately, the way is presented doesn’t let me reproduce it, copyright permitting, here. It is simply too big and if I made it smaller it would be unreadable. Be sure to go over and take a look. Thanks to Adam McDiarmid for the heads up. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:10:06 +0100 823136 http://www.lisnews.org/audiobook_drm_versus_patrons_cleveland_library BoingBoing Pointed the way to this funny because it's true comic: Audiobook DRM versus the patrons of the Cleveland Library. "This installment of the Brads webcomic shows the 22 steps a reader has to take in order to borrow a DRM-crippled audiobook from the public library. A compelling argument for libraries to boycott this stuff." (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:05:20 +0100 823784 http://lisnews.org/audiobook_drm_versus_patrons_cleveland_library BoingBoing Pointed the way to this funny because it's true comic: Audiobook DRM versus the patrons of the Cleveland Library. "This installment of the Brads webcomic shows the 22 steps a reader has to take in order to borrow a DRM-crippled audiobook from the public library. A compelling argument for libraries to boycott this stuff." (Source: LISNews.org) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:05:20 +0100 823110 http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-comic-showing-what-our.html A great comic showing what our patrons/customers can experience when trying to access any resources with DRM:The Brads-Why DRM Doesn't Work, or How to Download an Audio Book from the Cleveland Libraryhttp://www.bradcolbow.com/archive.php/?p=205I know that we as librarians must limit access to resources by non-authorized users, but some of the access-granting hoops our authorized users face are unacceptable. Our jobs are to reduce barriers to information resources. Really. (Source: User Education Resources for Librarians) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100 824176 http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.education.web4lib/15911 Interesting cartoon about DRM, public libraries, bit torrent and downloable audiobooks. http://www.bradcolbow.com/archive.php/?p=205 _______________________________________________ Peter Schoenberg                  (780) 496 1855 www.epl.ca (Source: gmane.education.web4lib) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100 823214 http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.education.web4lib/15912 Also, a good lesson on the perils of implementing a technology that's not already widely available. LEO (Source: gmane.education.web4lib) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100 823213 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/03/sacramento_publ_1.php No matter if it is a holiday or late at night when libraries are closed, there are numerous services Sacramento Public Library card holders may access online 24/7. A Digital Library Festival is planned from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, March 24, on 9th Street, between I and J streets, Sacramento (in front of the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria at the Central Library). Several booths will provide useful information of online library programs and services, as well as community resources, that include finding jobs, improving one's health and wellness, tracing a family's genealogy, grade- and subject-specific homework help for 3rd to 12th grade students, self-help law resources, small business assistance, self-paced language learning courses and test tutorials, how to invest money wisely, library volunteer and support opportunities, and more. The festival highlight will be the nationally-touring Overdrive Digital Bookmobile. The 74-foot tractor-trailer has hand-on electronic devices. It instructs visitors how to download eBooks, audiobooks, music, and videos which are available free from the library web site. For details, telephone the Sacramento Public Library at (916) 264-2920 or visit saclibrary.org Submitted by: Don Burns Sacramento Public Library The Sacramento Public Library is an Institutional Member of CLA and directly supports our advocacy programs. Click here for more information on Institutional Membership. (Source: CLA Weblog) Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:17:38 +0100 822914 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/bYBI38EGmo8/ This is part 5 of a 5 part interview with  84 year old Ohio author Jack Matthews. See also: Part 1 ,Part 2 , Part 3, Part4. Also: Jack Matthews (an introduction),  Jack Matthews: The Art and Sport of Book Collecting and On Choosing the Right Name for a story character by Jack Matthews.  The mobile phone is emerging as an important way for people to read; indeed, in Asian countries, authors are already writing specifically for phone owners. The challenge is writing in smaller chunks — so the reader is not required to read for extended periods on a smaller screen and can easily resume where he/she left off. For poetry, this isn’t a problem, but what about fiction? Does limiting chapter length to (for example) 400 or 500 words reduce the dramatic or literary potential for the story writer?  I don’t know — I like the rhetorical short jab (Obama mastered it by dropping his voice to briefly pause after every 5 to 15 words, suggesting conclusiveness, authority & mastery of the material, & this unfortunately got him elected). As for the technical modifications: I’m at a loss. I like to tell people that I’m still getting used to electric lights. A touch of hyperbole there, but I also collect antiquarian books. Do you think the ideas that led to your stories (and novels) could have been repurposed into bite-sized chunks for a cell phone? Only in the sense that a story’s or novel’s key situation can sometimes be contracted into one or two sentences. I once wrote a condensed version of Petronius‘ Widow of Ephesus in 200 words (see below). This works beautifully for what it is; for what it is not (i.e., a fully textured narrative), it doesn’t. Sound like double talk? Yes & no. THE WIDOW OF EPHESUS (From the SATYRICON, as retold by Jack Matthews. Read the original version by Petronius). ... Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:44:55 +0100 822829 http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/2WjIuu1Qo0c/audiobooks-classics-audible Audible is publishing lesser-known classics, including Shusaku Endo's Silence, as audiobooks for the first timeA trio of titles by acclaimed Japanese author Shusaku Endo, who was described by Graham Greene as one of the finest writers of the 20th century, are being published as audiobooks for the first time.Endo's Silence, a 17th century-set story of two Jesuit priests who go to Japan to spread the gospel, and his novels The Samurai and Deep River, are all being made into audiobooks by provider Audible as it launches a new publishing programme looking to unearth old classics and produce the unabridged audio exclusively as downloads.Audible is also bringing out the first-ever audiobook of Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness, a lesbian novel that was banned on publication in 1928, and five unabridged titles by Eric Ambler, who was once described as "the source on which we all draw" by John Le Carré."Although we've got 40,000 titles on the site we felt we wanted to be increasing the rate at which we added new titles, and we were feeling a little bit disappointed at how few titles were making it from print into audio," said Audible UK managing director Chris McKee. "We've been trying to find a seam of interesting titles where we can acquire the audio rights, because very often publishers are reluctant to let them go. These titles are just slightly below publishers' radars, so we can get in, get the rights and create exciting titles which otherwise wouldn't get into audio."Audible is also publishing downloadable audiobooks of Napoleon Bonaparte's novella Clisson and Eugénie: A Love Story, and six titles by respected British mystery writer Michael Francis Gilbert, with plans to continue to expand the programme with "dozens of new titles" over the next year, McKee said. "It's very easy to just say that what's selling in print should make it into audio, but we like to delve deeper, to look at titles which are timeless. ... Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:14:49 +0100 822732 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/03/#000687 Times of Trenton Sunday, February 28, 2010 Nicole Gough SPECIAL TO THE TIMES To the iGeneration, whose access to information is faster than ever, libraries may seem like archaic institutions that have fallen behind in the times. Images of weathered tomes and the labyrinthine Dewey Decimal System seem to have teens running in the opposite direction -- and toward a computer. But the Hamilton Township Free Public Library is one of many facing the challenge and adapting, merging books and the Internet and creating a more modern space for today's teens. Librarian Kathleen Breitenbach is piloting that change at Hamilton. "Prior to the library adding a specific teen librarian, service to teens and collection development in the teen department was handled by one of the reference librarians who had other responsibilities," said Breitenbach, recently hired and appointed head of Teen Services. "By having someone whose sole collection development duty is for the teen section, we can provide better service." One of the more difficult tasks the library faces is attracting teenagers and maintaining their interest in the library. In addition to updating the library's collections, Breitenbach plans to organize programs and committees that will cater to teenagers' needs and reignite their interest in the library. "We plan to offer a wide variety of programs, make our collections more current, do more outreach by visiting the schools and talking to teens where they are, and develop a teen advisory board," said Breitenbach. "Additionally, we are designing a space just for teens to hang out and study in the library." The library's new initiative and outreach plan will provide teenagers with more programs and utilities that are relevant to their interests and needs. ... Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100 823356 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/03/01/february-2010-most-downloaded-ebooks-and-audiobooks-based-on-libraries-using-overdrive/ The February rankings of the most downloaded eBooks and audiobooks have been released by OverDrive. Note: At the bottom of the rankings page (in the small print) you can learn more about the methodology used to compile the lists. On the same web page, you’ll find the Top 10 eBooks and Audiobooks in several categories. We’re only going to list the number one title here. Download Audiobooks – Adult Fiction 1. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown (Books on Tape) Download Audiobooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (Hachette Audio) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan (Listening Library) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Night, by Elie Wiesel (Audio Bookshelf, LLC) Download eBooks – Adult Fiction 1. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Download eBooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. SuperFreakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (HarperCollins) Download eBooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) Download eBooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (Penguin USA, Inc.) Access the Complete Rankings Source: OverDrive (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:19:06 +0100 822604 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/28/libraries-embrace-digital-future-with-ebooks-music-video/ From the Article: The [Shaler North Hills] [L]ibrary is letting [Phil] Breidenbach, 54, of Glenshaw and a handful of other patrons experiment with an Amazon Kindle, a hand-held device for reading online books. Shaler will be the first local library to lend such gadgets to the general public when it introduces them during National Library Week in mid-April. [Snip] “If books move to a format that doesn’t take up space, that will free up libraries to do other things,” said Marilyn Jenkins, executive director of the Allegheny County Library Association, a group of suburban libraries, including Shaler. The digital collection shared by city and suburban libraries has been mushrooming since 2005. Starting with nearly 250 titles, it has grown to 18,000 eBooks, downloadable audio books, downloadable video and streaming music titles plus eight databases with nearly a million tracks of music. During that period, the number of users has mushroomed from 82 to 4,500. [Snip] One obstacle: the lack of standardization in the publishing industry for hand-held devices. If a patron buys a new Apple iPad, for instance, the library may not have a license to provide a particular book on that device. “I would say they’ll have to have this resolved within five years,” Jenkins said. Access the Complete Article Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Source: ResourceShelf) Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:47:45 +0100 822173 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/zEWODwUkAC0/overdrive-releases-blackberry-audiobook.html OverDrive has announced the public beta release of an audiobook app for BlackBerry smartphones. OverDrive's BlackBerry audiobook app enables the wireless download of MP3 audiobooks from more than 10,000 libraries and major online retailers, including BarnesAndNoble.com, BooksOnBoard.com, and Borders.com (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:45:43 +0100 822136 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Librarianinblack/~3/gqKTHqxaIhg/mac.html After a lifetime as a PC user, today I bought a MacBook!  I am both excited and nervous, as literally the last time I used a Mac was in the junior high school newspaper club (oh yeah, you remember those little Apple computers!).  Needless to say, I’ve had enough experience with PCs, troubleshooting, software, tweaking, security-proofing, and speed enhancing that I could probably guide anyone else making the jump from Apple to PCs.  But I am in need of help myself right now! I will note that I am still the proud owner of an Android phone, and do still support the open development platform in general.  And I’m super peeved that most of our library’s audio books are now inaccessible to me.  Feh.  But…I had it up to here with Windows 7, with HP, and with skeevy Microsoft screwing around with substandard product releases.  So, here I am If you are a Mac person, please either comment below or email/IM/text/whatever me with any tips you have for a newbie Mac owner, particularly one who is used to running literally everything in a PC platform. (Source: LibrarianInBlack) Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:30:35 +0100 822170 http://lisnews.org/reaching_frosties By Molly Skeen Some people use and support the public library, no matter what. They visit the library regularly, borrow books, take the kids to story time, join the Friends, and visit new libraries on vacation. Let's call them the Fans. At the other end of the spectrum, there are people who never use the library, no matter what. They have their reasons. We could call these the Frosties. Between the two extremes, there's a broad range of library use patterns. Here are some numbers taken from a 2006 study titled Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public and Leadership Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century. When asked how many times they visited a library in the previous year, survey respondents replied with these frequencies: Not at all - 27% 1-5 times - 15% 6-10 times - 11% 11-25 times - 16% How can we convert library Frosties to Fans? And how can we engage the people who use the library once a year to use it more often? I'm convinced that a great many of the Frosties have needs and interests that could be met at the library, but they are simply unaware of specific services that could help them. Take Joe Frosty – a busy guy who works full time, takes the family camping, and likes to tinker with his car. He never uses the library, but maybe he would if he knew that his library provides access to EBSCO's Auto Repair Reference Center on its web site. Joe's son Jason is in middle school. He loves comics, but can only afford to buy one or two a month with his allowance. Jason doesn't know about the library's extensive manga collection. And there's Grandma Frosty, recently diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease. She'd like to spend more time reading, but watches daytime tv instead. Granny doesn't know about the large print and audio books she could be borrowing from her library. Most libraries do an excellent job of outreach and publicity for special programs. ... Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:44:03 +0100 821984 http://www.librarystuff.net/2010/02/27/audio-books-with-a-new-york-accent/ NYT – “In one room, Meade Esposito, the Democratic boss from Brooklyn, was tightening his grip on the Brooklyn waterfront. Next door, New York’s former mayor, John V. Lindsay, was struggling with the teachers strike of 1968. And in the third room, an idealistic young woman from the Midwest was trying to teach poetry at Rikers Island. It was just another day at a recording studio in Manhattan where New York stories are lifted off the printed page and into the spoken word for blind New Yorkers seeking audio versions of books about their city.” (Source: Library Stuff) Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:00:59 +0100 822015 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/lx28MiItEJ8/ EnGadget notes that Fusion Garage has missed its latest projected ship date of “by the end of February” for the JooJoo (nee CrunchPad) and now claims it will have a shipping update “by the first week in March.” When asked about possible production delays, Fusion Garage responded, “No comment.” Publishing Perspectives provides some clarification from a Nintendo executive on the rationale behind the 100 public domain e-books cartridge we reported on the other day. “It’s not really about trying to take on the e-book market,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo’s executive vp of sales and marketing for North America said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “It’s just one more way to enjoy your device.” British site Campaign Live covers a speech by Alan Rusbridger, editor in chief of The Guardian, at which he said that the New York Times and Rupert Murdoch’s paywalls were “completely antithetical” to the open principles of the web. The print version of the Guardian is the 9th or 10th-largest paper in Britain, but thanks to its presence on the web: "It’s now the second largest paper in the English language in the world and one of the eighth (sic) biggest suppliers of news content from newspapers in the world. "And if the New York Times does go behind a paywall, it’s likely that the Guardian will end up as the biggest English-language newspaper on the way.” Our fellow NAPCO-owned blog AppleTell has a very brief look at three free book-related iPhone apps: Audio Books, the New York Times app, and Amazon Mobile. Audio books in particular looks interesting; it connects to a library containing over 1,800 free audio books. I wonder if they come from LibriVox? Tools of Change has a great four-minute interview clip of Kirk Biglione from Oxford Media Works in which he talks about the impact the iPad will have on publishing. ... Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:15:00 +0100 821795 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/25/more-big-time-exposure-for-marilyn-johnsons-book-this-book-is-overdue-how-librarians-and-cybrarians-can-save-us-all/ Wow, the positive library/librarian related articles that are associated with Marilyn Johnson’s book just keep getting published. We’ve posted about the book several times. This post from a few days ago has links to all of the material we’ve posted about Marilyn and her book. You’ll also find a few comments, and links to buy the book, audiobook, and/or Kindle version plus being able to read & search the full text online for free (via Amazon.com’s Look Inside the Book program), Marilyn, is getting the library world the type of coverage many have wanted for years. Marilyn and her book are a one person marketing powerhouse. Today, Craig Wilson in the USA Today (big time coverage). reports on the book, a librarian, and the library system in Carroll County, MD A Couple of Brief Passages From the Text He doesn’t look like the clichéd librarian of old. He favors plaid shirts and is sporting a beard on his babyface — but that doesn’t matter to Johnson, either. She’s well aware that librarians wear many disguises these days. Often they’re pierced, tattooed, punk with bright blue hair. She loves them all. Who knew librarians had become so … cool? “They’re not saints, but ethically and morally and every other good way, they’re professionals. They’re good people.” And possibly endangered. “It turns out this is a good time to point out that we’re shooting ourselves in the foot if we let these people go from our lives,” says Johnson, 55, who lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. “We need them more than ever.” Source: USA Today (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:29:12 +0100 821435 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/25/overdrive-releases-audiobook-app-for-blackberry/ From the Announcement: OverDrive’s BlackBerry audiobook app enables the wireless download of MP3 audiobooks from more than 10,000 libraries and major online retailers, including BarnesAndNoble.com, BooksOnBoard.com, and Borders.com. To download the audiobook app for BlackBerry devices, including the BlackBerry StormTM and BlackBerry Curve. Access and Download the App via This Page The announcement also points out (again) that, “digital book apps for iPhone are planned in the near future.” We sure hope it’s soon. We also wonder if OverDrive is going to do anything special for the iPad (We bet they are)? Perhaps the ability to run iPhone apps on the iPad will make users of both of these products happy. Source: OverDrive (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:57:14 +0100 821438 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/R11hczVLflI/ BlackBerry is coming up in the world. OverDrive has just announced the release of a public beta of an audiobook app that can download audiobooks from libraries and major online retailers such as Barnes & Noble. The app can be downloaded here. Previously OverDrive released audiobook apps for Windows Mobile and Android, and they say that an iPhone app is planned for the near future. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:34:46 +0100 821421 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/y0grtDgmkbM/ I received the following email today from LibriVox.org, a site where people upload their own audiobook recordings of public-domain books. These recordings are themselves put into the public domain, so they can be used for any purpose just as the original texts can. I have used a couple of them myself in my podcast The Biblio File. Dearest LibriVox listeners, volunteers, & supporters: For four-and-a-half years, LibriVox volunteers have been making audiobooks for the world to enjoy, and giving them away for free. We’ve made thousands of free audiobooks that have been downloaded by millions of people; our site gets 400,000 visitors every month. To date, all our costs have been borne by a few individuals, with some generous donations and support from partners. However, these costs have become too big. For the first time (and hopefully for the last time for at least another four-and-a-half years) we’re asking for your support, for a $20,000 fund-raising campaign. Find out more about why we are raising money, and about how you can donate by following this link: http://librivox.org/2010/02/24/librivox-needs-your-help/ Thanks for all your wonderful work over the years, and here’s to many many more free public domain audio books. best, Hugh. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:25:42 +0100 821139 http://146.74.224.231/archives/2010/02/downloadable_ma.html More than 3,000 downloadable audiobooks, e-books, e-video and e-music are now available form Santa Clara County Library through its Overdrive and NetLibrary resources. Increasingly, Library patrons are discovering the convenience of accessing materials digitally. Here are some of the most popular titles: FictionThe Lost Symbol by Dan BrownStephanie Meyer's Twilight seriesNonfiction25 Things to Say to the Interviewer to Get the Job You Want by Dexter HawkThe 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss Children's BooksDiary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal and other titles from the series by Jeff Kinney"B" is for Betsy by Carolyn HaywoodA Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuinE-videosAladdin & the Magic LampDressed to KillSuper Size Me To view all titles, click on "Electronic Library 24/7" on the home page of the Library website: www.santaclaracountylib.org. (Source: Santa Clara County Library - The Latest SCCoop) Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:32:36 +0100 821151 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/hBS-ENt0pRs/ Final keynote of the day is a conversation between Kurzweil and O’Reilly. Kurzweil presentation on Blio: enabling factors in place for ebooks. Blio is free ereader with free and for pay books. With audiobooks combine audiobook with the text book. Can synchronize highlighting on the text with the audiobook. Can use text to speech to do the same thing if don’t have an audiobook. For textbooks include auxiliary website material directly into the book. Connect directly from a book to Wikipedia, dictionary definitions, highlight material, take notes. Conversation: For Blio what is the authoring environment: have an authoring tool that makes it easy to put stuff in. Underlying format is web based. Will be a lot of magazines doing it and ads can change after publication sold. Are there performance rights with TTS: expect few problems because publishers afraid TTS will take away from audiobook sales and here can combine the audiobook with the regular book. May be premium versions of books, just like with DVDs. Their DRM contract will allow user to use the book with multiple devices. Talking to some retail chains, manufacturers and publishers about incorporating Blio into books, themselves. What’s your position on DRM: It’s up to the publisher. Blio will not take the lead on that. What will ebooks do in the future: will be radically new business models in the future. Blio has powerful ways to search for free material. How about the pace of technology: Technology will continue to increase faster and faster and the pace will always increase. It is very predictable. Our intuition about the future is that it is linear, but the progression to the future is exponential. By 2020 the cost of a computer that can simulate the entire human brain will be $1,000. ... Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:03:08 +0100 820941 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/9A_XrME2pE8/ A lot of new stuff from them here. From the press release: OverDrive … announced today new services that will significantly expand its digital distribution network for copyrighted digital media. New digital book formats, streaming content services, and title discovery and fulfillment enhancements will be available in 2010, which will help OverDrive’s publishing partners, retailers, and libraries capitalize on accelerating market demand. During 2009, OverDrive achieved its fifth consecutive year of double digit growth and profitability by adding hundreds of retail, library, corporate, and school outlets for more than 1,000 publishers’ copyrighted eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video in more than a dozen countries. Building on this momentum, OverDrive will introduce new services for 2010, including: Content Reserve® Plus: OverDrive’s global distribution platform will integrate third party digital catalogs to add their eBooks, databases, music, video, and enhanced multimedia content to OverDrive’s network of retail and institutional accounts. In March, OverDrive will demonstrate interactive educational eBook products including “read aloud” features and DRM-free eBooks in “Open EPUB” and “Open PDF” formats at the Public Library Association National Conference in Portland, Oregon. OverDrive is now in negotiation with rights holders of databases, periodicals, newspapers, music by the track, HD and mobile streaming video, and reader apps to add their content to OverDrive’s current catalog of over 450,000 copyrighted digital titles. OverDrive Catalog Apps: OverDrive catalog apps, REST APIs, web services, RSS and other tools utilizing XML and open standards will enable mobile app developers and wireless devices to directly manage eBookselling, catalog access, discovery, and eCommerce support for customers of digital books directly from OverDrive-powered retail eBookstores, library catalogs, and other digital collections. ... Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:25:06 +0100 820805 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/22/2010-plans-to-be-a-busy-year-for-overdrive-with-new-ebook-and-distribution-services/ From the OverDrive Announcement: + OverDrive Digital Kiosk & Library eBook Devices: OverDrive will release the next version of its OverDrive Download Station software, which provides direct access to eBooks and other popular media inside hundreds of schools and libraries. OverDrive is also working with several PC, Tablet, Netbook, and eReader device manufacturers who will introduce products specifically designed for use in schools, libraries, and institutions to access OverDrive catalogs of eBooks, audiobooks, music, video and enhanced content. + Content Reserve Plus OverDrive’s global distribution platform will integrate third party digital catalogs to add their eBooks, databases, music, video, and enhanced multimedia content to OverDrive’s network of retail and institutional accounts. In March, OverDrive will demonstrate interactive educational eBook products including “read aloud” features and DRM-free eBooks in “Open EPUB” and “Open PDF” formats at the Public Library Association National Conference in Portland, Oregon. + OverDrive First Gear: Enhanced DRM-free eBook and audiobook excerpts for streaming or offline reading with direct “buy-it-now” options and coupons dynamically customized into each title. First Gear will also be able to connect readers with retailers, publisher and author websites, and fan communities. + OverDrive Catalog Apps OverDrive catalog apps, REST APIs, web services, RSS and other tools utilizing XML and open standards will enable mobile app developers and wireless devices to directly manage eBookselling, catalog access, discovery, and eCommerce support for customers of digital books directly from OverDrive-powered retail eBookstores, library catalogs, and other digital collections. + OverDrive MIDAS 2. ... Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:02:31 +0100 820631 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/0MIkAp9UpDI/ Tales2Go is a new application which streams audio readings to the iPhone or iPod. Tehy offer over 1,000 titles from 2 minute fables to 6 hour novels for kids. On download you receive a one month trial and then your can get a one year subscription for $30. Applications for the Blackberry, Palm Pre and Android are also under development. More information here. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:48:43 +0100 820105 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/Q4f3sKAu3UA/ So, it’s now been a month since I got my Kindle. Was it a worthwhile upgrade for me? Which features am I using and which am I finding lacking? Do I see myself buying another reader anytime soon? MY TWO REASONS FOR UPGRADING First, I must admit, I am really loving my Kindle. I use it daily and am finding that I am especially using the text to speech and dictionary features, which were the two things lacking in my Sony that prompted me to upgrade. I am not a huge music person, so I found that while walking to the subway or running errands or using the track at the gym, I was wasting a lot of time on the same handful of ipod songs. I was very interested in text to speech because I could use this time more productively—and unlike an audio book, where all you can do is listen, I could resume reading in the regular way when I was off my feet again. The TTS feature has definitely lived up to my expectations. On a typical day where I might listen on the way to work, on the way home from work, and perhaps for half an hour at the grocery store or post office on the way home, I can zip through 5% of a story. I have a huge backlog of books I haven’t read yet, so while there is something to be said for a leisurely enjoyment of a meaty story, there is something to be said as well for speeding up ones progress sometimes. I have been a lot more careful with my ebook buying this year, so I want to clear out some of the trashier reads so I can focus on the more quality offerings.The dictionary feature was something that when I first started reading ebooks, wasn’t a priority for me because I don’t need a dictionary when I read in English, and no readers at the time offered multi-lingual support for those who read in other languages. When I learned that the Kindle did, that was one of the ‘deal-breakers’ for me regarding continuing with the Sony. ... Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:00:54 +0100 820108 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/20/ingram-announces-deal-with-dept-of-defense-providing-downloadable-audiobooks-for-all-service-members-and-dependents/ From the Announcement: Ingram Content Group Inc. announced today [2/17] an agreement with the US Department of Defense (DOD) to offer downloadable digital audiobooks to military service members, their dependents, and National Guard members through MyiLibrary, Ingram’s market leading online e-content aggregation platform. The MyiLibrary Audiobook inventory for the DOD will make almost 3,000 titles available to their user community. This comprehensive inventory of frontlist and backlist downloadable audiobooks includes content from publishers including Blackstone Audio, Books on Tape, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., HighBridge Company, Listen & Live Audio, Inc., Naxos Audiobooks, and Penguin Group (USA), Inc. among others. The MyiLibrary Audiobook titles are being added to compliment over 500 e-Book titles the DOD has acquired over the last two years from Ingram Digital. This DOD offering will be launched through a number of DOD MWR (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) branch library web sites including; Army Knowledge Online, Navy Knowledge Online, My Air Force, Army One Source and Military One Source. [Snip] Ingram will authenticate DOD users via a new robust methodology that integrates seamlessly with the DOD’s knowledge portals. This new methodology, Personal Account Self Service (PASS) allows users to create personal accounts to checkout and download audio titles after authenticating against the library’s IP addresses. Once a personal account has been set up, the user can access the library’s collection, check out, and download audio titles remotely from anywhere in the world by logging into their personal account. Source: Ingram, ATG (Source: ResourceShelf) Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:21:25 +0100 819988 http://stephenslighthouse.com/?p=3257 This is ALA’s poster from World War I, the Great War. I wonder what the READ posters look like for Iraq and Afghanistan today? Can anyone point me to the one where they’re told their hometown library card lets them (soldiers) use the free online resources from their laptop and phone in the war theater? It would be great to relieve those boring times back on base with a free eBook, audiobook, game or articles to finish my coursework back home. I know Wyoming State Library has done a great job with this kind of promotion for their MP3 audiobook library. Has any other library carried out a strategy to market themselves to local soldiers in the field? I know that it’s not small numbers with tens of thousands Army Reserve and National Guard deployed in addition to regular troops in the region alone and more troops and civilians in other international settings. It’s not a small or unimportant market for libararies – especially since they’re young and will return to their families with a positive view of libraries if we take action now. I think there have been 7,500 National Guard from Massachusetts alone in the Middle East since 2001. I’d like to promote these strategies here so they can be flattered by the copies. Stephen (Source: Stephen) Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:35:15 +0100 819846 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/lsRSdVVGNCo/ Ingram has teamed up its MyLibrary e-content aggregation platform with the DoD to offer audiobooks to military service members, their dependents and National Guard members. According to the press release almost 3,000 titles will be available through a number of DoD Morale, Welfare & Recreation branch library sites including: Army Knowledge Online, Navy Knowledge Online, My Air Force, Army One Source and Military One Source. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:10:31 +0100 819731 http://liszen.com/trends/story.php?title=DOD_offers_audiobooks SIP2 for libraries of all types, IP Authentication with User Identifier for academic institutions and PASS for libraries of all types that cannot sup (Source: pligg - all) Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:00:34 +0100 819542 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/02/will_kindle_kil.php For my birthday this year (forgive me if I don't tell you which one), a beloved relative gave me the new Amazon Kindle, which we have all seen touted as the next big thing in terms of books and literature. It's a fine device, and I like it a great deal. For one thing, I love being able to download a book to read anyplace I am, with just the click of a button. Many a bus ride in Los Angeles has been made more palatable by my ability to download the sample first chapter of some book and then read it for free. And, when I am doing my reading for my MLS classes as part of the Cal State Northridge/ University of North Texas SLIS program, almost nothing is nicer than to download full text journal articles to the Kindle and then make the type bigger so I don't get the dreaded Library School Eyestrain. Publishers and publishers' agents apparently loathe Kindles because they lose money on people downloading e-copies of books instead of buying the more expensive, inky editions of the volumes. By that argument, though, publishers and agents have also long hated libraries, who have actually served as the ancient version of Kindles, lending out books for people who don't buy them. Those agents and publishers have clearly forgotten their childhoods, when a beloved librarian read them "Amelia Bedelia" at their Storytime for Twos session. When the Kindle - and now its Sony analogue, The Nook - was first released, a variety of pompous (and oddly smug) prognosticators of technology gleefully predicted how these electronic devices would either spell doom for libraries or, at least, force libraries to totally change their shape and form. ... Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:35:00 +0100 819527 http://blogaboutmurphy.blogspot.com/2010/02/looking-for-free-audio-books.html There are a number of different audio book services, using either ITunes, or Audible, that allow you to purchase audio books and play them on a portable player, but did you know there is also a free service for audio books? Introducing Librivox, a service whose goal is to  “To make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet.” Public Domain materials are creative works that are not protected by copyright and may be freely used by everyone and this includes many older works of fiction.  Librivox won't have the new bestseller by Dan Brown but it will have a number of classic works like "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" or Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".  All of these works are available as mp3 downloads that don't require any special software, and you can listen on your computer, transfer them to an mp3 player, or burn them to a cd.    Librivox has 5 fundamental principlesLibrivox is a non-commercial, non-profit and ad-free  Librivox donates its recordings to the public domain Librivox is powered by volunteers Librivox maintains a loose and open structureLibrivox welcomes all volunteers from across the globe, in all languagesYou can browse the entire catalog, or search for a particular author or title. Maybe you are interested in horror stories, or mysteries.  You can also browse by genre, and subsribe using one of their rss feeds, including a feed for new releases.  If you are already an ITunes user, you can subscribe to Librivox audio books in ITunes.  They have put together a page of useful instructions for new users on how to listen and subscribe to their content.If you are looking for newer materials in audio book format you can also download audiobooks from the CLC Library's website.  You can search our catalog, or browse My Media Mall website. ... Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 820000 http://marincountyfreelibrary.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_marincountyfreelibrary_archive.html#4798225611849507943 Looking for a bargain? Come to the Book Place, the Friends of the Marin County Free Library used book shop! You'll find books in every category: fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, children's books, collector's items and much more, like CDs and audiobooks.The shop is open seven days a week and has unbeatable prices, with books starting at just a quarter. All proceeds are used for special programs, needs, and materials for the Marin County Free Libraries.Store Hours:Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: 10 am - 4 pmWednesday: 12 noon - 4 pmFriday: 10 am - 7 pmThe Book Place is located at 1608 Grant Avenue in Novato. Call 415-209-0212 for information. (Source: Marin County Free Library Blog) Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 819613 http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/2010/02/17/2010-audie-award-nominees/ The Audio Publishers Association has announced their nominees for the best in audio books.  Here are the nominees in the children’s and teen categories:   Ages Up to 8 A Dog on His Own by M. J. Auch, narrated by William Dufris Arabel’s Raven by John Aiken, narrated by Sneha Mathan Friend or Fiend with the Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume, narrated by Kathleen McInterney and Judy Blume Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems, narrated by Mo and Trixie Willems Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo, narrated by Barbara Rosenblat   Ages 8-12 A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck, narrated by Ron McLarty Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen, narrated by Tom Parks The Midnight Charter by David Whitley, narrated by Simon Vance Operation Yes by Sara Holmes, narrated by Jessica Almasy Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate by Adrienne Kress, narrated by Christopher Lane   Teens Going Bovine by Libba Bray, narrated by Erik Davies In the Belly of the Bloodhound by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren Mississippi Jack by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by Dion Graham Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, narrated by Jeannie Stith (Source: Kids Lit) Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 819386 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-click-audio.html The Santa Fe Public Library is absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of One-Click Audio!"What is One-Click Audio?" you might ask. It's a collection of audiobooks that can be downloaded to your home computer, iPod, or MP3 player. Just like checking out a CD audiobook from the library, these downloads are free!We have over 2,000 titles, and get new books every month! The list of One-Click Audio titles can be found here. We also have them linked from our Media & Large Print listings. To download them, you'll need to create a free account on the One-Click (NetLibrary) site. The One-Click site also has fantasic Help Pages if you need technical assistance.Also, these One-Click Audiobooks will be showing up in our general catalog. If you see the following icon, you know it's a One-Click! Happy Downloading to you, until we meet again! (Source: ICARUS... the Santa Fe Public Library Blog) Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 818738 http://hunterlibrarynews.blogspot.com/2010/02/beginning-february-15-2010-western.html Beginning February 15, 2010, Hunter Library offers patrons access to a newly-acquired collection of 750 downloadable audio books. These books have been made available through NC LIVE, North Carolina’s statewide online library, with a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the State Library of North Carolina.These audio books are compatible most MP3 devices, including iPods; and book subject areas focus primarily on classic literature, history, biography, and language learning. The books are available to patrons both within Hunter Library and outside the library via an Internet connection. Hunter Library patrons have free, online access to the collection through the library’s website (WCU login will be required for off-campus users).As a participant in the NC LIVE Audio Book pilot program, Hunter Library is one of the first libraries in North Carolina to have access to this collection of audio books. Later this spring, NC LIVE will extend the program and make the collection available to all libraries across the state. NC LIVE purchased the audio books through Ingram Digital and is making them available through the MyiLibrary® Audio Books platform. MyiLibrary® is the Ingram Content Group’s industry-leading e-content aggregation platform for public, academic and professional libraries around the world.Members of the Hunter Library staff are excited to offer the new content to their patrons, and are interested in hearing what patrons have to say about the collection. Feedback and questions can be directed to Metadata Librarian Anna Craft. (Source: Hunter Library News) Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 818432 http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.education.web4lib/15802 OverDrive Media Console is a free, easy-to-use application that handles all aspects of your download media experience. to use the OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks available for download at many public library and retail websites. Built with the user in mind, OverDrive Media Console Mobile makes downloading easy. It offers title navigation, bookmarking, and the ability to ‘resume from most recently played point’. OverDrive Media Console Mobile is an all-in-one solution for enjoying OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks on your Android mobile device. to makedownloading quick and easy. Each Part is no larger than 40MB; you can enjoy a title after one Part has finished downloading instead of waiting for an entire book to download. If only a given Part is of interest, you can simply download that desired Part. for audiobooks). The beginning points of these sections are MediaMarkers™. When you click on a Part, the MediaMarkers associated with that Part are displayed. Simply click on a MediaMarker to jump directly to, and (Source: gmane.education.web4lib) Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 818012 http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/7Pxptl0qAQQ/lovely-bones-baby-juggler-forsyte The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Read by Alyssa BresnahanMacmillan £24.99, unabridged 11hrsFrom her vantage point in heaven, Susie follows the lives of her splintered family in the years following her brutal unsolved murder. It's an astonishingly real and poignant portrayal of a broken family, and Alyssa Bresnahan's narration is remarkable for its sensitivity.The Baby Juggler by Sara Lloyd. Read by Adjoa AndohCreative Content £10.99, 80 minsHow to juggle "three kids, two jobs, one life" – the recurring circus metaphors are both apt and catchy in this clear-sighted, practical advice, first published as a blog, from a successful working mum who has retained her sense of humour. As she says, in this business if you don't laugh you'll cry.The Forsyte Saga Volume 1 by John Galsworthy. Read by Peter Joyce assembledstories.com £13.49, 4hrs 36mins Soames Forsyte is a wealthy man of property. He has investments, owns a prestigious new house, paintings, a delicate rosewood table and a beautiful wife, Irene, who does not love him. Immensely well narrated by Peter Joyce, with nine more volumes promised during 2010.AudiobooksRachel Redfordguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:05:56 +0100 818053 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/Q4mmCZVHBsw/overdrive-audiobook-app-now-available.html "OverDrive has announced that its audiobook app for Android is now out of beta and available as a full release. OverDrive's audiobook app for Android enables users to wirelessly download MP3 audiobooks from more than 10,000 libraries and major online retailers, including Barnesandnoble.com, BooksOnBoard.com, and Borders.com. Major devices, including DROID by Motorola, DROID Eris, and Nexus One, can now be used to access OverDrive-supplied MP3 audiobooks on the go" (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:18:34 +0100 817836 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/02/help-by-kathryn-stockett.html If our area library group The Big Read had not chosen The Help by Kathryn Stockett as its community book, I might never have listened to this audiobook about the lives of black maids in Mississippi in the 1960s. I rarely read fiction and usually avoid anything on the fiction best seller lists other than books by Alexander McCall Smith or J.R.R. Tolkien. But they did, and I did, and I'm pleased with how it all worked out. The Help is a fascinating book with interesting characters and a generous serving of history.Being a baby boomer, I knew a lot of what Stockett writes about The Help - the Civil Rights Movement, the Jim Crow laws, the KKK, ladies bridge clubs, etc. I grew up in West Texas, which was a bit removed from the Deep South, but we still had segregated schools and neighborhoods for the few blacks in our small town. The concern of the Jackson, Mississippi ladies for segregated toilets in their homes was a revelation to me. My grandparents were the only people I knew in Big Lake with a toilet in the garage, but they never hired maids. My grandfather liked to run the Hoover himself when he came in from the ranch.While I enjoyed the characters of Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny, I think Hilly Holbrook may the name to remember years from now. Early in the book I wondered if Hilly would just be a pathetic comic target, such as Frank Burns in M.A.S.H., but her evil expands as the narrative progresses. I hope to never cross anyone of her kind but to have courage of my convictions if I do. I also enjoyed the comic touches in The Help. Stockett changes moods very effectively throughout the book.I listened to The Help on an audiobook featuring four readers, one each for the three main characters of Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter and another reader for the chapter about the Junior League benefit for children in Africa. ... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 817783 http://dltj.org/article/role-of-library-in-future-of-reading/ A popular topic coming across my radar screen is the future of reading, and more specifically the role of libraries in the future of reading. Much of commentary seems to have been inspired by the announcement of the Apple iPad device, but it isn’t necessarily limited to that. Here are three exemplars, in no particular order, followed by some of my own comments.Joshua Kim, senior learning technologist and an adjunct in sociology at Dartmouth College, posted a commentary called Popular Nonfiction, Academic Libraries, and Audiobooks at Inside Higher Ed. Joshua does an interesting comparison of the availability of “popular nonfiction” in paper and audio book format. He took his list of 197 audiobooks from Audible and cross-referenced them with availability of paper copies in his academic library. To his delight, he found that the library had paper copies of nearly three-quarters of them. It was his second question, though, that got me thinking: “Should academic libraries supply borrowers with the book format that matches their preferences and learning styles (paper, e-paper, or audio)?”Josh Greenberg, Director of Digital Strategy and Scholarship at the New York Public Library, posted an entry on his blog late last month called Books, iTunes, and rental. At the top of his post, he is “wondering about the business model for books in the iTunes Store, and whether there will be an opening for circulating (particularly public) libraries or not.” He strikes a comparison between the ability to rent self-destructing movies from iTunes and how that can be a new business model for book publishers. To bring this into the realm of libraries, he suggests we “imagine an option for an institutional iTunes account, where a given user would add a library card number to their iTunes account and their library would pick up the tab when they “rent” books (or, plausibly, even other media). ... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:52:39 +0100 818807 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/02/three_libraries.php CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has announced the winners of the fourth annual Bookapalooza program. The three libraries selected to receive a collection of children's materials are the Foundation Schools (Md.); Monterey County Free Libraries; and the Richmond Public Library. The collections consist of books, videos, audiobooks and recordings produced in 2009 and submitted by children's trade publishers for the 2010 award and media evaluation committees. Intended to help transform each library's collection, the Bookapalooza award provides an opportunity for communities to use these new materials in creative and innovative ways. The Bookapalooza program aligns with ALSC's core purpose of creating a better future for all children through libraries. The Foundation Schools serve approximately 400 children and adolescents, in grades one through 12, who suffer from an emotional disability. Students are referred to the Foundation Schools when the public schools have exhausted all other options to meet their special needs; in addition to emotional and behavioral problems, many students who come to the school have fully diagnosed learning disabilities or learning deficits, a history of school failure and deficits in the essential skills necessary for school success. Currently, the school's library is small and outdated, leaving students uninspired and uninterested. The Bookapalooza collection will transform the library into something students can use both academically and recreationally, aiding in the success of students at the Foundation Schools. The Monterey County Free Libraries in Greenfield, CA, serve a large Oaxacan community, which presents a number of challenges and struggles. Oaxacans come from Chiapas, the poverty-stricken region in Mexico bordering on Guatemala. ... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:20:13 +0100 817858 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/haU0Ar90ja8/ Received the following press release from OverDrive this morning; OverDrive … announced that its audiobook app for Android™ is now out of beta and available as a full release. OverDrive’s audiobook app for Android enables users to wirelessly download MP3 audiobooks from more than 10,000 libraries and major online retailers, including Barnesandnoble.com, BooksOnBoard.com, and Borders.com. Major devices, including DROID™ by Motorola®, DROID Eris™, and Nexus One™, can now be used to access OverDrive-supplied MP3 audiobooks on the go. To install OverDrive® Media Console™ for Android v1.0, visit the Android Market on your device or download directly from http://overdrive.com/software/omc. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:03:34 +0100 817332 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/11/joshua-kim-on-popular-nonfiction-academic-libraries-and-audiobooks/ Kim, a Learning Technologist, Asks Three Questions: 1) Should academic libraries purchase popular nonfiction? 2) Should academic libraries supply borrowers with the book format that matches their preferences and learning styles (paper, e-paper, or audio)? 3) Where does meeting staff needs for both collections and formats fall into the purchasing priority for academic libraries? Source: Inside Higher Ed (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:01:11 +0100 817381 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/11/nypls-paul-leclerc-and-nine-other-luminaries-look-ahead-to-the-business-of-reading/ Access the Complete Article Commentary from: 1. Kurt Anderson 2. Katharine Weymouth 3. Jimmy Wales Already there’s a large movement of consumers generating all kinds of information online, and in many cases the quality is much higher than the content produced by media companies. This doesn’t mean people don’t trust newspapers, but they’ve lost their exclusivity as an authoritative voice. 4. Steven Brill 5. Marc Andreessen Businesses built on the written word, like publishers, have to reinvent their whole businesses from top to bottom if they want to survive, because the economics of the Internet and the online world are different than in print. I think that’s becoming increasingly obvious to people, but I worry that there’s this temptation to hold on to the old model, and I fear that tablets are feeding that temptation. 6. Jeff Jarvis 7. Jeannette Walls 8. Paul LeClerc, president and CEO, New York Public Library It’s important to note that libraries have never been afraid of technology. There is lots of evidence that libraries have embraced new technologies as soon as they come along. [Snip] We’ve got one arm around all the traditional kinds of forms of human expression — stuff on paper. But the other arm is wrapped around digital information, e-books as well as subscriptions to an extraordinary number of databases so we can provide our readers with access to information they need, regardless of the format. Our position is to be nimble, to move quickly, to exploit technology, to give our readers what they want when they want it. One of the most popular parts of our collection now are e-books. We do two things. Let’s say we want to buy copies of Catcher in the Rye, because the ones we have on the shelves are sort of beat up. ... Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:55:12 +0100 817382 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/09/book-review-in-the-digital-age-librarians-are-pioneers/ On Sunday, we linked to an interview of Marilyn Johnson, author of This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. An audiobook and Kindle edition are also available. Today, the book is reviewed in the Boston Globe by Judy Bolton-Fasman. Here are two paragraphs from the review: Among information professionals, Johnson notes there are librarians and archivists: “Librarians were finders [of information]. Archivists were keepers.’’ But the information revolution is affecting both. She affectionately portrays archivists as magicians that deftly distinguish between detritus and artifact, capturing history before it disappears because of a broken link or outdated software. For Johnson, archivists are the unsung heroes of the library, cataloging idiosyncratic, often paper-based collections. The digital age is making possible the creation of searchable databases of archives, but it’s also making information, especially on the Internet, more ephemeral and harder to collect. On the art of cataloging Johnson reflects, “Who knows how many people are invisible because their stories don’t fit into our categories?’’ Here is an area in which the digital revolution offers help. Some of the invisible are brought to our attention by a group of sharp, blogging librarians who are not the stereotypical shushing, cardigan-wearing guardians of the reference room. Johnson introduces these ultramodern librarians as “open, casual, approachable, dedicated to demystifying technology and networked to the eyeballs . . . the public face of the twenty-first century librarian.’’ Source: Boston Globe (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:21:59 +0100 816770 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/08/author-interview-opening-the-book-on-librarians/ From the Interview: In “This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All”* (Harper, 288 pp. $25), writer Marilyn Johnson has created a nuanced and adoring look at modern librarians — how they are remaking America’s public libraries in the internet Age while protecting the nation’s civil liberties. Here are two exchanges from the interview. Q. You’ve written this quirky book about modern librarians. Why? A. Librarians have had my back for so long. They helped me so much when I was a magazine writer and when I was writing my book on obituaries. With the new book, I realized I was writing about a profession that was undergoing seismic changes. Q. There seems be a gap between some librarians who are technophobes and often a younger generation that embraces blogs and virtual libraries to promote their work. How is the use of new technology shaping up? A. I found that there is not really an age demarcation. There are older librarians that are as technically savvy as anyone. There are also librarians that are not comfortable with the new technology. It takes a tremendous amount of attention and commitment to embrace the new technologies. * An audiobook and Kindle version are also available. Source: Newark Star-Ledger (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:59:34 +0100 816478 http://www.roselle.lib.il.us/Newsletter/2010/02/visit-your-library-wednesday-feb10.html VISIT YOUR LIBRARY, WEDNESDAY, 2/10!Just a reminder that this Wednesday, February 10, all day, Illinois libraries are participating in "Snapshot Day, One Day in the Life of Illinois Libraries."We will be collecting information, comments, and photographs from events in a typical library day. The results will provide indisputable proof that libraries consistently provide invaluable services to our community.If you can't visit the Roselle Public Library in person, you can always visit electronically! Visit our website, use our online resources, download an audiobook or ebook from our download service eMediaLibrary, or visit one of our social sites: the Network (of course!), fan us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, friend us on YouTube, "see" us on Flickr!Most important, please send us your thoughts and comments about the Library. We love to hear from you!Thanks for supporting your Library! (Source: What's New @ Roselle Public Library) Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 817428 http://www.frbr.org/2010/02/06/last-week-in-frbr-14 Hi. I usually get this out on Fridays, but I hope you don’t miss it because it’s coming out on Saturday this week. Seems like it was a slowish week in FRBRania. The first couple of pieces involve the RDA-L mailing list archives (RDA being, of course, the new cataloguing rules Resource Description and Access) and also Karen Coyle . Mix and Match: Mashups of Bibliographic Data Mix and Match: Mashups of Bibliographic Data at the recent American Library Association conference had people from Google talking about Google Books metadata, OCLC talking about ONIX, and the Open Library talking about the Open Library. Eric Hellman was there and wrote it up in Google Exposes Book Metadata Privates at ALA Forum, which a lot of people have been pointing out, including on RDA-L. Karen Coyle, who was the Open Library person at the session, brought the four FRBR user tasks into talk about alphabetical ordering of titles: In FRBR we have the four user tasks: find, identify, select, obtain. These are fully imbued with the assumption of user knowledge. “to find entities that correspond to the user’s stated search criteria (i.e., to locate either a single entity or a set of entities in a file or database as the result of a search using an attribute or relationship of the entity);” This seems to eliminate the possibility that the user could be successful in the library catalog with a need like: “I just finished Twilight and loved it. What else might I like?” Yet that is a legitimate query to bring to the library, and even to the library catalog. Perhaps we should spend some time re-writing the FRBR user tasks, expanding them to meet a wider variety of user needs. Then we could look at our catalogs and say: “What does this mean in terms of catalog functionality?” I maintain that alphabetical order will not be at the top of our list, but will probably appear along some user tasks. ... Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 815845 http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/eFPB1khZA8c/audiobooks-review-roundup-sue-arnold Sue Arnold on The Spoken Word | The Life and Works of Chopin | Hoffnung at LargeThe Spoken Word: The Bloomsbury Group (131mins, British Library, £15.95)So many biographies, histories and memoirs have been written about this bunch of writers and artists whose unconventional behaviour and opinions influenced 20th-century literary, cultural and sexual attitudes that the mere mention of Bloomsbury makes most people groan. Take heart. This isn't about the Bloomsbury group, it is the Bloomsbury group, alive and kicking, thanks to the miracle of the audio archive. They're all here – Leonard and Virginia, Clive and Vanessa, EM Forster, Duncan Grant and co – sounding (especially the women) as if they're speaking through mouthfuls of plums as they talk about student life at Cambridge, those Thursday evening At Homes at 46 Gordon Square and, of course, each other. The only recording that exists of the clique's leading luminary, Virginia Woolf, is a snippet from a radio talk she gave in 1937 where, in tones so perfectly modulated they scarcely require her lips to move, she doubts whether the thousands of young men and women presently studying literature under hundreds of erudite professors wrote any better than they would have done 400 years ago "uncriticised, unlectured, untaught". The secret of writing, she advises, is understanding the complexity of words. They don't come separately but properly used "hang together" so perfectly you cannot imagine them ever being divorced."The splendid word 'incarnadine', for example – who can use that without remembering multitudinous seas?" Much as I enjoyed the stories about Lytton Strachey's piles, which made visiting a friend in his Spanish mountain retreat on muleback tricky, the parties and the japes (once they all dressed up as Abyssinian diplomats and were piped aboard HMS Dreadnought and entertained by the admiral), it's the descriptions of VW that I remember most vividly. ... Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:07:10 +0100 815675 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/31vL-Eo-H_0/ Of course I live by RSS feeds, that’s how I do 90% of the content of TeleRead. I’m sure most of you, if not all of you, know about the free ebook site ManyBooks. But did you know that ManyBooks divides its books into about 60 categories and you can get an RSS feed for any, or all, of them? The feed will alert when when new books of that category are added. If you like history books just subscribe to the History feed. You can also get feeds on audiobooks, pirate tales, espionage, cooking and many, many others. Go over there and sign up for a feed that interests you. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:00:42 +0100 815105 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/2qiATn6GdSY/nc-live.html "Through member library web pages and online portals, NC LIVE delivers a wide variety of high quality digital content to North Carolina's students, faculty, and library patrons. While the content collection is constantly growing and changing, it includes full-text eBooks, magazines, newspapers, and journals, as well as image files, streaming video and downloadable audiobooks. In addition, NC LIVE provides business and investment data services and career development and enhancement products. Users can access NC LIVE's online library 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any location with an internet connection" (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:17:30 +0100 814725 http://www.roselle.lib.il.us/Newsletter/2010/02/download-from-home-new-audio-and-e.html 115 new titles have been added to the Library's download service at eMediaLibrary, bringing the collection to nearly 2,800 titles; including over 2,400 downloadable audiobooks and 354 ebooks.Among the new titles are James Patterson's new YA book Witch and Wizard in both audio and ebook formats; The Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World in audio; Nicholas Sparks' Dear John (e-book), Robyn Okrant's Living Oprah and a plethora of romances for February!See the entire list of new titles.Use this free service to download titles to your personal computer anytime, 24/7.Listen to the audiobooks on your PC or transfer to an MP3 player. some titles can be burned to CD and most titles are compatible with your iPod and iPhone!Read the eBooks on your PC or transfer to a portable device and read-on-the-go. Most e-book titles are compatible with your Sony Reader or Nook.Your Roselle Library card and PIN are all you need to get started. If you're new to eMediaLibrary, the Quick Start Guide can help you get started.Visit eMediaLibrary at http://emedialibrary.lib.overdrive.com and try it today! (Source: What's New @ Roselle Public Library) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 815209 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/01/overdrives-most-downloaded-ebooks-audiobooks-from-the-library-jan-2010/ Most Downloaded Books from OverDrive We list the #1 title here. A total of 10 titles are listed in each category on the web page. Download Audiobooks – Adult Fiction 1. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown (Books on Tape) Download Audiobooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (Hachette Audio) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (Listening Library) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Night, by Elie Wiesel (Audio Bookshelf, LLC) Download eBooks – Adult Fiction 1. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Download eBooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown and Company) Download eBooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) Download eBooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (Penguin USA, Inc.) Rankings are based on a formula that includes books checked out and/or on a waiting list for the month of January 2010 at more than 8,500 public, private and special libraries worldwide. Download Audiobooks include WMA and MP3 formats. Download eBooks include PDF (Adobe), PRC (Mobipocket) and EPUB (industry standard) formats. Source: OverDrive (Source: ResourceShelf) Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:07:49 +0100 814205 http://hedgehoglibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/02/day-in-life-of-hedgehog-librarian.html This is my third weekend this month, wrangled around from holiday swaps, usual weekend, and trying not to use all of my vacation time in January. It'll mean 8 hours on the desk today--four of which midday I'll have help from one of our part-time desk staff. 9:00 Back on desk. Check the calendar for any programs I've forgotten:  there's an X-Box Tournament today for 13 and older. Our younger gamers (11-12) will be crabby about that but we're partnering with local gaming store and there will be adult, guessing they put the age limits in place. 10:15 Remind myself that patrons may be reacting not to me personally but to something in their environment over which I have no control. I was friendly and polite, that's all I can do.  10:23 Grandparent looking for shape books.  Point out Green labels on picture book denoting "concept books." (Shapes, ABC, Numbers, etc). Shoot email to Madame Storyteller, are we going to move those to a collected area? 10:30 Plans for this spring (maybe spring break ish?): go through the entire chapter book collection and figure out what series we own. Our Lady of Cataloging told me there's no way to do this via Horizon and I'm still figuring out what all we have, what is a series I need to check on. I did a lot of work with the weeding last year so that cleaned out a bunch of the "we only have book 3" but I want a better sense so I can keep up with new releases.  11:00 Chat with Dr. Knitter Mom who I know mostly online. Hear details of her sock club involvement. Drool accordingly. Share Unique Sheep Website.  Part time person joins me for desk.  Get to hold Patron Age 7 months.  12:00 Consult with Circulation re this afternoon's tournament. Apparently people drove in for this from a couple of hours away, are already waiting to queue to get onto team list (limited to 16 teams I think?). ... Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:19:00 +0100 814047 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TameTheWeb/~3/_syOIgILSio/ I think a lot of us monitored the chatter or tuned into a faltering U-Stream yesterday to hear Apple’s announcement of the iPad. ( I think I was a bit more fond of iSlate or just “Slate” myself) But now the fact-finding, opinion sharing and general “what will it mean for consumers?” begins – as will all of the “what will it mean for libraries” conjecture. Phil Bradley, across the pond, weighed in this morning: http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2010/01/first-thoughts-on-the-ipad.html I’m really keen on the idea of using it as an e-Book reader. It’s the first item that I’ve looked at which actually makes me think I’d really actively enjoy reading from it. Again, I can read from the iPhone, and this is going to be a better experience. Not so keen that the iBookstore is US only at the moment – until I can buy a book there and then, download it and just start reading, I’m not going to be buying one. That for me IS a deal breaker. I want to go onto a site, choose a book that’s been published today, download it and start reading there and then. Download the morning newspaper? Grab my favourite magazine – absolute requirements for me. Is this going to kill the Kindle? I think it will, yes – at least if the Kindle stays in its current incarnation. Simply can’t see the value in buying one, certainly not on price comparisons. Price. £450 or thereabouts for the largest size wifi (without 3G) is going to be fine by me. I don’t need instant connectivity to the net – I have a laptop/dongle and iPhone combination for that. Though the idea of running around with iPhone, iPad and laptop and dongle and any iPad peripherals is not a great idea. I suspect that I’d use it at home on my wifi, download what I need, power it up and be on my way. ... Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:38:22 +0100 812803 http://dltj.org/article/mashups-of-bib-data/ This year the ALCTS Forum at ALA Midwinter brought together three perspectives on massaging bibliographic data of various sorts in ways that use MARC, but where MARC is not the end goal. What do you get when you swirl MARC, ONIX, and various other formats of metadata in a big pot? Three projects: ONIX Enrichment at OCLC, the Open Library Project, and Google Book Search metadata.Below is a summary of how these three projects are messin’ with metadata, as told by the Forum panelists. I also recommend reading Eric Hellman’s Google Exposes Book Metadata Privates at ALA Forum for his recollection and views of the same meeting. ONIX Enrichment at OCLCRenee Register, Global Product Manager for OCLC Cataloging and Metadata Services, was the first to present on the panel. Her talk looked at a new and evolving product at OCLC on the enhancement of ONIX records with WorldCat records, and vice versa. 1As libraries, Renee said “our instincts are collaborative” but “our data and workflow silos encourage redundancy and inhibit interoperability.” Beyond the obvious differences in metadata formats, the workflows of libraries differ dramatically from other metadata providers and consumers. In libraries (with the exception of CIP and brief on-order records) the major work of bibliographic production is performed at the end of the publication cycle and ends with the receipt of the published item. In the publisher supply chain, bibliographic data evolves over time, usually beginning months before publication and continuing to grow for months and years (sales information, etc.) after publication. Renee had a graphic showing the current flow of metadata around the broader bibliographic universe that highlighted the isolation of library activity relative to publisher, wholesaler, and retailer activity. ... Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:14:52 +0100 814461 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/3dCp7ujPLsg/ Larry Kirshbaum, LJK Literary Movement; Ken Cader, PUblishers Lunch; Ken Brooks, Cengage Learning; Evan Schnittman, Oxford University Press; Mike Shatzkin, moderator If you were publishing a book this month and did an ebook simultaneously what percentage of total sales would it sell?: They answer: 17% at highest to 5%; 10% now and 35% lifetime; 6% to 15%; 10% Apple and Google enter the market, what will this do?: They answer: good news for publishers because add big players to compete with Amazon; Amazon will continue to grow but its share will fall; Apple is just an experiment at this point, but Google will have a major impact; Amazon becoming device agnostic with release of Blackberry app and huge potential for further growth; industry needs Amazon, bookstores and big box stores and has to find a model that works for all of them Erights: new Amazon 70/30 deal will not affect major best sellers but will be beneficial for smaller titles International rights: will territorial rights survive with ebooks? don’t see why it should change anything and technology may mak e it easier to enforce; defining territories will be a real mess – where you are, where you bought the device, where you are when you buy the book, etc?; maybe better to split rights as “world English” and “translation”; Will legacy publishers need to scale down in the next few years: physical infrastructure will need to go down; fixed costs will be cut throughout the supply chain; publishers have cut to the bone and don’t need to be smaller they need to be more responsive; large publishers have one major thing on their side – they can still create “magic”; science of aggregating audiences may take away from the necessity for “magic” Other comments: in audiobook world a Netflix model has been very successful and this will work well and get bigger in the library model; Digg ... Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:52:12 +0100 812480 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/01/jane-boleyn-true-story-of-infamous-lady.html Why does Julia Fox use the word "infamous" in the title of her book Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford? As described by Fox, the sister-in-law of Henry VIII's second wife seemed to have been just a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. She mostly did as she was expected. Her parents aspired to have her marry well, so she was sent to serve Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. There she met and married George Boleyn. When Henry broke his bonds with Catherine and the Roman Catholic Church, he married Anne Boleyn, George's sister. Jane only did as expected in serving her sister-in-law, prospering with her new family while Henry's beneficence lasted. When Anne and George lost their heads for treason against their king, Jane miraculously survived to live temporarily in reduced circumstances until she reentered court to serve Henry's third, fourth, and fifth wives. In the service of fifth wife Catherine Howard, she was condemned for keeping the queen's secrets (what ladies were expected to do) when her ultimate allegiance should have been to the king. In Fox's account, Jane's sole misstep was not retiring to the country to live in obscurity when she had a chance.Only in the epilogue to Jane Boleyn, after the subject's beheading, do readers learn origin of her "infamous" character. According to Fox, royal historians needing to spin history to favor both the queens and the king used Jane as a scapegoat, recasting her as a manipulating woman who designed both Anne Boleyn's and Catherine Howard's falls. Using original sources, Fox found no condemnation of Jane in her lifetime.Why should we be interested in a sideline character? Jane Boleyn may not have been in charge or even able to control her own fate, but she was close to events that changed the politics and culture of Great Britain. She saw much that would impress any subject of the realm. ... Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 812424 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/01/forty-years-of-simon-and-garfunkels.html Why don't you write me,A letter would brightenMy loneliest evening.Architects may come andArchitects may go andNever change your point of view.When I run dry,I stop awhile and think of you.I'd rather be a forest than street.Yes I would.If I only could,I surely would.Jubilation,She loves me again,I fall on the floor and I'm laughing.Tom, get your plane right on time.I know that you've been eager to fly now.Hey let your honesty shine, shine, shine.Da-n-da-da-n da-n-da-daLike it shines on me.Sail on, silvergirl,Sail on by.Your time has come to shine.All your dreams are on their way.In the clearing stands a boxer,And a fighter by his tradeAnd he carries the remindersOf every glove that laid him downAnd cut him till he cried outIn his anger and his shame"I am leaving, I am leaving"But the fighter still remains.I'm taking a day off audiobooks to listen to this favorite old album. (Source: ricklibrarian) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 812162 http://pfplreaders.blogspot.com/2010/01/ebooks-available-through-library.html Effective January 25, you can borrow eBooks through the library for use on your Barnes & Noble Nook or your Sony Reader. You can search them on the same page that you search for downloadable audiobooks - go to pburglib.org and click on ListenNJNW. You will need to download and install Adobe Digital Editions eBook software on your computer - instructions are available on the web site. (Source: Book Lover's Blog) Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 812825 http://caslisottawainformation.blogspot.com/2010/01/ottawa-public-library-acknowledged-for.html When Ottawa made the short list for the 2010 intelligent communities of the year award at the annual conference of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) on January 20, the Ottawa Public Library’s (OPL) digital inclusion programs were singled out as actively using broadband and information technology to excel in today’s global economy.“This international recognition confirms the important role that the Ottawa Public Library plays in the education of our future community leaders,” says Councillor Jan Harder, OPL Board Chair. Ottawa was commended for its commitment to using information technology for education that helps young people prepare for knowledge-based careers in the community.OPL offers a dynamic array of digital products and services to its patrons. It has seen consistent, year-over-year increases in visits to its web site, which numbered more than five million in 2008. And in 2009, electronic database usage was up nearly 20 per cent over the previous year.BiblioCommons, the new catalogue introduced in 2009, is an example of constant technical and usability enhancements to ensure that information is accessible in a way that keeps users engaged. The new catalogue is easier to use, has greater search relevancy and provides social networking tools so that people can share information and interests.In 2009, circulation of digital media such as audio books, e-books, and music increased by 90 per cent over 2008. Patrons can download these items from the OPL web site and many of the holdings may be transferred to a personal listening device such as an iPod or iPhone so that users can learn on the go.High-speed wireless Internet access was first piloted at the Ottawa Public Library in 2007. Since 2008, it has been available in all 33 branches of the OPL. Users enjoy online connectivity in OPL branches that allows them a place, other than school or home, to continue studying, working and living online. ... Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 812658 http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/byrhh0QoAkc/audiobook-human-croquet-snergs-scarlet Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson. Read by Patricia HodgeRandom House Audio £13.70, 3hrsAlthough the slipping in and out of time becomes rather irritating, the crisply narrated story of the Fairfaxes, mysteriously abandoned by their louche mother (murdered? eloped?), is minutely observed. Aunt Vinny – vinegary, with shreds of tobacco in her mouth – resembles "a tortoise trying to eat brown lettuce".A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. Read by David Timson Naxos £16.99, 4hrs 45mins unabridgedIf Conan Doyle had written only this first novel introducing Holmes to Watson (newly returned from service in Afghanistan), he would have deserved his reputation. The murder of two Americans in London is revealed as revenge for a grievous wrong perpetrated by members of the Mormon community. Superb.The Marvellous Land of Snergs by Edward Wyke-Smith. Read by Peter Joyce assembledstories.com £18.49, 6hrs 30mins unabridgedPublished in 1927, this sophisticated, funny and magical story (beloved by Tolkien) is perfect escapism. Sylvia and Joe find themselves lost in the land of little people, befriended by court jester Gorbo and pursued by a child-eating giant. Spellbinding for any age.AudiobooksRachel Redfordguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:06:32 +0100 811290 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/5pRaqFjyBvA/ I was visiting my library’s web site the other night and clicked on over to the digital downloads section to see if any new eBooks showed up. As an avid eBook reader and librarian, I know we’re pretty lucky with our public library services here in Ohio to have the opportunity to download eBooks and other materials to use. Problems and Challenges! However, Ohio libraries, much like others across the nation, are increasingly being stretched to the limit to offer both traditional services such as employment help and children’s storytimes as well as digital services such as eBooks, audio books and others. Other problems extend far beyond what libraries offer their communities. Nationwide, many politicians see the library as an easy target for cuts. In addition, voters are increasingly tired of additional tax levies on the ballot, even if they might be something for the common good such as libraries. A final challenge libraries face is mental, that is the mind of the patron. For anyone considering eBooks, do you go with a commercial vendor such as Amazon and the Kindle or Barnes & Noble and the nook—or do you first consider seeing what, if anything, your local library might have? If libraries do not even come to mind, then why should the voter be taxed for a public library when the commercial market can offer better services at a lower cost? You: The Patron! Library patrons are changing—and demanding their library change as well. Increasingly, you, me, us—we are all seeing increased digital usage of the library, even when it might not be fully capable of provisioning those needs. In a report made available from the American Library Association entitled Libraries Connect Communities 3, it’s interesting to read just exactly what people expect of their library. ... Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:00:28 +0100 811152 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/FsPWcCPvDe4/ There is a lot of debate among authors over the idea of publishing original work electronically. While I find this an interesting topic, and am heavily invested in figuring out the various answers to all the questions it presents, there is another area I feel is being slighted. Original fiction tends to take over the minds of authors and to consume them; the project of the day is the one that requires immediate attention. This, I think, has led the world of digital publishing, as often as not, to debate new works in e-book form rather than the much more intriguing, and possibly more important, avenues digital publishing opens for out-of-print and obscure works that have already had their day in print. Recently I took a good hard look at the contents of my hard drive. I’ve been writing fiction and getting it published since the mid 1980s, and I have accumulated quite a pile of words over the years. Most of the short stories I’ve written – numbering in the hundreds – have been published in anthologies, magazines, or in on-line magazines. They came into print, proceeded on out of print, and dropped into obscurity. In a very few cases stories have been picked up for reprint in newer anthologies, or year’s best collections. I have been fortunate enough to have several collections of my work published, as well. That’s how publishing has worked through the years.As I browsed through those old files a couple of months ago, I had a sort of epiphany. When print was the only answer, it was a logical progression for a story to reach the point where it languished in a file cabinet or on a hard drive. You got paid up front for your work. If there were ever royalties on the original publication where your work appeared, you got your check on a bi-annual or quarterly basis, but the number of readers who discovered a particular story dwindled over time. Enter the Internet, e-books, and common sense. ... Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:00:11 +0100 811154 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/01/dropping_in_at.php The other day, while working at my West Los Angeles area library, I noticed an unattended backpack on a table. Given that unattended bags are a no-no under most circumstances, and in this era of watchful terrorist activities in particular, I summoned one of the library's security guards, who took the bag away and stored it righteously in the Lost & Found room downstairs. It was only a few moments later when the owner of the bag, a seemingly unbalanced gentleman, in stained blue jeans, a torn hoody, and sunglasses, returned to his former table and started roaring that we had stolen his bag. I attempted to approach the gentleman to mollify him, and to tell him that his bag was safely stowed in the Lost and Found, but he went right off on me, yelling and howling and calling me a variety of vituperative names that would shame my mother. I backed up on my heels, never turning my back on the patron, and attempted to inch my way to my desk, where the library's security guard panic button was kept. The gentleman advanced upon me, blood and vengeance in his eyes and intentions - but then another patron rushed forward and tackled the first man. This second man was not dissimilar from the first: He was balding, with dirty blue jeans and a torn denim jacket. The two men rolled around on the floor, punching and hitting and biting. They picked themselves up and flung themselves at each other again, rolling onto a computer table and hitting the terminal, which fell over sideways with a crunch. Patron sitting at the Public Access Stations nearby leapt out of the way to preserve their skins. Finally, the library's security guards showed up, pulled the men apart and dragged them off and away. Alas, it turned out subsequently that no charges could be pressed against neither man, as both of them were drunk and were in no condition to testify against each other. ... Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:45:00 +0100 812154 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/01/morning-at-reference-desk-questions-we.html This morning has been what I still think of as a "typical" shift on the Reference Desk, When I started out in a big-city library, the Reference Desk had 3 incoming phone lines, lines of people around the desk waiting for help, and librarians took one hour shifts on the desk, one hour off to recharge. It was like working at a fast-food joint, but handing out answers instead of burgers. Now, libraries are busy, but in a different way, with questions coming in by email, blog comments, faxes and sometimes Twitter. We don't take text messages yet, but it could happen.This morning's questions:A late-breaking (8:55 pm Tuesday says the call slip) research question about commodity prices.A Girl Scout leader asking about the best way to publicize G.S. programs and distribute flyers.A colleague at another library asking about what databases we have and which might be discontinued due to lack of state funding.Emails with incoming blog comments in Chinese to approve or reject. We don't accept comments that are selling things.A public internet computer froze twice on the same patron and needed to be fixed.I started to try out a new database using a trial subscription, but immediately ran into techical problems with it.Questions about our downloadable audiobooks and how to renew them.A man wanted recommendations of mysteries for his wife, but not "spy stuff."A caller wanted the music and lyrics to a song by Irving Berlin.Many interlibrary loan requests piled up on my CPU.Request for the phone number of the Better Business Bureau.Caller asked for book with funny title, something about "Guernsey potatoes."Request for a book that went out yesterday for a local book club.Do we have a copy of the 9/11 Report? (yes)That's it so far at noon, 9 hours to go. (Source: Berkeley Heights Public Library Book Blog and Buzz) Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 812717 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/01/20/youth-book-awards-announced/ The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston on Monday.  Place holds on copies of the award-winning books available at the library: John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature - When You Reach Me written by Rebecca Stead.* Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children - The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney, Mildred L. Batchelder Award to the publisher of the outstanding translated book - A Faraway Island written by Annika Thor. Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for author and illustrator of distinguished beginning reader book - Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!:  A Toon Book written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes. Pura Belpré Author Award (cosponsored by REFORMA) for outstanding writing by a Latino author - Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez. Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (cosponsored by REFORMA) for outstanding illustration by a Latino artist - Book Fiesta!  Celebrate Children’s Book Day/Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros illustrated by Rafael López and written by Pat Mora. Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for outstanding book of information - Almost Astronauts:  13 Women Who Dared to Dream written by Tanya Lee Stone. Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video - Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! produced by Paul R. Gagne, Weston Woods Studios, and Mo Willems. Michael L. Printz Award for literary excellence in young adult literature - Going Bovine by Libby Bray. YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction - Charles and Emma:  The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman. ... Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:50:45 +0100 810245 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/new/index.php/2010/01/19/youth-book-awards-announced/ The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston on Monday.  Place holds on copies of the award-winning books available at the library: John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature - When You Reach Me written by Rebecca Stead.* Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children - The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney, Mildred L. Batchelder Award to the publisher of the outstanding translated book - A Faraway Island written by Annika Thor. Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for author and illustrator of distinguished beginning reader book - Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!:  A Toon Book written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes. Pura Belpré Author Award (cosponsored by REFORMA) for outstanding writing by a Latino author - Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez. Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (cosponsored by REFORMA) for outstanding illustration by a Latino artist - Book Fiesta!  Celebrate Children’s Book Day/Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros illustrated by Rafael López and written by Pat Mora. Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for outstanding book of information - Almost Astronauts:  13 Women Who Dared to Dream written by Tanya Lee Stone. Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video - Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! produced by Paul R. Gagne, Weston Woods Studios, and Mo Willems. Michael L. Printz Award for literary excellence in young adult literature - Going Bovine by Libby Bray. YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction - Charles and Emma:  The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman. Odyssey Award (cosponsored with ALSC) for outstanding audio book - Louise:  The Adventures of a Chicken written by Kate DiCamillo. ... Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:56:28 +0100 810028 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2010/01/19/notes-from-ala-midwinter-2010 Here are a few random notes from the weekend - the best part of the conference is talking with other librarians, and of course the free stuff. Apps: Past or Future? Despite not having a cell phone, I still ended up talking a lot about apps at the show. Gale has a great approach for AccessMyLibrary. Check out the Librarian in Black’s writeup, but what I liked about it is the geolocation authentication: it shows you all libraries within 10 miles, and lets you into their (Gale) database - no typing in library card numbers. At the LibraryThing party, there was lots of talk about LT’s new Local Books app. Some people loved it, and some people didn’t (especially the Android user I talked to, who couldn’t find one for his phone). This also led to an interesting discussion on whether or not apps are even needed - one theory was that if the mobile version of your website is good enough, then you shouldn’t need a separate app. Therefore, a good app does some kind of mashup not possible on the website. Then again, I also heard that apps are on their way out in 2010. eBooks: Present and Future This is an area I’ve been paying attention to, and I still learned a lot. The eBooks that Overdrive offers are in epub and pdf formats, and circulate just like their audio books. But the best part is that they work on the Sony Reader and Nook - I did not know that. Apparently they have lots of both fiction and non-fiction titles, so I’m going to explore this avenue for my library. Gale also offers eBooks, but I forgot to ask about the format. What I did like was that they aren’t limited to one user at a time - they were more like a database, where anyone can log in, search and use them. I also saw a demo of B&T’s new eBook software, Blio (pronounced blee-O). ... Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:43:46 +0100 809794 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/TUzFsDf7Kl0/american-library-association-announces.html The American Library Association has announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults - including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards - at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:50:18 +0100 809874 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/UeaoIROjg2E/and-winners-are.html Today, the American Library Association announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards. They give out many awards for everything from nonfiction to audiobooks, but the most famous are definitely the Caldecott and the Newbery. Here are some of the award winners of teen interest:Michael L. Printz Award (given for excellence in literature written for young adults)Winner: Going Bovine by Libba BrayHonor: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah HeiligmanHonor: The Monstrumologist by Rick YanceyHonor: Punkzilla by Adam RappHonor: Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John BarnesThe Schneider Family Book Award is given for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience. The winner in the young adult category was Marcelo in the Real World written by Francisco X. Stork. Walter Dean Myers won the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has written many exceptional books for teens including Fallen Angels, Monster, and Sunrise Over Fallujah. The William C. Morris Award honors a book written by a first-time author for young adults. This year's winner was Flash Burnout written by L.K. Madigan. The Odyssey Award is given for excellence in audiobook production and is not age-specific. One of the honor audiobooks was In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber by L. A. Meyer.Look for these books at the library! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:11:32 +0100 809793 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/TAaB6Y3KgqE/ I picked up my Amazon Kindle from a local Craigslist seller. Luckily for me, this gift to her hadn’t worked out. The price was $300, or $65 less than the original buyer had paid with a case and shipping and customs fees added in. Selling my Sony PRS-505 should bring me $250. Hooray! I’ll be out a mere $50. No flowers but comfortable to hold The Kindle is very comfortable to hold in the black leather case. I can fold back the case while reading. The Sony case, the one you see with the flowers, won’t let me. I love the pictures of authors that the Kindle’s screensaver shows on the E Ink screen. A quick flip of the power switch, and the reader is on. The five-way controller took a little getting used to. The first thing I did was head into the preferences to register the device. When I tried to get back to the Kindle store after that, I accidentally pressed “un-register this device” and nearly lost all the progress I’d made. I also almost bought two books accidentally. I wanted to get the free sample and couldn’t get the cursor moved down to that button without accidentally pressing the “one click buy” button. Oops! It defaults to the “’buy now” button, so I’ll have to be careful if just browsing. The lock-in factor: Why I don’t plan to buy many books the Amazon store I don’t plan to make many purchases from the Amazon store as I have plenty of content from elsewhere right now and am worried about buying content locked to only one device. But one of my primary motivations for getting this device was the option to use a French dictionary with it. So my first step was purchasing this dictionary, the Merriam-Webster French-English Translation Dictionary (Kindle Edition). It was easy to click on the “buy now” button and get it loaded onto the Kindle. ... Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:20:43 +0100 809365 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/01/15/overdrives-video-service-grows-larger-with-new-content-catalog-passes-10000-title-mark/ From the UPDATED Announcement: OverDrive. the leading global distributor of eBooks and audiobooks to libraries, today announced that it has expanded its download video catalog to more than 10,000 titles from top suppliers including PBS, Starz, HDNet, and Magnolia Pictures. In addition, new download video content will be added throughout 2010 as a result of recent agreements with Digital 1 to 1, Diva Video Access AG, Film Movement, Films Media Group, Independent Film Channel (IFC), Rooftop Comedy, Sundance Channel, and more than a dozen other suppliers. Source: OverDrive (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:51:58 +0100 808668 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/01/#000656 By Cranford Chronicle January 14, 2010, 12:55PM KENILWORTH — Is your family budget tight and getting tighter? Are you looking for ways to cut back on spending but hate to give up some of the things that you enjoy? Do you want to take full advantage of what the Borough of Kenilworth has to offer? If so, then there is no better way to start the New Year than with a visit to the Kenilworth Public Library. Getting a card is quick and easy – just bring your driver’s license or other form of identification with proof of address and you can start checking out items from our collection the very day you sign up. And you can put that old stereotype of cranky librarians to rest – our staff members are both knowledgeable and friendly and they’ll have you feeling like library regulars in no time at all. Best of all, the library really does have something for everyone. The book collection features the latest best sellers along with a comprehensive collection of fiction, mysteries, romance, biographies and non-fiction covering a wide range of subjects and authors, with many titles also available in large print. Not interested in books? The library also subscribes to more than 60 magazines plus six daily or weekly newspapers. For the younger set, the library has an extensive collection of books arranged in separate collections for teens, elementary school students and the picture book set. Reading’s not your thing? Not to worry, because the library is proud of its DVD collection of nearly 2,000 titles, all of which can be checked out at no cost for a three day loan period. For music lovers, there is a collection of approximately 1,000 CDs covering a wide range of musical tastes, from kiddy to classical, and with everything in between. For those who do love books but prefer to multitask, the library also has an ever growing collection of audio books that can either be checked out on compact disk or downloaded directly through access on the library’s webpage. ... Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 810287 http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2010/01/jills-service.html Lots of people, who are unable to come to the service have asked to be kept informed. The following is as close as I can get.In the words of others: “She was kind, funny, hard working, and committed”. “Jill was someone very special - she had a positive energy and a smile that was really catching.” “She was a unique individual with a fantastic sense of humour.” “She was such a wonderful woman.” “She was one of the kindest & generous of ladies who had a fantastic sense of humour, infectious personality and always had a fantastic outlook to life.” “I am honoured to have had her in my life.” “I have very fond memories of Jill, the liveliest and kindest of girls.” “I'm proud to have known her.” Entrance music. Waiting Just For You They say that it's always darkest right before the dawn They say that I must be strong just to carry on But they don't know that I would wait my whole lifetime through Because you know, my love, that I'd be waiting just for you… There you stood, amazing shining for the whole world to see And I knew an angel had been sent to watch over me… So I'll be here waiting, hoping, dreaming, loving you Because I know, my love, that you do love me too... I chose this because the band, Blackmore’s Night was one of Jill’s favourites – a combination between rock and folk music. This song is one of my favourites of theirs, and we’d play it quite often in the car on the way back from chemotherapy at the hospital. My words, spoken for me. We’re all here together, in deep sadness, for Jill, who we all loved in our own different ways; as wife, sister, relation, colleague or friend. We will all have our own different memories of her, our own favourite thoughts about her, and I would like to share mine with you now. ... Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 808436 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/01/14/netlibrary-ebooks-compatible-with-new-barnes-noble-nook-new-sony-daily-edition-and-other-ebook-readers/ From the Announcement: OCLC NetLibrary, the leading provider of eContent solutions for libraries, currently offers more than 140,000 PDF titles* that are compatible with the Barnes & Noble nook, Sony’s Daily Edition and other devices including all four Sony Digital Readers (PRS-300, 505, 600 and 700BC), as well as the COOL-ER. Titles available in the NetLibrary catalog include current bestsellers, award-winners and timeless classics, and cover subject categories ranging from fiction to business to personal growth and more. NetLibrary Titles for eBook Readers, Laptops, iPods and More. * According to this page published in October, overall NetLibrary has over 200,000 eBooks and 13,000 audiobooks from over 550 publishers. Source: OCLC (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:20:25 +0100 808482 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/01/14/playing-away/ Thanks to generous grants from the Madison Community Foundation (for the Monroe Street Branch) and the Madison Public Library Foundation (for the Pinney and Sequoya branches), the library now has a collection of Playaways.  You might ask just what is a Playaway?  It is a preloaded easy to play audiobook in a small case that will contain the entire unabridged book regardless of how long the text. Although the start-up collections are relatively small, their content is as varied as MPL’s audiobook collection.  For example there is foreign language instruction as well as many popular titles by authors like Michael Connelly.  Also keep in mind that other libraries in the South Central system are purchasing them as well and all are searchable in the catalog.  Here’s a search tip: Audiobook fans - who have not yet taken the plunge with an MP3 player -  should find the Playaways to be a good substitute for books on cassette, a format that is now discontinued by most audio publishers.  MPL will still maintain the cassette collection, but will not be adding new cassette titles as the technology advances. Look for more Playways to be arriving at these three branches.  The Madison Community Foundation will again donate funds to build the collection at Monroe Street.  Holds may be placed on them and they can be picked up at other libraries as well. (Source: MADreads) Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:18:42 +0100 808462 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/01/13/best-illustrated-childrens-books-of-2009/ As the new year begins, and we settle in for the rest of the winter with “can’t-miss” books from the year before, there’s often a group of readers that goes overlooked. The cooks have their books, and the listeners have their audiobooks, but what about the children? Despair not, little library lovers! We’ve gathered the 2009 Best of Illustrated Children’s Book Lists into one place for you! Booklists from The New York Times, Nick Jr., Amazon.com, Publisher’s Weekly and more have selected their favorite picks; many titles appear on multiple lists. Best of the best (number in parenthesis indicates number of lists on which the book appeared): The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (6 mentions) All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee (4) Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (3) Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (3) Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman (3) Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins (3) The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tony Persiani (2) Crow Call by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (2) The Snow Day by Komako Sakai (2) The Curious Garden by Peter Brown (2) Looking for more great children’s books from 2009? Check out our picks for Caldecott Award contenders. See also the Charlotte Zolotow Award, given by the UW-Madison Cooperative Children’s Book Center. (Source: MADreads) Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:37:04 +0100 808106 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/new/index.php/2010/01/13/best-illustrated-childrens-books-of-2009/ As the new year begins, and we settle in for the rest of the winter with “can’t-miss” books from the year before, there’s often a group of readers that goes overlooked. The cooks have their books, and the listeners have their audiobooks, but what about the children? Despair not, little library lovers! We’ve gathered the 2009 Best of Illustrated Children’s Book Lists into one place for you! Booklists from The New York Times, Nick Jr., Amazon.com, Publisher’s Weekly and more have selected their favorite picks; many titles appear on multiple lists. Best of the best (number in parenthesis indicates number of lists on which the book appeared): The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (6 mentions) All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee (4) Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (3) Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (3) Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman (3) Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins (3) The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tony Persiani (2) Crow Call by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (2) The Snow Day by Komako Sakai (2) The Curious Garden by Peter Brown (2) Looking for more great children’s books from 2009? Check out our picks for Caldecott Award contenders. See also the Charlotte Zolotow Award, given by the UW-Madison Cooperative Children’s Book Center. (Source: What's New) Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:27:42 +0100 808297 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/kB5GGyAz2E0/ Here are the OverDrive numbers for 2009. 401 million website pages viewed by library patrons (69 percent growth over 2008) and 8.7 million digital titles checked out (63 percent increase over 2008) 4 billion minutes of spoken word audio downloaded from library websites 70 percent increase in audiobook checkouts over 2008, while eBook checkouts increased by 53 percent 40 percent increase in new library users over 2008 The OverDrive digital catalog for libraries grew to 300,000 titles with the addition of 100,000 eBooks, 27,000 audiobooks, and 4,000 music and video titles Most Downloaded Adult Fiction Audiobooks from the Library (2009) (Title, Author, Publisher) The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown, Books on Tape The Host, Stephenie Meyer, Books on Tape The Associate, John Grisham, Books on Tape Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Blackstone Audio, Inc. The 8th Confession, James Patterson, Books on Tape Most Downloaded Adult Fiction eBooks from the Library (2009) (Title, Author, Publisher) The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Devil in Winter, Lisa Kleypas, HarperCollins Again the Magic, Lisa Kleypas, HarperCollins Because You’re Mine, Lisa Kleypas, HarperCollins Dreaming of You, Lisa Kleypas, HarperCollins Most Downloaded Adult Nonfiction Audiobooks from the Library (2009) (Title, Author, Publisher) 25 Things to Say to the Interviewer to Get the Job You Want, Dexter Hawk, Blackstone Audio Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, Books on Tape Blink, Malcolm Gladwell, Books on Tape Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, Tantor Media The 4-Hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss, Blackstone Audio Most Downloaded Adult Nonfiction eBooks from the Library (2009) (Title, Author, Publisher) Blink, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Company The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People, David Niven, HarperCollins Marley & Me, John Grogan, HarperCollins Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama, Crown Publishing Group Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Daniel G. Amen, M.D. ... Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:25:05 +0100 808103 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/01/12/ebook-and-audiobook-provider-overdrive-publishes-year-end-stats-ranks-most-popular-titles-of-2009/ It appears that library patrons are using reading more eBooks and listening to more audiobooks. They’re also taking advantage of what their library has to offer. However, we continue to wonder how many people would use these services if they knew about them in the first place. Especially people who haven’t been in a library in five or ten years. The same people who have made Borders, Barnes & Noble, and the Amazon.com database pseudo libraries. From the Announcement: Patrons at more than 10,000 OverDrive-powered libraries worldwide viewed 401 million download website pages and checked out 8.7 million eBook, audiobook, music and video titles, both of which are all-time highs. [Snip] Key statistics and milestones for OverDrive-powered libraries include: + 401 million website pages viewed by library patrons (69 percent growth over 2008) and 8.7 million digital titles checked out (63 percent increase over 2008) + 4 billion minutes of spoken word audio downloaded from library websites + 70 percent increase in audiobook checkouts over 2008, while eBook checkouts increased by 53 percent + 40 percent increase in new library users over 2008 + The OverDrive digital catalog for libraries grew to 300,000 titles with the addition of 100,000 eBooks, 27,000 audiobooks, and 4,000 music and video titles. [Snip] Top 5 Titles in Each Adult Category Most Downloaded Adult Fiction Audiobooks from the Library (2009) 1. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown, Books on Tape 2. The Host, Stephenie Meyer, Books on Tape 3. The Associate, John Grisham, Books on Tape 4. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Blackstone Audio, Inc. 5. The 8th Confession, James Patterson, Books on Tape Most Downloaded Adult Fiction eBooks from the Library (2009) 1. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2. Devil in Winter, Lisa Kleypas, HarperCollins 3. Again the Magic, Lisa Kleypas, HarperCollins 4. ... Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:27:44 +0100 807750 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/ziPJ4vcEd14/ Cory Doctorow has a brief rant on BoingBoing about Amazon’s inconsistent use of terminology between its Kindle e-book license agreement and its advertisements. The license agreement states that customers do not actually “own” Kindle books they buy; they’re simply “licensing” them for a limited set of uses. However, Doctorow points out: It’s such a silly notion that even Amazon can’t keep its story straight. Take this press-release in which Amazon trumpets that its "customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books." Purchased, not "licensed." Or consider this ad (courtesy of Elix): "Kindle publications are sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc." Again, sold, not "licensed." (Yes, you can purchase a license. But that’s not what the copy says. It doesn’t say, "Amazon customers purchased limited licenses to more Kindle books…") He also brings up his inability to waive those license terms to place his Makers audiobook in Amazon’s Audible store. Amazon isn’t doing this because the publishers insist on it: even when my publisher, Random House, the largest publisher in the world, told them that they didn’t want the crazy EULA, Amazon insisted. It is worth remembering that the ownership terms of e-books are still a subject of considerable consumer/publisher disagreement. Readers want to “own” their books, to be able to move them between devices at will and lend them to friends. Publishers (and stores) want every copy paid for and read only in their format. This does not appear likely to change very soon. Technorati Tags: Amazon,Kindle,Cory Doctorow,Doctorow,boingboing,license,eulas,Audible Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:15:13 +0100 807741 http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/nPRlX40m4DM/kathryn-simmonds-kim-ngaio-marsh Kathryn Simmonds Reading from Her Poemspoetryarchive.org £12.75, 45minsA delightful, almost playful freshness emanates from these poems. In lyrical, chiming lines Kathryn Simmonds slips from her ordinary life with "bits of bits in bowls" in her fridge, to the intriguingly surreal – launderette customers peeling off their skins "as sheer as moth-wing".Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Read by Madhav SharmaNaxos £38.50, 13hrs 19mins unabridgedKim, the "little friend of all the world" and chela or disciple to the questing lama, is caught up in the espionage of "the Great Game". The real protagonist in his magical adventure, however, is India in all its teeming life, mystery and beauty, highlighted by a captivating narration.Swing, Brother, Swing by Ngaio MarshHachette £14.99, 4hrsThe fatal shooting on stage seemed a tragic accident at first, but Roderick Alleyn, the gentleman detective, gradually unmasks a nest of jealousies and blackmail lurking among the "friends" of the murdered band master. The unbeatable Anton Lesser is perfect for this retro 1949 crime classic.AudiobooksRachel Redfordguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:05:56 +0100 806825 http://www.teleread.org/2010/01/09/video-as-h-g-wells-envisioned-it-in-the-sleeper-awakes-published-in-1899-warning-mcluhan-101-quiz-ahead/ You’ve been asleep hundreds of years. Awake at last, you’re the richest man on earth, thanks to the powers of compounded interest. You’ve got a few Issues, however. You’re a zealot of a socialist; and, in real life, your dreams have gone awry. As summed up at Manybooks.net, that’s the premise of  The Sleeper Awakes, which H.G. Wells published in 1899. I’m reading Sleeper now on my iPod Touch—and listening to it, too, via my Kindle’s text to speech feature, when I tread or walk—and I would recommend hanging on despite the slow start. You can also download Sleeper as a free audio book from LibriVox, or read an overview in Wikipedia. E-book and video buffs might enjoy the following extract. Is this where Vooks and the like will lead us, with video more or less displacing text in the novel? At the end of the excerpt I’ll ask a similar Marshall McLuhan 101 question.  – D.R. From “Chapter VII: In the Silent Rooms” …he noticed there were no books, no newspapers, no writing materials. "The world has changed indeed," he said. He observed one entire side of the outer room was set with rows of peculiar double cylinders inscribed with green lettering on white that harmonized with the decorative scheme of the room, and in the centre of this side projected a little apparatus about a yard square and having a white smooth face to the room. A chair faced this. He had a transitory idea that these cylinders might be books, or a modern substitute for books, but at first it did not seem so. The lettering on the cylinders puzzled him. At first sight it seemed like Russian. Then he noticed a suggestion of mutilated English about certain of the words. "Thi Man huwdbi Kin" forced itself on him as "The Man who would be King." "Phonetic spelling," he said. ... Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:15:24 +0100 806766 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/OgEMRsQjPFk/ You’ve been asleep hundreds of years. Awake at last, you’re the richest man on earth, thanks to the powers of compounded interest. You’ve got a few Issues, however. You’re a zealot of a socialist; and, in real life, your dreams have gone awry. As summed up at Manybooks.net, that’s the premise of  The Sleeper Awakes, which H.G. Wells published in 1899. I’m reading Sleeper now on my iPhone—and listening to it, too, via my Kindle’s text to speech feature, when I tread or walk—and I would recommend hanging on despite the slow start. You can also download Sleeper as a free audio book from LibriVox, or read an overview in Wikipedia. E-book and video buffs might enjoy the following extract. Is this where Vooks and the like will lead us, with video more or less displacing text in the novel? At the end of the excerpt I’ll ask a similar Marshall McLuhan 101 question.  – D.R. From “Chapter VII: In the Silent Rooms” …he noticed there were no books, no newspapers, no writing materials. "The world has changed indeed," he said. He observed one entire side of the outer room was set with rows of peculiar double cylinders inscribed with green lettering on white that harmonized with the decorative scheme of the room, and in the centre of this side projected a little apparatus about a yard square and having a white smooth face to the room. A chair faced this. He had a transitory idea that these cylinders might be books, or a modern substitute for books, but at first it did not seem so. The lettering on the cylinders puzzled him. At first sight it seemed like Russian. Then he noticed a suggestion of mutilated English about certain of the words. "Thi Man huwdbi Kin" forced itself on him as "The Man who would be King." "Phonetic spelling," he said. ... Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:15:24 +0100 806683 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/01/08/week-in-review-ereaders-invade-las-vegas/ The January, 2009 Consumer Electronic Show is ending and this event has been one all about eReaders. The amount of coverage these devices have been receiving is amazing. Only time will tell if they (or something still to come, can you say Apple?) will be the tools the masses will use to read, share, edit, annotate, etc. content. It’s going to be fascinating to watch. Here are a few stories that help summarize the week. While we do the best we can in covering ebooks and ereaders, we strongly recommended having a look at TeleRead, THE blog for this subject area. + The e-book wars of 2010: displays and hardware (Ars Technica) Excellent review. The inevitable and soon-coming relegation of the dedicated e-reader to the boneyard of low-end, discount obsolescence has left e-reader makers scrambling for an edge. One of these edges is touch, but touch has two major problems: many readers will have it this year, and all of those touch-enabled readers will be more expensive than their non-touch counterparts. + E-Reader Boom Kindles a Variety of New Options (via AP) This week, nearly two dozen companies that make the devices or deliver reading material to them are showing products at the International Consumer Electronics Show, the first time it has devoted a section to e-books. {Snip] E-books make up a tiny portion of book sales, but their popularity is growing rapidly. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, which organizes the trade show, 2.2 million e-readers were shipped to stores in 2009, nearly four times as many as the year before. This year, the group expects 5 million will be shipped. + New Deals, Devices at CES: Borders, Alex Reader, OUP, Blio Make News (via Publisher’s Weekly) + CES 2010: The ebook revolution (via The Guardian) A nice chunk about the Plastic Logic Que Device + Computing pioneer tries to build better e-reader (ZD Net) A focus on Ray Kurzweil and his Blio device due out next month. ... Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:54:48 +0100 806565 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Digital_library&diff=336620350&oldid=prev Types of digital libraries ← Previous revision Revision as of 16:40, 8 January 2010 Line 11: Line 11: {{Wikiversity|Curriculum on Digital Libraries}} {{Wikiversity|Curriculum on Digital Libraries}} - ==Types of digital libraries== + uu nga hahaha - The term '' digital library'' is diffuse enough to be applied to a wide range of collections and organizations, but, to be considered a digital library, an online collection of information must be managed by and made accessible to a community of users. Thus, some web sites can be considered digital libraries, but far from all. Many of the best known digital libraries are older than the web including [[Perseus Project|Project Perseus]], [[Project Gutenberg]], and [[ibiblio]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}. Nevertheless, as a result of the development of the internet and its search potential, digital libraries such as [[the European Library]] and the [[Library of Congress]] are now developing in a Web-based environment. Public, school and college libraries are also able to develop digital download websites, featuring [[eBooks]], [[audiobooks]], music and video.   A distinction is often made between content that was created in a digital format, known as [[born-digital]], and information that has been converted from a physical medium, e.g., paper, by [[digitization|digitizing]]. The term [[hybrid library]] is sometimes used for libraries that have both physical collections and digital collections. For example, [[American Memory]] is a digital library within the [[Library of Congress]]. Some important digital libraries also serve as long term archives, for example, the [[ePrint]] [[arXiv]], and the [[Internet Archive]]. ... Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:40:56 +0100 807614 http://www.teleread.org/2010/01/08/zorbas-guide-to-free-ebooks/ Zorba Press has published the most comprehensive guide to free ebooks that I’ve seen so far. It is actually Chapter 3 from Michael Pastore’s 50 Benefits of Ebooks. The Guide covers search engines, RSS feeds, public and university libraries and: A. Free Ebook Websites B. Ebook Directories: Sites That List Free Ebook Websites C. Ebook Search Sites and Ebook Search Engines D. Audiobooks E. Ebooks About Aspects of Writing, Publishing, Internet, and Epublishing F. Literature, Classic Books, Biographies G. Nonfiction Ebooks (including Science, Technology and Computer Ebooks) H. Scholarly Offerings I. Children’s Literature J. Pastore’s Picks: 1,001 Noteworthy Ebooks to Read Before You Diet Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:31:21 +0100 806779