If I can rip my CD to an MP3, why can’t I scan my book to an EPUB? That is the question running through my mind as I ponder the new iTunes Match service from Apple. Briefly, for $24.99 a year the service scans the music on your hard drive and then matches it with … Continue reading What’s Next? Book Match?
For those libraries looking to purchase e-books, you are not alone. According to the Library Journal 2011 survey of ebook penetration and use in libraries, 95% of academic, 82% of public, and 44% of school libraries are already offering ebooks, and many more are considering it. For anyone contemplating purchasing ebooks, asking why is the … Continue reading A Guide to Ebook Purchasing
Adult literacy continues to be a serious educational and economic issue in the United States. Currently, there are an estimated 32 million adults living with such low-level literacy skills that reading a children’s picture book or understanding the instructions on a medicine bottle pose a challenge. That’s what made the first U.S. Conference on Adult … Continue reading Placing Adult Literacy Front and Center
A lot of library and ebook pundits (all five of us?) have been talking about it, but Amazon finally launched its Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. Well, really it’s more of the “Amazon Prime members ($79/year) who have an actual physical Kindle device and not just the iPhone app library,” which was what made this such … Continue reading Amazon’s Library Model: Can we learn from it?
Ideas about information literacy have always adapted to changes in the information environment. The birth of the web made it necessary for librarians to shift more towards teaching search strategies and evaluation of sources. The tool-focused “bibliographic instruction” approach was later replaced by the skill-focused “information literacy” approach. Now, with the growth of Web 2.0 … Continue reading Information Literacy 2.0
The trouble with agreeing to blog this conference is that the days are so chock full of great sessions and good friends that I can’t sit still to write— or maybe I’m just suffering from sensory overload and unable to slow down on my own! Cheryl Steele and Ty Burns did a fabulous job planning … Continue reading AASL – Streaming and Teaming for Strong School Libraries
Minneapolis, the location of the 15th National Conference of ALA’s American Association for School Librarians, is gorgeous and friendly—and the cool temperatures are certainly welcome after my endless Texas summer! I arrived Tuesday evening, and found a group of AASL leaders including Susan Ballard and Debbie Abilock in the hotel restaurant. Two hours later, we … Continue reading AASL Day One: E-ink and Collection Development
Working in the K–12 library world, one of my concerns with the plethora of e-content options available today is the risk of platform fatigue. With each publisher and distributor offering a distinct site design (sometimes quite a few different site designs!) with different search interfaces, navigation buttons, and content interactions, I worry that students will … Continue reading I want it all, but learn that I can’t have it all
A quick note to alert everyone about American Libraries’ new Midwinter page. The page, americanlibrariesmagazine.org/alamw12, will aggregate all of the Midwinter-related stories on our site, plus it will display tweets tagged with the official Midwinter hashtag, #alamw12.
The library world was thrilled at the September 21 announcement that library vendor OverDrive had enabled its library customers to loan the ebooks they’d licensed from OverDrive to patrons with Kindle e-readers—provided that the ebooks were in Kindle-maker Amazon’s sales inventory. Since then, examination of the fine print between OverDrive and Amazon has caused ethical … Continue reading Librarians Weigh Kindle Ebook Lending against Reader Privacy
“I want you to live your best life so you can affect the lives of the people you work with and for,” said Satia Orange, retired director of ALA’s Office for Literacy and Outreach Services and opening keynote speaker at the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services 2011 Annual Conference, October 13–15, in Cleveland, Ohio. … Continue reading Library Outreach Specialists “Reach Out and Up” in Cleveland
“All hands on deck” is the message ALA President Molly Raphael is sending in regards to funding for school library programs. Her Presidential Task Force on School Libraries comprises members from all facets of the library profession, and in that spirit she’s calling on library practitioners to get involved in the crisis affecting school libraries. … Continue reading Message from ALA President Molly Raphael
