It’s amazing how quickly things change in the world of technology. When I wrote a book in 2005, I printed out all my research sources so I could highlight and take notes on them. I kept track of things I found on the web using a social bookmarking tool that only helped me find the … Continue reading Tools for Optimal Flow
I wrote here a few months ago about reading—its power and ubiquity and transcendence of format: “The authors and publishers get it; the ways in which the stories are displayed come and go, and what matters are the story and the storytelling.” Events in the ensuing months—the Department of Justice settlement with publishers, which may … Continue reading Amped-Up Ebook Apps
How many books are on your “to read” list right now? 10? 20? More? The real truth about ebook purchasing—really about any content acquisition these days—is that we are so overwhelmed by choices that our to-be-experienced list is already quite overwhelmed. That doesn’t even take into account the revisiting of older content! So when publishers … Continue reading The Real Truth about Ebook Purchasing
Today, Simon and Schuster is trying to drum up a bit of social media attention for the release of the first Judy Blume ebook, her 1975 classic Forever. The tweets are rolling in at #JudyBlumeForever but many of them reveal a darker side of this ebook release. For example, this tweet from YA author Jenny … Continue reading #JudyBlumeForever . . . Unless You Are a Library
As a school librarian, I am currently being inundated by vendor emails from not only the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, but also the near-concurrent ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference being held just down the coast in San Diego. This does, however, make for some interesting comparison points for marketing … Continue reading Does OverDrive Really Care About Libraries?
As digital content continues to grow in diversity and importance, libraries must make use of multiple strategies to support access for their users. ALA’s Digital Content and Libraries Working Group has been exploring issues of business models, advocacy, education, accessibility, privacy, and libraries as providers of content. But innovative approaches to making digital content available … Continue reading An Anaheim Evite to Explore Diverse Approaches to E-Content
This week, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center discovered that ebooks and print books are not that different unless you take an enhanced ebook designed for independent use and try to force it into a co-reading situation. Or at least that is what their report “Print Books vs. E-Books” (PDF format) says if you read beyond … Continue reading Obvious Ebook Research Is Obvious (and Oblivious)
“E-Content: The Digital Dialogue” is the title of a new American Libraries digital supplement in which authors explore an unprecedented and splintered landscape in which several major publishers refuse to sell ebooks to libraries; proprietary platforms fragment our cultural record; and reader privacy is endangered. Here’s a sampling of what’s included: “Publishers, distributors and libraries … Continue reading Exploring the Challenges to Equitable Access to Digital Content
As part of the work of ALA’s Digital Content and Libraries Working Group of ALA (which is tackling our many ebook-related issues), we are seeking some focused feedback before the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim next month. If you are experimenting with the creation, publication, and preservation of digital content, we need to hear … Continue reading Library as Publisher: Your Feedback Needed
“As we know, some of the most fruitful discussions can take place in the hallway during a conference,” writes Alan S. Inouye, program manager of ALA’s Digital Content and Libraries Initiative, over at the District Dispatch blog of the Association’s Washington Office, in the course of describing ALA’s participation in the April 27 Digital Public … Continue reading ALA Give and Take at DPLA West
Dear Amazon: I hate reading on the Kindle Fire, and that has bothered me enough to lead to this plea. As someone who is regularly asked to recommend e-readers, it distressed me that I felt such animosity towards the Fire without an obvious reason for it. There are, of course, the obvious issues. The unbonded … Continue reading Why I Hate Reading on the Kindle Fire: A Plea to Amazon
Do you want DRM on your ebooks? I certainly don’t, and I would guess that most of you would much rather not have to deal with the security theater of DRM either. So who really wants to lock down your content? Soon, it may not be publishers who are forcing us to deal with DRM … Continue reading Who Really Wants DRM?
