Future of the Book

As book-lovers, many of us have wondered what the future of the printed book might be. Here is a link to an intriguing interview with Bob Stein, founder and co-director of the Institute for the Future of the Book: http://imprint.printmag.com/innovation/the-social-context-of-reading-five-questions-for-bob-stein/

Katango - Circle Wars

There's a brand new app called Katango that will automatically put your Facebook friends into circles. It is intended to help FB compete with Google Plus. Basically, it is an algorithm that examines a user's Facebook friends and sorts them on the basis of geography, location, school, and friends of friends, automatically creating subgroups for sharing information. Sounds like a good idea that still has a few kinks to work out (results are "not completely accurate").

The Associated Press reports, "Facebook already lets users sort friends into separate groups. And Google Plus, the online search leader's most ambitious social-networking venture yet, was built on the idea that people want to share different things with different people online. One of its main features is "circles," which lets users sort friends, family and acquaintances into separate groups and share things only with them."

Read more about it here:
http://www2.tbo.com/business/business/2011/aug/08/spbizo1-katango-launches-web-service-to-organize-f-ar-248858/

Blogging by Email

I have kept a personal Blogger account for five or six years now in order to easily share pictures and updates of my girls' activities with our extended and wide-spread family. I have typically sat down at my computer at home to post several items at a time every week or two. Even after I got my first smartphone several years ago, I didn't think about using it to post to my blog.

But recently a few things came together for me:

I upgraded last year to an iPhone 4 and the camera on the phone is SO MUCH BETTER than my old phone, and

I've had a chance to explore mobile social network sharing through accounts with Tumblr and Instagram, and I now know how easy it is to post from my phone.

So I went into my Blogger account in order to turn on email blogging!

In the Email and Mobile Settings, I created a email address specifically for my blog. Anything mailed to that address will be posted to my blog! (Obviously, they recommend that you keep this email private, because anyone with the address could post.)

Then I added that email to my contacts list on my phone. Now when I'm out and about with the girls, I can take a quick picture of them with my phone, and email the picture to the blog right away. The subject line of the email is the blog post title, and the content of the email is the content of the post. I hit send, and in a few minutes there's a new post on the blog!

This is exciting to me because my personal blogging usually has to wait for a week or two (sometimes three or four) before I can set aside enough time for it. I still blog from my computer at home--when I have longer posts or lots of photos that's still the best way to do the work--but now it's easy and fun to send quick items to the blog a couple of times a week. The grandparents and aunts and uncles get more frequent updates, and I have less "backlog" when I do sit down to blog.

It was a good reminder to me, too, that when you have a program or software or whatever that you use all the time, it's worth it to go back every once in awhile and look at all the features with fresh eyes. Something that you didn't have use of when you first started using the program might be just thing thing for you now!

NPR's new App

I was listening to NPR radio this weekend and they were announcing their new NPR App for phones and I pads etc. Its a free App download. They said after downloading look in the App for Colorado Public radio. If you have trouble there is a help section.

ALA Annual Virtual Conference

I attended two sessions of the ALA Annual Virtual Conference.

Session “From Gutenberg to Google and Glogs, From Books to Vooks”

            The session’s participants discussed the following questions:

·        What is the impact of electronic resources on library’s services?

·        How do libraries communicate their new roles to patrons?

·        How many print and electronic books libraries have to purchase?

·        Do libraries need to provide access to electronic devices?

·        Should the focus be on devices or content?

            The participants acknowledged that the shift in collection development already had happened. This shift triggered practical questions about electronic books processing and cataloging and electronic devices loss prevention. Librarians need to decide of what parts of a collection should consist of print and what of electronic resources. Librarians have to pay even more attention to educating patrons about what is available and what is not. Since not all electronic resources provide full-text access, patrons need to learn how and where to get reliable information. Patron-driven acquisition model was discussed. This model could be applicable not only to academic libraries, but to public and school libraries as well. Libraries should move towards a “platform agnostic” approach; this way patrons’ needs would drive the decisions libraries have to make in all areas of work.

            The session was helpful in outlining the challenges libraries face in a new environment.   

Session “Perceptions of New Professionals”

            The session participants discussed the following aspects of being a new professional:

·        Importance of volunteering for professional organizations

·        Importance of acquiring new skills in addition to the skill set an MLIS degree supplies

·        Importance of remaining optimistic even in the tough job market

·        Importance of considering the question of what one can bring to the table that is unique

·        Importance of being flexible in definition of success

·        Importance of being open to relocation and non-traditional job setting

            The session was useful in bringing together perspectives of distinguished and new professionals; the advice to aspiring librarians was solid and comprehensive.

Google +

Google +, some say, will replace Facebook, or at least, be a big competitor. While Google + is in its field trial period and participation is invitation-only, they do share some of their features at
www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/demo

Circles: put friends in one circle, parents/children in another circle, and co-workers/boss in another and share just what you want with each group

Hangouts: unplanned meet-ups can happen when you post where you are to who you want to know so they can meet you

Instant Uploads: photos & videos upload themselves automatically to a private album on Google +

Sparks: tell Sparks what you are into and it will send you stuff it thinks you'll like.

Huddles: instead of six conversations trying to decide on a movie, Huddle turns those conversations into on simple chat group

I am interested in knowing more about Google + as soon as it comes out to the masses

eBooks, eBook file formats, and the Kindle - what gives?

If you look at our digital materials webpage and peruse the eBook devices supported by our eBook affiliates/vendors, you’ll see all kinds of companies and eBook models. Sony’s eReader is there, and so is the Nook. Conspicuously absent is the best selling eBook reader from Amazon: the Kindle. Sales for the Kindle skyrocketed after the release of their 3rd generation model, but the device is somewhat of a loner when it comes to libraries. Why is that?

Kindles and ePub don’t get along so well

There are a lot of file formats for eBooks. In the same way that a .jpeg at the end of the file indicates that the file is an image and a .doc at the end of a file name tells the computer to open the file in Microsoft Word, eBooks come in a wide variety of file formats. For example, eBooks are often made into PDFs for easy reading. Some companies and eBook readers have their own proprietary file formats – Kindle’s format is .AZW. EPUB is an open-source format used by a lot of publishers, universities and writers. The coding, or the guts behind the file format, are available for all to see. Google Books publishes most of their downloadable files in EPUB, and this is one of the file formats OverDrive offers for books.

Unfortunately, Kindle’s don’t “do” EPUB. Kindle’s like to stick to their own proprietary formats, like .AZW, .PRC or .MOBI. This means it’s hard for companies like OverDrive to offer books usable on the Kindle. It also means its easier for Amazon to encourage customers to purchase books from the Amazon store, NOT check them out or download them for free.

There is a solution! Convert EPUB files into Kindle friendly files

There’s actually a surprisingly easy way to convert EPUB files, or any other eBook file, into a format the Kindle can digest. Free software Calibre, designed and programmed by a highly talented programmer, is an excellent eBook collection manager, and used by many eBook owners to manage their eBooks and send eBook files to their readers from their computers. Calibre can convert eBook files into many other types of eBook files. Kindle also provides its own converter, called KindleGen.

Effectively, a user could download an EPUB file and convert it to a file format that the Kindle can read, most commonly a .MOBI file. You can use it for any other file format too. For example, Kindle’s can display PDF files, but you won’t be able to resize the text to make it easier to see. If you instead downloaded the PDF and converted it to a .MOBI file and then sent that to your Kindle, you would then have a version of the text where you COULD change the size of the text.

Changes on the Horizon
Amazon is working with distributors and decision makers to help libraries provide books from their collections to Kindle users. As a Kindle owner I look forward to seeing that happen. In the meantime, you can tell patrons with Kindles that they’re not out of luck – Kindles are excellent eBook readers, and made even better by the efforts of talented developers.