We Are Living in the Future

Penguin Withdraws From Overdrive; Looks For New Library Partners | Publishers Lunch

2012-02-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Penguin Withdraws From Overdrive; Looks For New Library Partners | Publishers Lunch

A good explanation of some of the issue involved in the Overdrive/Amazon/Library/Publisher arrangement. Note that clearly publishers want to work with libraries; they just don't want to have Amazon in the middle.

Math and Science Partnership (MSP) (nsf12518)

2012-01-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Math and Science Partnership (MSP) (nsf12518)

This is your chance to get support for your post-doc project. Jump on it.

GOVERNING Data

2012-01-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

GOVERNING Data

Governing now has a graphic display of key data covering economics, energy, public health, politics and other subjects. Raw data is pulled from various sources, such as US Census and NAEP, but then presented in graphs that make it easier to understand.

Mathematics is to science as a rose is to botany

2011-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

If mathematics is a language

teach me its poetry

so I may swoon

when I glimpse its reality.

Convert PDF files to jpg so you can embed them in email and websites rather than adding as attachments or linked files

2011-09-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Remember when the PDF format indicated that a file would be small and secure? It would open quickly on any computer. It was a pleasure to receive a PDF attachment. Click, it opened, and it looked like a printed document. Then, someone discovered how to modify a PDF and teach it to take over your computer, your bank account and your life. Meanwhile, many companies and government agencies had settled on the PDF format as the best for disseminating forms, transmitting invoices and otherwise sharing documents that were formatted to look like old-fashioned, typewritten documents. Other companies began printing their graphic-rich catalogs as PDF files -- a cheap alternative to hosting a complex web site. PDF stopped meaning small, quick and secure; it meant big, slow and risky. Even though the IRS was using PDF as its document format of choice, school districts and other government agencies were routinely blocking any emails with PDF attachments. I know because my proposals and quotes were blocked. I ended up faxing them.

So, what to do when one of your clueless clients has sent you a PDF file and expects you to forward it via email to recipients whose domains scrub emails with PDF attachments, or who simply won't take the time to download and open a PDF file? How about embedding a .jpg or .png file into an email? Granted, the resolution will be much lower, but given a choice between a low-low-res file that gets read and a higher-res file that that gets trashed or ignored, you know what the logical choice is.

But, while there are many programs to convert documents into the PDF format, how do you convert a PDF into something lighter? That's whree http://pdf2jpg.net comes in. The creation of Philippe Bernard of Paris, France, he says that he needed to do the file conversion and needed only a few minutes to write the program and post it as a web-based app. I've been using it for occasional file conversions for several months, and it has always worked. Give it a try! You'll probably like it.

Laboratory Equipment - Wood Key to Fighting Carbon Emissions

2011-07-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Laboratory Equipment - Wood Key to Fighting Carbon Emissions

Wood is a storage system for carbon, so by harvesting forest and using the wood for building, humans can reabsorb the carbon we have released into the atmosphere.

Post Redux: The Only Book Search Tool You’ll Ever Need | The Book Lady's Blog

2011-05-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Post Redux: The Only Book Search Tool You’ll Ever Need | The Book Lady's Blog

Edelweiss provides an online search tool of multiple publisher catalogs and allows for tagging and annotations. Very powerful.

Key workers: writers at their typewriters - in pictures | Books | guardian.co.uk

2011-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Key workers: writers at their typewriters - in pictures | Books | guardian.co.uk

Mark Twain was the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript. Here's a great slideshow from The Guardian showing great writers at their machines.

Book Publishers, AOL Announce Major Online Partnership in Bookish : Page 1 of 1 : Book Business

2011-05-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Book Publishers, AOL Announce Major Online Partnership in Bookish : Page 1 of 1 : Book Business

Sales Tax Fairness Victory in Connecticut | Bookselling This Week

2011-05-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Sales Tax Fairness Victory in Connecticut | Bookselling This Week

This trend of states demanding sales tax from online vendors shows clearly that the Internet and business done over it is no longer in need of special protections -- quite a turnaround from the early 1990s when the Postal Service wanted everyone to pay them a stamp tax for every message sent, and there was a real concern that the Internet would not take off as a viable business platform.

Cellphone Radiation May Alter Your Brain. Let’s Talk. - NYTimes.com

2011-03-31T11:28:00.000-07:00

Cellphone Radiation May Alter Your Brain. Let’s Talk. - NYTimes.com

Oregon Launches Open Data Web Site -- InformationWeek

2011-03-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

Oregon Launches Open Data Web Site -- InformationWeek

According to this article in InformationWeek, the Oregon site is better than the federal one because it allows viewers to leave comments directly on the dataset pages. I haven't had time to play with it, but I look forward to browsing the data.

Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes

2011-03-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes

Here's a hilarious strip about Roald Dahl's character, Mathilda, if she lived in today's world of mind-numbing distraction and ebooks.

National Day of Unplugging

2011-03-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but I hadn't even heard of this. It's tough enough to keep all the balls in the air without disconnecting. I try to disconnect on Sundays, since that's the day of the week when customers, clients, etc., are less likely to expect an immediate response. For me, a day without email or anything technological is a cross between complete irresponsibility and total pleasure. As for disconnecting on a Saturday, that would harm my business. On Sundays, I keep my cell on and in my pocket in case someone in my family needs me.

I think having a disconnect day for people whose business and personal lives does not require that they be immediately accessible to dying relatives, critical business decisions, IT maintenance, etc. is a great idea. However, I think there is a line between self-indulgence and self-preservation. A National Disconnect Day is a great idea for most people, but it's not a good idea for anyone whose responsibilities disregard regular working out.

I tried posting this on geek.com, but I couldn't' figure out the ambiguous capcha word, so I am posting on my own blog.

Going Out of Print

2011-02-11T16:01:00.000-08:00

Going Out of Print

According to this article in District Administrator, school libraries will soon be primarily digital rather than print. The interesting point is not that students, along with adults, are shifting to digital media, but rather that this is front page news for school district administrators.

BREAKING: Powell's Lays Off 31 Workers. | Blogtown, PDX

2011-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

BREAKING: Powell's Lays Off 31 Workers. | Blogtown, PDX

I suppose this was to be expected. If a giant like Powell's has to lay off employees, how are the little indies doing?

www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lcacostco013111.pdf

2011-02-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lcacostco013111.pdf

The US Supreme Court has not been able to decide on whether the right of first sale exception applies to materials manufactured outside the US. The discussion is about printed books. Copyright law needs to be rewritten to take into account creation of literary works outside the US by means of data conversion technologies.

Manymoon Aquired by Salesforce.com

2011-02-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

Manymoon Aquired by Salesforce.com

This should be an interesting combination, since Salesforce requires a lot of setup, and Manymoon requires almost none. It should be a powerful combination, especially for small businesses that don't want to go through a complex implementation process.

Sage Library System of Eastern Oregon has gone live with Evergreen

2011-02-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

From today's LTLO from the Oregon State Library.

Congratulations to Eastern Oregon! King County moved to Evergreen a few months ago, and Eastern Oregon's move shows that open source driven by librarian developers can work even for a consortium of primarily very small libraries.

SAGE LIBRARY SYSTEM GOES LIVE WITH EVERGREEN

Sage Library System of Eastern Oregon has gone live with Evergreen as their next generation ILS. Equinox Software, Inc. oversaw the installation and migration of data from their previous system. Sage Library System of Eastern Oregon consists of 63 public, college, and school libraries. Eastern Oregon University, Pierce Library, is a member, and the university provides hosting services for the consortium. Karen Clay, Library Director at Eastern Oregon University, says, "We are very excited about the change to the new software. I think library users will get a better online experience. I am also pleased that after the transition, more of the public funds paid by Sage member libraries will be used for public purposes rather than being paid to a commercial software vendor." Equinox CEO, Brad LaJeunesse, says, "A consortium like Sage with very diverse libraries will certainly see the benefits of open source software. Public, school, and academic libraries all have different needs but the flexibility of Evergreen makes it an ideal system to allow every library to function at its highest level." Evergreen is a robust, open-source integrated library system best known for its unique ability to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia. However, it has also proven equally successful scaled down for even the smallest libraries. Since its debut in September 2006, the software has sustained the 280-plus libraries of the Georgia PINES consortium. Evergreen now supports over 700 libraries of every type-public, academic, special, and school media centers. Evergreen's rapidly expanding community includes libraries across 4 countries including 18 U.S. states and 8 Canadian provinces.

Have you tried Google Scribe?

2010-12-15T21:55:00.000-08:00

Google Scribe is a text-predicting plug-in for Chrome. If you type with one hand (like during lunch when you have a sandwich in the other, or after a bad fall when your dominant hand is in a sling) this will save you hours of hunting and pecking. I normally type at 120 wpm, but during meals this slows a lot, and I hate getting food goo on my keyboard.

My recommended settings:

Automatically enable Google Scribe on active text field
While editing, use Ctrl+J (Command+J on Mac) to enable/disable Google Scribe. More keyboard shortcuts

Show suggestions as I type ("Always")
Show suggestions on Tab ("On demand")
While editing, use Ctrl+Shift+J (Command+Shift+J on Mac) to switch between "Always" and "On demand". More keyboard shortcuts

Sort suggestions by:

Enable Enter for choosing suggestion
Enable Tab for choosing suggestion
Enable Space for choosing suggestion

Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

yWriter5 - Free novel writing software to help you write a book

2010-12-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

yWriter5 - Free novel writing software to help you write a book

Thanks to mediabistro.com's Galley Cat newsletter, which led to to yWriter. This is a novel-writing application created by a programmer who also writes fiction. Mea culpa--I started this post over a year ago and have been using yWriter since then. I cannot recommend it too highly. It provides the organizational tools necessary to write long-form fiction (and nonfiction) without intruding upon the creative process with a lot of silly mythomadness suggestions. It also provides frequent stable back-ups so you won't lose your data. I use this program every day. I hope you will, too.

Click here to give it a try.

Your Brain Away from Technology

2010-08-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today's NYT had a long, anecdotal article about a group of neuroscientists going rafting to see if being away from electronic communication would benefit their thought processes. Interesting but without any definite conclusions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html

Inside Google Books: Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.

2010-08-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Inside Google Books: Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.

Google announced, yesterday, that by their count there are about 130 million books in the world. Interestingly, they found many metadata errors, such as multple books assigned the same ISBN, and even a thousand t-shirts with ISBNs. Their post is worth reading for anyone interested in books and cataloging.

Booktorrent! The Bookmobile as Rural Filesharing Network - The Awl

2010-07-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Booktorrent! The Bookmobile as Rural Filesharing Network - The Awl

Certainly on point for today's world when bookmobiles provide "file sharing" to elders who are totally analog and off-line.

New E-reading Device, the Kno, Targets Textbook Market : Page 1 of 1 : Book Business

2010-07-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

New E-reading Device, the Kno, Targets Textbook Market : Page 1 of 1 : Book Business

This may be it, the ebook reader that will work for textbooks. It has two 14" touch screens so it displays textbooks as they look when printed on paper. The five minute video explains more.

Seven Days with the iPad: An Accessibility Evaluation - AccessWorld� - July 2010

2010-07-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Seven Days with the iPad: An Accessibility Evaluation - AccessWorld� - July 2010

"...this app knocks the Kindle and the Sony Reader devices out of the ring as far as accessibility and usability."

--Darren Burton, Access World

ALA | Issues & Advocacy

2010-06-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

ALA | Issues & Advocacy

The American Library Association has a great web-based system so that we voters can let our elected representatives know how we feel about library-related legislation.

Click the link and let yourself be heard. It takes only a few minutes, and after you have used the system once, you can quickly weigh in on future matters.

Losing Libraries

2010-06-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

Losing Libraries

This is grim -- it's a live map of library closures and cut-backs in the US. Great technology. Wish it were showing library openings, instead.

Brooklyn Read-In Marathon Protests Library Cuts - NYTimes.com

2010-06-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn Read-In Marathon Protests Library Cuts - NYTimes.com

Librarians should be doing this in other states, too, rather than passively accepting budget cuts.

Your Brain on Computers - Plugged-In Parents - NYTimes.com

2010-06-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

Your Brain on Computers - Plugged-In Parents - NYTimes.com

This makes an interesting follow-up to Bill Snyder's article on Suicide, Stupidity and the iPhone. It's about the detrimental effects on children when their parents are so preoccupied with electronic communication that the parents cannot pull themselves away from it in order to have meaningful interactions with their children.

Suicide, stupidity, and the iPhone | The Industry Standard - InfoWorld

2010-06-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

Suicide, stupidity, and the iPhone | The Industry Standard - InfoWorld

Bill Snyder, an editor at infoworld is hardly a Luddite, and neither am I, but he does point out some unexpectedly bad consequences of gadget proliferation

1. Terrible working conditions replete with low pay and overcrowded dormitories for the Chinese workers who manufacture them.

2. Worse traffic statistics than I had thought, due to distracted drivers.

3. And, of course, the rewiring of our brains as we become addicted to constant electronic stimulation.

Nicholas Carr and The Shallows - chicagotribune.com

2010-06-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Carr and The Shallows - chicagotribune.com

Got to read this book. I love the quote from the review, to the effect that we have become a "nation of scatterbrains." I think this states the bottom line very clearly. Whether we attribute it to organic changes in how our brains process information or to the simple effects of living with constant electronic interruptions, the end result is that many of us have compromised our ability to maintain concentration. I am fortunate, in that I get to work alone most of the time, and I am able to maintain control over my interruptions, i.e., I decide whether to answer the phone, when to read my email, and whether to respond to tweets. In other words, I can maintain my concentration by shutting out interruptions.

However, I think there is an even worse unintended consequence of frequent electronic interruptions. Most of my colleagues in publishing and libraries don't have the level of control over their work that I have, and I think that the deleterious impact of interruptions is much more damaging to introverts than to extraverts. Most of the librarians, editors, et al, with whom I work are introverts. They do work that requires extended periods of mental concentration, and their work environment no longer provides this. Many of them suffer deeply because of this. They tell me this, but I can also see it in how they have changed their work patterns. Most of them used to welcome in-person meetings, for instance. Now, they are so over-stimulated by electronic interruptions, which they cannot control, that they refuse meetings, because meetings are something that they can control. Likewise, because electronic interruptions make maintaining an effective work flow difficult, I see people becoming more rigid in their routines as they try to hold onto the little stability they have in their work day.

So, not only are Twitter, email, FaceBook, etc., causing people to lose their concentration at work and their ability to concentrate when away from work, they are also causing people to back away from face to face human communication. This, in turn, leads them to greater dependence on the electronic media that are causing the problem to begin with.

There is, of course, a solution to this. It's nothing new, and you will find it in many books of the Getting Things Done type. People just have to limit how frequently they read email, Twitter, etc., by scheduling specific times for them rather than trying to respond to them immediately. But that is easier said that done, especially when we also have to work with people who expect immediate responses to their emails and tweets.

My review of Douglas Merrill's Getting Organized in the Google Era

2010-06-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to Get Stuff out of Your Head, Find It When You Need It, and Get It Done Right by Douglas C. Merrill

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Douglas Merrill was Google's first CIO, assigned with the task of making Google's technology align with the way our brains work, and of developing it from there. His book is a practical guide to understanding and implementing brain research-based organizational and coping methods in our information overload world.

I should add that, if you are a GTD fan and are already using G-Mail and other high tech organizational tools, such as GTDInbox, Xobni, etc., then you won't find much new in the book.

View all my reviews >>

Man infects himself with (computer) virus - Computerworld Blogs

2010-06-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Man infects himself with (computer) virus - Computerworld Blogs

I had to follow the headline and my curiosity to read this article. As I suspected, the infection was in an implanted RFID device. The interesting part was that he was able to transfer the virus from the invisibly implanted RFID device into the security network that controlled doors at his university. The virus then replicated across the security network. Think about that--invisible device implanted in someone's body, perhaps without their knowledge, infecting a secure network...

Introducing the book (repost)

2010-05-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

Balkinization

2010-05-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Balkinization

This is an interesting blog about law in the US. The latest post is a detailed analysis of how Elena Kagan can bring the experience and wisdom of two often-ignored areas of juris to the SCOTUS: White House Law and Legal Academe.

This is very interesting, and I encourage everyone to read it.

Oregon is first state to use Google Apps statewide in educational system

2010-05-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

News Releases - Oregon Department of Education

It's great to see my home state get on board with Google Apps!

Google Docs no longer supports revision tracking and control

2010-04-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

This may not sound like a big deal, but if you're a book editor or a journalist, and you have spent countless hours moving your documents to Google in order to collaborate in real time and track revisions, (not to mention teaching authors and others how to use G Docs) then you are probably standing on a chair in your office with a noose around your neck and wondering whether or not to jump.

I cannot believe that such an intelligently run company would do something so stupid, but then I have also been a MicroSoft customer for over twenty years so what should I expect from companies run by engineers who don't have a clue about why we customers buy their software.

Could we be buying it because we think it will help us get real work done? What a concept! I guess if I were an engineer, I would have trouble with it, too.

February AAP Sales Up 12.2%

2010-04-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

February AAP Sales Up 12.2%

My Dream Classrooms

2010-03-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

My Dream Classrooms

From the news release:

March 25, 2010 – HumanWare and its partners announced today at the 2010 CSUN Conference the launch of the second phase of the mydreamclassroom.com website. This new interactive tool was designed to help educators discover different solutions for students who are blind, have low vision or learning disabilities. It will also help them find out how assistive technologies can increase their students' learning independence.

This website shows classrooms where various assistive tools are found on students' desks. By simply clicking on the item of interest, the users can learn about each product, its interactions with other tools, and available sources of content. An entire section of the classroom is dedicated to the various providers of accessible talking books supported by the featured devices.

Now in its second phase, the mydreamclassroom.com website is better suited to address the specific needs of educators. They can now select one of three school levels: elementary, high school and college. Educators can also select different categories of technological aids within the same class (blindness, low vision, learning disabilities). The "My Wish List" option allows users to create an online list of assistive tools they would like to have in their classroom. This wish list will also facilitate the purchasing process when acquiring the products.

The website also features useful sections such as the Resource Center where you can find additional information, including training material, instructional webinars and workshops.

The mydreamclassroom.com website is an initiative undertaken by a group of manufacturers of technological aids that includes HumanWare, Intel, View Plus, Quantum Technology, as well as providers of accessible content such as Audible.com, Bookshare, Don Johnston, Read How You Want and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.

Peyton's comment: Many of these technologies could also be used in school, academic and public libraries.

Wildfire -- Talking Pen and Paper

2010-03-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Wildfire

This is a new invention that combines automatic language translation with a smart pen (pen-based scanner with audio output). The inventor sees it as useful for conducting incoming patient interviews in a hospital, but I can imagine a wide variety of educational and commercial uses, such as providing menu translation in restaurants to both sighted and blind patrons.

Book Use Book Theory: 1500 - 1700

2010-03-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

Book Use Book Theory: 1500 - 1700

We may be living in the future, but our future or present exists as it is only because of the book. Here's an interesting web-based exhibit on the history of the book, courtesy of the University of Chicago Library.

Tom's Glossary of Book Publishing Terms

2010-03-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

Tom's Glossary of Book Publishing Terms

Thanks to Carol Reich for sending me the link to this very funny glossary of book publishing terms.

Edge 311

2010-03-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

Edge 311

If you're not already reading Edge, then you're missing out on some of the most insightful writing on our path deeper into the future. Read a recent sample at this link.

Publishing: The Revolutionary Future - The New York Review of Books

2010-02-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

Publishing: The Revolutionary Future - The New York Review of Books

Jason Epstein has had a long, distinguished career in publishing. His latest project was the development of the Espresso Book Machine. In this article, he argues for the importance of books as printed, ink on paper, objects that cannot be deleted with the click of a mouse.

After Amazon's deletion of Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of customers who had "bought" it (what more appropriate title? except perhaps Fahrenheit 451) demonstrated the reality of digital purchases as licenses for use rather than as permanent purchases of ownership, I began rethinking my own belief about the permanency of digital rather than printed books. Naively, I had liked the fact that digital books could be stored in the cloud; I hadn't reckoned with the legal and technical fragility of them.

As always, Jason Epstein is worth reading. Please let me know what you think on this subject, too.

Slashdot Technology Story | Five Years of YouTube and Forced Evolution

2010-02-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

Slashdot Technology Story | Five Years of YouTube and Forced Evolution

Here's a new update on the HTML 5 issue, based on the idea that Google spent so much when it bought YouTube for $1.65 billion that it has developed Chrome and the Chrome IE Tab in order to ensure that its investment pays off, and that it can take over the online world.

Conspiracy theory? Coincidence? or Make Sense?

Will Idealism be Firefox's Downfall?

2010-02-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Will Idealism be Firefox's Downfall?

Most people don't realize that the videos they see on the Internet are usually run with Adobe Flash. Neither to they understand that the Internet is written in HTML. Consequently, they completely don't understand that the new HTML standard for the Internet, HTML 5, is replacing Adobe Flash with H.264.

Lots of techno-talk. Bottom line? For web browser developers to use H.264, they have to pay MPEG-LA (as in Los Angeles, and as in an intellectual property service corporation that does not create but collects dollars and enforces patents) a $5,000,000 per year royalty fee. That is going to squeeze out anyone wanting to create a new web browser, so it's going to kill much creativity in browser land. We'll all be left with IE, Safari and Chrome -- browsers with bucks behind them. Mozilla could probably pay the fee, but they are more concerned with open access and creativity, so they won't.

Another angle is that Google (which owns YouTube) has "merged with" On2 (Google bought On2) which has HTML 5 video technology which is beyond H.264. If Google opens the market, it will eliminate the $5,000,000 barrier to entry.

Let's hope Google decides not to be evil in this deal. Meanwhile, cancel my YouTube account.

Blackwell will close in Lake Oswego, eliminating 139 jobs | Oregon Business News - OregonLive.com

2009-12-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

Blackwell North America gave me one of my first jobs in the book business, and I am sorry to see them go. More importantly, I am sorry to see the unhealthy trend toward consolidation in the industry.

Blackwell will close in Lake Oswego, eliminating 139 jobs | Oregon Business News - OregonLive.com: "Blackwell will close in Lake Oswego, eliminating 139 jobs
By Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian
December 08, 2009, 6:49PM

A day after completing its acquisition of Blackwell North America, Charlotte-based book and multimedia distributor Baker & Taylor Inc. said it will shut Blackwell's customer service and sales operation in Lake Oswego and eventually eliminate 139 jobs.

Oregon's Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development received an official Warn Act notice of the layoffs on Tuesday.

The layoffs will begin Feb. 7, the company said in the notification.

The layoffs stem from a business swap in which Baker & Taylor acquired the U.S. and Australian operations of Blackwell United Kingdom and Blackwell acquired Baker & Taylor's Lindsay and Croft business in Britain.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Neither company returned calls seeking comments.

Blackwell's U.S. operations, including its sales and customer service office in Lake Oswego, will now be managed by Baker & Taylor's YBP Library Services. The Lake Oswego functions will be handled out of YBP's office in New Hampshire."

Evernote Raises $10 Million From Investors - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

2009-11-16T21:47:00.000-08:00

Evernote Raises $10 Million From Investors - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

I have been using Evernote for a few weeks, and am amazed by its functionality, and by the powerful ways creative people have found to use it. The article linked above describes some of them, as well as giving some company history. I thought at first that it was just an online notepad, but it can be used for everything from a basic GTD system to a detailed inventory control system.

I have to admit that I am using the free version, and only because my Blackberry doesn't have an easy way to wirelessly sync between the built-in notepad app and an app that I can use on my laptop, particularly with a web-based one, preferably a Google-based one. The free version works fine for me.

Even if Outlook could handle pictures and other file formats, I wouldn't t want to sync with Outlook because I went beyond it years ago. It was a great program for the 1980s and early 1990s, but its architecture makes it a boat anchor on productivity, today. Besides, you need a full-time IT department to keep it working correctly, and even if I had a full-time IT department, I wouldn't have the clout to get them to hang around my office to keep my Outlook working right. Outlook is great if you're a high level exec at a big company. If you're a free lancer, a small business person, or someone who doesn't report directly to a high level exec, then you'd better look at alternatives that you can manage on your own.

As for using the built-in software that came with my Blackberry, the thought of going through the hassle of tethering the BB with a cable and using the clunky sync software that came with it is more than I want to deal with. I want less hassle in life, not more. If I had the proverbial nickel for every hour I have spent waiting while my hand-held synced with my laptop over the last twenty years, I could retire early. I don't want to have to sit around my office and fool with this stuff when I could be out the door at the end of the day, or maybe off to a meeting during work hours.

I also use Remember the Milk, which has an excellent wireless sync system with the BB task manager, but RTM is a task manager not a note organizer. It won't do things like keep track of digital photos of my favorite meals, etc. It's great when the task falls outside of email.

As for my real GTD system, I use GTDInbox, and I love it so much that I am helping them with their marketing and the roll-out as they move into a revenue-generating company, after four years of development. I spend most of my life in email, so being able to use it to track and manage my projects and tasks without leaving email, and without keeping a separate task manager in sync with my email is invaluable. It saves me hours every week. Truthfully, it probably saves me a day every week, when I look at how long I used to have to spend on my weekly reviews. Now, I get them done in under an hour.

To see that Evernote has received capital from a major VC firm really confirms my intuition that they are onto something great. We all have a million things to keep track of, and a lot of the time we need to make up our categories as we go.

Bottom Line: If you're not using Evernote, then give it a try. I think you'll be very pleased.

I'm on Google Wave, finally

2009-11-14T21:29:00.000-08:00

I requested invitations from Google several times, with no response, but then last week I got irate and told Google that I was their ideal tester, since I live in email and communicate with co-workers and customers in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. A few nights later, the invitation arrived. I got it on my Blackberry as I was walking from the gym back to my car, after work. Needless to say, I cut short my evening activities so I could get back to the office and join the Wave adventure.

Being a careful sort, I worked my way through LifeHacker's book on how to use Wave before I actually logged onto it. Once onto it, I could see it was completely different from what I had hoped for. I was looking for a way to integrate my online communication, which comes in via email, chat, SMS, Twitter, FB, etc., so that even though I have the ultimate email-based GTD system in place, there are a lot of messages (meaning tasks and projects) that have to happen outside of email.

Wave is actually a real-time document sharing and editing system. Imagine creating an article in a wiki and then inviting a lot of people to add to it as they chose, or you could do the same in Google Docs. Rather than creating an email thread, Wave creates a shared document. It looks a lot like an email thread in Gmail. The strength of this approach is that it does facilitate real-time communication among potentially large groups of people. The weakness of it is that it does the same, so you can easily end up with a lot of text and opinions flowing at a high rate of speed. Every time I log into Wave, I have to read through all the messages (think posts and comments in the blog format) that have been added since I was last on it. I could find only four of my friends already on Wave (and they must not be thrilled with it, since none of them responded to my Waves at them, meaning they are not logging on very often), so I have been participating in several public waves, and I have not yet gotten any experience in waving among small groups. Wave keeps the discussion arranged in an orderly, easily-understood way, even though the message volume and number of participants is high. For instance, the Software Roles in Education wave has over 145 participants. The List of Things Google Wave Will Kill wave has over 440. Most of these are talkative people with a lot of insight, and they all contribute multiple comments, so this is a lot of thinking to keep track of. Wave does a great job. However, the truly outstanding thing that Wave does is make all this happen in real time. You can actually watch the characters appear on the screen, as people type. (Some users have complained about this and seen it as a negative. They believed it made their thought processes too public. I would recommend that they draft their messages off-line, then. That is simple enough. I do it all the time in email so I don't send half-baked ideas in poorly drafted prose to people who need well thought-out ideas in carefully crafted prose featuring actionable bullet points. This is more of an issue for a work flow and writing discussion, and is neutral as far as platform.)

So, to conclude, after only a few days on Wave, here is my last post to the Is Email Better than Wave wave:

I think it is premature to attempt such a judgment. Wave is still in pre-release development, and there are insufficient users to test it fully. The basic concept of creating a shared, real-time, document among a work group is sound and will no doubt be useful, though this has been possible with wikis and Google Docs for some time. I think that as Wave is opened to more users, and as the slowness and other problems are worked out, the creative mind of the user collective will discover and develop uses that we cannot now imagine.

If you are on Wave, please connect with me. My name on it is staffordpeyton@googlewave.com.

District Dispatch » House re-introduces SKILLs Act emphasizing role of school librarians

2009-11-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

District Dispatch » House re-introduces SKILLs Act emphasizing role of school librarians

Note from Peyton: This is critical legislation because it can assure that students have the support and expertise of qualified librarians in school libraries.

House re-introduces SKILLs Act emphasizing role of school librarians
October 30th, 2009 | Category: OGR, School Libraries

The Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries Act, or the SKILLs Act, was re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week with support from both sides of the aisle. This legislation is intended to ensure that all students will have the support and resources they need for a quality education by establishing a goal that all public school libraries employ no less than one highly qualified school library media specialist.

H.R. 3928 was introduced by Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-7) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI-3) and was referred to the House Education and Labor Committee.

In 2007 the SKILLs Act was introduced in the 110th Congress by both Reps. Grijalva and Ehlers and received 30 cosponsors. This SKILLs Act was also introduced in the U.S. Senate in the 110th Congress by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and received bi-partisan sponsorship from Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS), John Kerry (D-MA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). There is no Senate legislation yet in the 111th Congress. In the 110th Congress, the SKILLs Act failed to be reported out of committee.

Jeff Kratz
Assistant Director, OGR

ALA | Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study

2009-11-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

ALA | Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study:

Now published: Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2008-2009
About the Study

Today’s public libraries are vital community technology hubs that millions of Americans rely on for their first and often only choice for Internet access. Despite increased demand for library computers, however, libraries typically have not seen a corresponding increase in budgets and many are challenged to provide enough computers or fast-enough connection speeds to meet demand.

The Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study is a multi-year project that builds on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries. The study assesses public access to computers, the Internet and Internet-related services in U.S. public libraries, as well as the impact of library funding changes on connectivity, technology deployment and sustainability in FY2007-2009.

Built on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries, begun in 1994 by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure, this study provides information that can help library directors and library IT staff benchmark and advocate for technology resources in communities across the nation. The data are also of importance for policymakers at local, state, and federal levels, manufacturers of information and communication technologies, and the communities served.

The project is made possible by a generous donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association."

Federated Search Across Multiple Book Sources Including Major Online Stores with Q-Sensei

2009-10-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a way to search multiple online book retailers, when I found the Q-Sensei plug-in for Firefox. It worked perfectly, and I have added a Q-Sensei search box to this blog because I like it so well.

If you are a librarian, a book lover or someone who often needs to locate books that are difficult to find, I highly recommend that you try Q-Sensei. Better yet, if you use Firefox as your browser, install the plug-in so you can do a federated search of multiple sources with a single click from the ISBN.

Real-Time Global (and local) Twitter Topic Trends on http://trendsmap.com

2009-10-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is so cool that I have reset my homepage in Firefox to it so I can look at it whenever I launch my browser. Trendsmap is a world map showing current Twitter trends with a tag field. You can zoom in to your local area, but I like looking at the whole world and seeing the big picture of what twits are into at the moment. Ten minutes ago, it was the Yankees. Right now, it's Obama signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. (Remember 1998 when some redneck Texans tied a black man to the back of their pickup and dragged him to death? About the same time, some Montanans beat up a gay man, tied him to a barbed wire fence, and left him to die.) Maybe tomorrow, the twits will be more cheerful.

Anyway, my point is that Trendsmap gives you an immediate global (or local) view of what is in the public mind. Whether you are a librarian on the front lines of reference desk work or a publisher marketing expert working in the quiet of your office, this is invaluable information.

If you missed an event (and who doesn't?) Trendsmap even has a few historical videos so you can see

Globalis - an interactive world map

2009-10-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

Globalis - an interactive world map

Have you ever tried to figure out the relative land mass of Greenland and Australia? Or have you wondered about global warming trends, or population density trends? Here is a UN project that produces maps showing these and other factors as they impact life on planet earth. Well worth bookmarking and exploring!

Company - Emergence of new business models

2009-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Company - Emergence of new business models

This is an article published in the Frankfurt Book Fair newsletter about the variety of e-book pricing models under consideration. It includes figures from a poll conducted by the fair, buchreport magazine and Publishers Weekly.

Boy Lifts Book; Librarian Changes Boy's Life : NPR

2009-10-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Boy Lifts Book; Librarian Changes Boy's Life : NPR

We may be living in the future, now, but this story shows how wonderfully effective librarians have been at making life better for a long time.

Econundrum: Kindles vs. Books | Mother Jones

2009-09-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

Econundrum: Kindles vs. Books | Mother Jones

Interesting article that attempts to evaluate the relative CO2 footprint of consumers buying printed books, buying Kindle books or borrowing books from the local library. It omits quantitative studies of public library operation including heating/cooling, etc., (if they exist) as well as the unforeseen effects on publishing economics if book buyers all became book borrowers. Interesting, still the same.

The most interesting and sure point it makes is that at 474 pounds per year of carbon emission plus the emissions involved in creating it, the typical TV set is worse on the environment than borrowing or buying one's books.

Glad I gave away that 13 inch TV in 1984. Haven't missed it since.

Voter Survey on Libraries

2009-09-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Texas Voter Survey on Libraries

This is very encouraging. Whether Democrat, Independent or Republican, Texas voters support increased public library funding and full support of school libraries. It would be interesting to see if other states have comparable data and how the data matches with aggregate voting behavior and budgeting practices.

MetaRasa™ Personality Radar of Me!

2009-09-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Open Access to Scientific Papers via ResearchGATE

2009-09-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

This information came via email. ResearchGATE is an online scientific community, which is offering a practical way for scientists to make their published papers available to other scientists that do not have access to highly expensive traditional scientific journals.

---------------------------------------

ResearchGATE.net is pleased to share the following updates from your Scientific Network.

Open Access on ResearchGATE

The last few weeks have been big here at ResearchGATE. We have surpassed the 140,000 member mark and have introduced our international Job Board for Science and Higher Education. But today is set to be even bigger as we launch our Self-Archiving Repository. This will make full-text articles available to the public, for free – the first application of its kind worldwide!

Currently, there is no way for researchers to access millions of publications in their full version online. ResearchGATE is now changing this by enabling users to upload their published research directly to their profile pages (a system called the "green route" to Open Access). Our publication index, containing metadata for 35 million publications, will be automatically matched with the SHERPA RoMEO data set of journal and publisher's self-archiving agreements. As a result, authors will know which versions of their articles they can legally upload. Since nine out of ten journals allow self-archiving, this project could give thousands of researchers immediate access to articles that are not yet freely available.

Our Self-Archiving Repository does not infringe on copyrights because each profile page within ResearchGATE is legally considered the personal website of the user (and the majority of journal publishers allow articles to be openly accessible on personal homepages). Therefore, each user can upload his or her published articles in compliance with self-archiving regulations. Our publication index makes every publication identifiable and is searchable. Since each profile is networked to the larger platform, the uploaded resources will form an enormous pool of research for our members. Of course, it's free of charge, like the all the other resources at ResearchGATE.

Google Lets You Custom-Print Millions of Public Domain Books | Epicenter | Wired.com

2009-09-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Google Lets You Custom-Print Millions of Public Domain Books | Epicenter | Wired.com

Truly revolutionary is an understatement.

ALA | New book censorship map reveals national problem

2009-08-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

ALA | New book censorship map reveals national problem

Now this is a shock! Both left and right want to censor. Too bad Ray Bradbury is gone. If you click on the balloons you see that these challenges come from left as well as right. The only thing they have in common is that they don't believe that people can think for themselves, and hence need supervision by the group that puts forth the challenge.

Mixed-polymer recycling: The plastic sausage machine | The Economist

2009-08-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

Mixed-polymer recycling: The plastic sausage machine | The Economist

Disposal of plastics and the difficulties involved in recycling them has been a major environmental problem for decades. Now a British firm has developed a method and put into production a factory for recycling mixed plastics of any kind into something similar to plywood.

June 2009 eBook sales stats -- 136% increase over June 2008

2009-08-11T12:04:00.001-07:00

(These are the official stats from the IDPA, which is the part of the AAP for digital publishers, as released this morning. These are US-only figures and represent wholesale rather than retail, so the retail figures could be twice as high.)

eBook sales statistics for June 2009 have been released from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) who collects these statistics in conjunction with the IDPF.

Trade eBook sales were $14,000,000 for June, a 136.2% increase over June 2008 ($5,900,000).

Calendar Year to Date sales are up + 149.3%

Q2 2009 wholesale trade sales were $37,600,000

A couple of observations indicating the growth we are seeing.

First two quarters of 2009 have already surpassed total of all 2008 wholesale trade sales.
June 2009 wholesale trade sales were $14,000,000 which is highest single month thus far. April 2009 wholesale trade was previous high at $12,100,000
Q1 2009 set the previous bar for trade wholesale for the 12 – 15 trade publishers at $25,800,000, which has been surpassed by Q2 09.

Technological Evolution Stirs a Publishing Revolution - Knowledge@Wharton

2009-08-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Technological Evolution Stirs a Publishing Revolution - Knowledge@Wharton

Quite an interesting high level analysis of the Kindle and the Espresso Book Machine, and of how they fit into the overall economics of publishing.

State of the Art - Amazon’s E-Book Rival, Barnes and Noble, a Paper Tiger, for Now - NYTimes.com

2009-08-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

State of the Art - Amazon’s E-Book Rival, Barnes and Noble, a Paper Tiger, for Now - NYTimes.com

This is an excellent critique, not only of the differences between Amazon's and Barnes & Noble's e-book business and technology models, but also of the current state of e-books compared with print books.

Book fans develop a taste for library-themed ice-cream | Books | guardian.co.uk

2009-08-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Book fans develop a taste for library-themed ice-cream | Books | guardian.co.uk

This is cute -- a Ben & Jerry library-themed ice cream flavor.

Google Engineering Director Spells Out Vision for the Future of Digital Books - mediabistro.com: BayNewser

2009-07-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Google Engineering Director Spells Out Vision for the Future of Digital Books - mediabistro.com: BayNewser

This is quite interesting because it goes far beyond Google's plans for out-of-copyright and OOP books. I like the idea of having the book files in the cloud, but I don't see why they have to be on Google's servers. There's no reason they couldn't reside on other servers. The main idea, though, is that readers would have permanent rights to their e-books, and that they could read their books on any hardware platform. This would solve a big problem and prevent monopolistic companies from dominating the e-book market. The other good idea is that with the spread of the Espresso Book Machine and similar instant book printing devices, this model would support rather than undermine independent bookstores.

Two big questions about e-book licensing remain unanswered: can these books be re-sold and can they be bequeathed as part of an estate? I think the answer for e-books will always be negative because publishers will not want to lose control of the content or to allow a used e-book market to open up.

Review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

2009-07-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book confirmed a lot of what I have thought about the necessary confluence of opportunity, ability and dedication that seems to be the necessary and sufficient condition for success; however, I think Gladwell's strongest point has to do with education and the possibility of modifying social institutions in order to provide opportunities to succeed to the millions of people around the world who, no matter how talented and dedicated they may be, are shut out because of their location, their birth date or some other factor that could be compensated for. As a global culture, we do not need to continue allowing such factors to become disabilities. Relatively simple steps, such as providing year-round schooling for children so that children from uneducated families do not fall increasingly behind their middle- and upper-class peers (who benefit from formal and informal instruction during the long US summer break while the lower-class students are left to entertain themselves), could give millions of young people the opportunity to succeed. Likewise, grouping students by the quarter in which they were born rather than by the year would reduce the unfair inequity of having children nearly a year younger than some of their classmates compete against the older children.

I was more impressed by Outliers than I was by Tipping Point, though I thought it was a great book, too. Outliers was, as Gladwell said, a very personal book for him. Had he not benefited from a series of happy coincidences that led him to excel professionally, he would have been yet another bright, under-employed adult. Anyone with an interest in social justice and education should definitely read this book. Even more so, anyone who is working to improve society should read it for its inspiring ideas.

View all my reviews >>

LinkedIn | Publishing and editing professionals Group News

2009-07-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

LinkedIn | Publishing and editing professionals Group News

This is amazing. They have created an online expert AI platform so that anyone can build an expert system and market it. I haven't tried it, yet, but plan to when I get some down time, next month.

Fake online reviews draw NY suit - DMNews

2009-07-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Fake online reviews draw NY suit - DMNews

I was wondering when something like this would happen. Combine this with the controversy at Wikipedia about how to handle the Church of Scientology entries and earlier accounts of corporate PR people massaging any user-editable content about their companies, and I think we will see a whole new level of deceptiveness develop in social network advertising, as PR and ad agencies try to work around the basic problem of telling the truth.

A Message in Spanish, and Now I Can Read It

2009-07-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Facebook ✆

to Peyton

show details 6:27 PM (2 hours ago)

View translated message > Learn more

Edmundo Dantes sent a message to the members of FonoLibro - Audiolibros en Español.

--------------------
Subject: Joachim de Posada fue seleccionado entre los 25 mejores oradores profesionales

Estimadas Amigas y Amigos,

Nos da mucho gusto en informarles que Joachim de Posada autor de nuestros audiolibros “Sobrevivir entre Pirañas” y “No te comas el marshmallow…¡Todavía! Fue seleccionado entre los 25 mejores oradores profesionales por la revista de Julio y agosto de SPEAKER “The Art and Business Speaking” (Orador – El Arte y negocio de Hablar) publicación oficial de la Asociación Nacional de Oradores Profesionales (http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.nsaspeaker.org)

La portada de la revista lo dice todo “Who is Hot? 25 men & women who are shaping our profession” (¿Quién está Caliente? 25 hombres y mujeres quienes están dando forma a nuestra profesión). Esta asociación creó un comité donde evaluó a más de los mejores 100 oradores profesionales que habían sido pre-seleccionados bajo varios criterios y encuestas y obtuvieron a los 25 mejores oradores profesionales.

Estamos orgullosos de contar con Joachim como autor y lo felicitamos en FonoLibro por seguir cosechando éxitos. Sus audiolibros “Sobrevivir entre Pirañas” narrado completamente por Joachim, y “No te comas el marshmallow…¡Todavía!” el que cuenta una parábola al mejor estilo que ¿Quién se llevo mi queso? Están disponibles en nuestra página Web http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.fonolibro.com en versiones digitales para descarga en http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.audible.com/fonolibro

No dejen de escucharlos ya que Joachim en uno de ellos dice la fórmula para hacer millones de dólares en sus vidas.

Saludos,

Ed

That was the message that came in as an email. I use Gmail, and had recently turned on the Google Labs translation feature. I clicked the View Translated Message link, and this is what came up:

Edmundo Dantes sent a message to the members of Fonolibro - Books in Spanish.

--------------------
Subject: Joachim de Posada was selected among the top 25 professional speakers

Dear friends,

We're very pleased to announce that author Joachim de Posada of our audiobooks "Surviving between Piranhas" and "Do not eat the Marshmallow ... Yet! Was selected among the 25 best speakers by the professional magazine of July and August SPEAKER "The Art and Business Speaking" (Speaker - The Art and Business Talk) official publication of the National Association of Professional Speakers http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.nsaspeaker.org

The cover of the magazine says it all "Who is Hot? 25 men & women who are shaping our profession "(Who's Hot? 25 men and women who are shaping our profession). This association created a committee which evaluated over 100 of the best professional speakers who had been pre-selected under various criteria and surveys, and obtained the top 25 professional speakers.

We are proud to have Joachim as the author and congratulate him on Fonolibro for continuing success. His audiobooks "Surviving between Piranhas" narrated entirely by Joachim, and "Do not eat the Marshmallow ... Yet!" Which tells a parable to the best style Who took my cheese? Are available on our website http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.fonolibro.com in digital versions for download on http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.audible.com/fonolibro

Do not forget to listen and to Joachim on one of them said the formula to make millions of dollars in their lives.

Greetings,

Ed

Of course, I don't know how accurate the translation is, but it reads well. I'm impressed! This marks a major step toward machine translation, a technology that could go a long way toward reducing the conflict and increasing the harmony among different peoples in our world.

Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson: newyorker.com

2009-07-02T12:54:00.001-07:00

Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson: newyorker.com

Shared via AddThis

I haven't had a chance to read Anderson's new book, so I will just pass along Gladwell's review with a general statement that Gladwell's points seem accurate. Free can be a good price if a business is making money elsewhere, but most of the time Free is an illusion, as in free open source software. It's free because the people who create it donae their time or work for organizations that pay them to donate their time. I would be curious how an ecologist would react to Anderson, since if anyone knows that there's no free lunch, it's the people who study biological systems.

Ohio Governor Proposes Halving State Support; Many Libraries Could Close - 6/22/2009 - Library Journal

2009-06-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ohio Governor Proposes Halving State Support; Many Libraries Could Close - 6/22/2009 - Library Journal

Ohio has, in the past, provided excellent state support to its public libraries. Now, as we stumble into the information age, the state is considering halving its support of them. This would force many to close. If you know anyone who works for the State of Ohio, especially in the Governor's Office, please talk to them. This must not happen!

6 Lessons One Campus Learned About E-Textbooks - Chronicle.com

2009-06-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

6 Lessons One Campus Learned About E-Textbooks - Chronicle.com

This is a very interesting article by an administrator at a university that committed to using e-textbooks. The found out several interesting things that would not be surprising to someone deeply involved in e-publishing but could be surprising to most educators:

1. The reader really matters. E-readers can be much harder to use than conventional textbooks, except for reading straight text. Since textbooks usually include many charts, graphs and illustrations, this is a big issue. So is note-taking an annotating. It's easy to scribble notes in the margins of a printed book, but e-readers make this more difficult. The university did not try DAISY books, so this was a big issue for them.

2. Learning curves can be steep. If you work in IT, you can expect that, but if you don't then you probably think that you and your students will just pick up your e-book reader and figure it out as you go. Lots of luck.

3. Professors are as eager or even more eager than the students. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

4. Battery life issues. After essentially giving up on the Sony Reader, the university switched to a format that worked on laptops, but then the students began running out of juice. Practically speaking, battery life is always an issue (and anyone who travels on business should know this), buy buying and carrying a spare battery would be a new experience for most students.

5. Graphical matter affects some subjects more than others. Per number one above, it is much easier to read a literature e-book than a chemistry one because of the relative lack of illustrations.

6. Environmental impact. Obviously, e-books are easier on the environment. So this is a big plus.

Read the entire article for more details.

Science Daily: High Population Density Triggers Cultural Explosions

2009-06-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

High Population Density Triggers Cultural Explosions

This goes totally against my favorite idea, which is that I (and some presently unknown cohort) are inherently superior -- perhaps because of a huge dose of alien genes) but Prof. Adam Powell makes more sense than my previous ideas did. Well worth 2.5 minutes of your attention to read.

Some Teachers in New York Area Offer to Share the Economic Pain - NYTimes.com

2009-05-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Some Teachers in New York Area Offer to Share the Economic Pain - NYTimes.com

Sad for teachers to have to give back, but a noble thing for them to do, especially when it allows school districts to keep more educators employed during the recession.

Bowker Reports U.S. Book Production Declines 3% in 2008, but "On Demand" Publishing More Than Doubles | SYS-CON INDIA

2009-05-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Bowker Reports U.S. Book Production Declines 3% in 2008, but "On Demand" Publishing More Than Doubles | SYS-CON INDIA

The numbers don't lie. Combine this fact with the way large print is growing and it is clear that POD is having a huge impact not only by increasing accessible titles but by making it economically feasible to publish more books of every kind.

CPSIA Update: Still Waiting - 5/14/2009 5:15:00 PM - Publishers Weekly

2009-05-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

CPSIA Update: Still Waiting - 5/14/2009 5:15:00 PM - Publishers Weekly

More on the Consumer Products Safety issue and library books.

With E-Readers Comes Wider Piracy of Books - NYTimes.com

2009-05-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

With E-Readers Comes Wider Piracy of Books - NYTimes.com

Most everyone in book publishing has seen this coming. It's the print equivalent of what happened years ago to the film and music industries, but with one major difference. Musicians and auteurs whose work is pirated are often already receiving massive monetary compensation for their creative work, which may be done in a relatively brief period of time; book authors, on the other hand, are often receiving marginal compensation for creative works that require years of their lives to complete.

Official Google Blog: Adding search power to public data

2009-04-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: Adding search power to public data

Check this out if you need to compare one community with another or with US national figures. If you're like me and always trying to figure out the demographics behind changes in library land, this is probably going to be a fun toy.

Shortcovers - Popular Shortcovers and Mixes

2009-04-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

Shortcovers - Popular Shortcovers and Mixes

Oops! I thought I was onto something hot here! I thought Shortcovers was going to let me read what I want to read on my Blackberry, and so I downloaded their app. But what they offer is the opportunity to read what I don't want to read. If you've read any of my blogs or ever met me, you know that the words stern, serious, complicated and difficult are apt. I'm not someone who knows how to have a good time or who has any serious (there I go again) interest in having a good time. I'm always looking for something not just challenging but nearly impossible, and that goes for my reading taste as well as for how I choose to live the rest of my life. If you have a problem, I will solve it. If you want to have a friend, I'm not your guy.

However, if you want to read Heaven is Small, Sex and the City, The Pelican Brief and other popular titles (don't forget the literary classic, Four Blondes) then this seems to be a lower cost alternative to Mobi. They say that some of their titles sell for as little as $0.99 but they didn't have anything I wanted to read so I'm not sure. In any case, the architecture of their web site is sound. All they need is more content. And they are relying on you to point them to it and to give them some ammunition when they go to the copyright holders with a permission slip in hand.

Anyway, most of my readers are librarians, and they're way lighter hearted than I will ever be, so I would say please check out this site. Aside from the dearth of seriously grumpy intellectual content, it's worth your visiting just because it's an alternative to Kindle, so you don't' have to buy and tote another chunk of hardware, and it's an alternative to Mobi, which seems committed to charging the same for a download as for a printed book.

I've no idea how accessible they are for readers with print disabilities. If anyone can evaluate this, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'll go back to reading my gloomy and serious printed books.

Education in New York | Off to school | The Economist

2009-04-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Education in New York | Off to school | The Economist

Fascinating article, from the perspective of a British writer for The Economist, on the state of innovation in US education.

2009-04-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

MA Library Trustees' Pension Boost Sparks Backlash - 4/21/2009 - Library Journal

It's no wonder they never have enough money to buy materials, such as books... and library trustees and volunteer board members are supposed to be the good guys. Nobody pays me for volunteering. Maybe I don't understand the economics of oxymorons.

U.S. IMPACT Home

2009-04-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

U.S. IMPACT Home

This is a web-based survey about public library computer use, i.e., about use of public access computers. The actual survey is at

https://www.uwsrd.org/mrIWeb/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=IMLSPACVFINAL&i.User1=WA0063

Try it. Note that it does not seem to mention accessibility issues.

Pubmatch - Matching Publishers, Authors and Agents Worldwide

2009-04-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

Pubmatch - Matching Publishers, Authors and Agents Worldwide

Networking with publishers, authors and agents has just become a whole lot easier, thanks to a new web site provided by The Combined Book Exhibit. If you are in publishing, this is an excellent tool to locate potential business partners, suppliers, etc.

GET GRAPHIC: The World In Words and Pictures

2009-03-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

GET GRAPHIC: The World In Words and Pictures

Get Graphic is a library-based site about graphic novels -- full of information on using them in school and public libraries.

Microsoft's 2019 scenario has everything but Windows | The Industry Standard

2009-03-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

Microsoft's 2019 scenario has everything but Windows | The Industry Standard

This is a 2-minute video montage that envisions the near future of technology. Everything is deeply networked and touch screen. As amazing as it appears, I will bet that by 2019 the technology showcased in this clip will seem quaint and dated.

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society: The Struggle for Book Access (Blog Post #1)

2009-02-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society: The Struggle for Book Access (Blog Post #1)

Vis-a-vis the new Kindle with text-to-speech capability, here is a good summary of the issues regarding author and publisher rights vs the needs of handicapped readers. I like Jim's concept of dueling moral high ground positions. It puts the whole issue into perspective for me.

A Brief History of Tactile Writing Systems for Readers With Blindness and Visual Impairments

2009-02-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

A Brief History of Tactile Writing Systems for Readers With Blindness and Visual Impairments

Most people have heard of braille, but there are several other writing systems for blind people. This brief article gives an overview. Some of these systems are particularly useful if you work with young children, older persons who have recently lost their site, or with multiply handicapped persons who may not have the tactile sensitivity to benefit from braille.

Google & the Future of Books - The New York Review of Books

2009-02-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Google & the Future of Books - The New York Review of Books

Excellent article by Robert Darnton, head of libraries at Harvard, explaining the likely outcome of the Google Book Search settlement. Thanks for Jim Scheppke for pointing it out.

Stimuluswatch.org; The Falling Cost and Accelerated Speed of Group Action - O'Reilly Radar

2009-02-16T08:19:00.000-08:00

Stimuluswatch.org; The Falling Cost and Accelerated Speed of Group Action - O'Reilly Radar

Wonderful news for those of us involved in the Stimulus race, and who isn't. Librarians and educators should definitely be participating in this wiki.

The Future of Reading - In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update - Series - NYTimes.com

2009-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Future of Reading - In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update - Series - NYTimes.com

No news here for us in the library world, but it's nice to see some good PR for librarians in the NYT.

IBM program sends laid off U.S. workers overseas at local wages | The Industry Standard

2009-02-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

IBM program sends laid off U.S. workers overseas at local wages | The Industry Standard

Well, we have all been complaining about sending US jobs overseas, so here's a new way to deal with the issue. It keeps US employees working, but at overseas pay scales.

Talking Books Librarian: Amazon Kindle 2 for blind and visually impaired: Will Amazon Kindle 2 work for blind and visually impaired?

2009-02-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Talking Books Librarian: Amazon Kindle 2 for blind and visually impaired: Will Amazon Kindle 2 work for blind and visually impaired?

My opinion? Kindle 2's TTS is going to revolutionize the entire accessible technology business and culture. It's affordable. It's convenient. Using it won't make a disabled person stand out. Of course, it doesn't play BRF or DAISY files, and the books do cost money, but this is still the first time that a hugely popular ebook reader has included as part of its standard equipment an assistive technology piece.

Google, NASA, Kurzweil take tech into the future with new university

2009-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

Google, NASA, Kurzweil take tech into the future with new university

What can I say? I want to enroll!

Washington Post to End Book World As Stand-Alone Section - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com

2009-01-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

Washington Post to End Book World As Stand-Alone Section - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com

Another decrease in the amount of print coverage that books get in print newspapers. This leaves only the NYT and the SF Chronicle with significant original reviews of books. The content of the Bookworld section will be split between two other sections of the print paper, but the equivalent number of pages of book reviews will be cut from 16 to 12. As with the recent announcement of the layoff of PW's editor and the consolidation of staff at Reed, I think this is more a symptom of the decline of print rather than a decline of interest in books.

Amazon To Drop Microsoft, Adobe e-Book Formats - 1/26/2009 7:08:00 AM - Publishers Weekly

2009-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

Amazon To Drop Microsoft, Adobe e-Book Formats - 1/26/2009 7:08:00 AM - Publishers Weekly

Article by Calvin Reid on Amazon's narrowing of its offerings. The flip side, of course, is that if you want Amazon to sell your ebooks, you have to provide them in their Mobi and Kindle formats.

Arts, Briefly - Top Editor at Publishers Weekly Is Laid Off - NYTimes.com

2009-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Arts, Briefly - Top Editor at Publishers Weekly Is Laid Off - NYTimes.com

More bad news in the world of publishing...