eBook News

I'll admit that as I've switched from print to electronic reading, one of the things that I miss is browsing shelves to find new things to read. I do also admit that this was not always a successful strategy in finding something to read, best sellers could overcrowd the shelves, and then I would usually prowl the SiFi section and might never see something that would be good, but was out of current set of shelves that I was looking in.  But I do miss that nostalgic feeling that I used to get from going into new and used bookstores (I do still peruse used bookstores as I find them). Technology is still there to help though. When I feel like wondering through the stacks to find new books today, I will also turn to book browsing tools that can help me find new books and authors to read either in print or now with my ebooks. Now I'm a strong believer of letting students read what they like, yes we need to guide them to have a well rounded backgroun...

As someone who has lived either next to or in the Caribbean basin most of my life (and taught science), I'm well acquainted with the effects of storms as they occur and the power loss aftermath. Whenever my power has gone out for an extended period of time I've always loved that my book collection is still right there to entertain or to teach me. This is still one of the great things about my e-ink readers over my LCD readers (like my iPad). The fact that I can read for over a month on a charge will usually take me through any power problems that I'm dealing with and since I can still buy books with my Kindle using the cell tower network, means I'm not limited to books that I've already read. Even more though than the lack of power issue, I love my eink reader for when I travel. It used to be that I would have to pack a good number of books for a trip, once to read in the car or plane getting there and coming back, and some to read while relaxing at where ever ...

Here is something that I think that most might not have remembered or thought of when considering the online options for libraries. But just as schools today are considering online options for what to do when schools are closed due to weather or other issues, so too can community libraries still serve their public through online options even though their doors have to be closed, in this case due to a power outage. On one side, I hate to see any library closed for any reason, but do understand that it will happen from time to time. In Florida, we add days to the school calendar to ensure that we will have enough days to maintain accreditation even if we get a major storm. I don't want this to be considered a substitute for a public library, but instead more like the redundancy built into a good system. This way if one part isn't working another can take up some of the need. Here also is where users having a...