a naked library has moved!

hello, dear readers!

i have been neglectful in telling you that a naked library has moved to greener pastures.

well, nicer looking ones, i think.

i have moved the blog over to wordpress:

http://anakedlibrary.wordpress.com/

you can follow my ramblings over there through rss or just mosey on by any time.

thanx for keeping up with me so far. now c'mon over to wordpress with me.

where have all the know-it-alls gone...

long time passing... (apologies to pete seeger and his song "where have all the flowers gone."

no, specifically "the know-it-alls." you didn't know there are (were) actually a group of librarians in philadelphia affectionately known as the know-it-alls? me, either. probably because i'm not from philadelphia, and also because i am not the most savviest of library employees.

apparently, the know-it-alls worked in the free library of philadelphia. they are (were) a group of reference librarians who worked at the library and answered any and all questions from any and all comers. and they even kept track of the most-asked questions to save you (and them) time and trouble.

i know what you're thinking, dear readers. you're thinking, if she didn't grow up in philadelphia, didn't know of the existence of the free library in philadelphia, why is she asking about a group of librarians that worked for a library in philadelphia?

well, the answer to that is in this article by daniel rubin,columnist for the philadelphia inquirer (yes, they still have those) titled "libraries experts on call: a dying breed."

i think you can see where i'm going with this. here's the gist, in a nutshell:

• the year 1991 - 14 librarians (all with MS degrees) - 50 calls an hour - callers limited to 3 questions due to volume

• the year 2012 - 1 librarian - 9 assistants - "a couple" of phone calls per week

the article goes on to say how reference services are being provided over the internet, how patrons have more access to technology of their own, and how the librarian has an iPad and her 2nd generation e-reader because, "I can't help people unless I know these things myself."

of course, this got me thinking about what i thought a naked library would be, which is without physical books. i never really thought of it being without people who were smarter than me. people who not only knew stuff, but knew where to find stuff. 

does that mean google has made a research librarian out of all of us? or just that we "think" we are smarter than we are? quantity vs. quality? do i need to know that loc.gov (library of congress) exists when i'm looking for information on abraham lincoln's assassination or just leave it to google to point me in the right direction, and maybe never know?

if patrons no longer care about WHERE the information they want comes from, will they care about WHO knows it's out there?

magic 8 ball says: reply hazy, try again.

thumbs up reading: inspector singh investigates: the singapore school of villainy. an entertaining detective series, usually set in singapore, similar to my other favorite detective, vish puri, the best detective in india. the inspector singh series is a british import so i hope i can put my hands on another.

a serious post . . . o.m.g . . . the torches burn bright!!!

hello dear readers,

as much as i know you are used to clicking on the link to this blog with the anticipation of giddy school boys and girls awaiting the candy store to open, this blog post may disappoint in its entertainment value. but it surely will entertain your thought-provoked neurons (if there are such things, and i think there are).

maple street. location of a thought-provoking event in a famous episode of that old show, "the twilight zone," called "the monsters are due on maple street." there are humans. there are aliens. every conflict has to have two sides. if you haven't watched it, you should. hysteria ensues, kinda like the story i'm about to discuss.

i have no idea how i missed this story, but i am all over it now because it clearly, in one fell swoop, covers one of the biggest fears associated with e-books, authors and publishers . . . piracy!

now i know you are thinking, what story is she talking about?  THIS ONE! okay, i'll tell you the title: "piracy witch hunt downs legit e-book lending website."

whoa. first off, let's look at some of those terms... "piracy," "witch hunt," "legit," and "e-book."

i'll try to break it down in a few bullet points:

• indie author writes book
• indie author allows barnes & noble and amazon to sell said book
• barnes & noble and amazon allow lending privileges for said book (one-time, 14 days)
• guy creates website to facilitate lending, called lendink (wikipedia site).
• indie author mistakes lending facilitation for piracy, creates twitmob, indie authors send C&Ds to website guy and his ISP (C&D=cease and desist; ISP=internet service provider)
• website guy's ISP downs website
• website guy cries (okay i made that part up)
• indie authors realize mistakes, some say "i'm sorry"
• website guy out of business

that, in a nutshell, is a potent combination of ignorance + confusion + fear with a little greed thrown in for flavor.

FULL DISCLOSURE: i used to work for one of the big box retailers referenced above and in that capacity i worked with a lot of authors, indie and mainstream.

now, i'm not one to cast the first stone (usually, the second), so i read through a few articles about this story before i became outraged and put up this post. my rage is two-pronged and both aimed at the authors. one is the totally ignorant, misguided, mob mentality that resulted from alleged authors FAILING TO READ. AUTHORS FAILING TO READ!!!! ironic? failing to read their agreements with amazon and barnes & noble that THEY signed,  failing to READ the information on lendink's website, failing to ASK questions, EPIC FAIL!

the second prong is aimed at authors who apologized. i know, sounds counterintuitive. but, hear me out. the amount of effort and misguided anger they put forth to protect their own property simply is not matched by a simple, two-word apology. there was a commercial years ago, where one of the characters said, "sorry doesn't feed the bulldog." one author actually said, in her revised comment to lendink's owner, "Now that I know the truth, I'd be happy to have my books up on your site." well, OF COURSE YOU WOULD!" isn't that why you publish to begin with?? so you can feed the bulldog??

*sigh* on a side note, i also blame publishers. they have continued to foster this notion that, somehow, e-books are bad for publishing, bad for authors because it can't be controlled (of course it can) and it can't be priced competitively (well, that's for you to fight out with jeff bezos). an author of one of the articles below says publishers spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt).  unfortunately, at the end of the day, who suffers? in this case, the small business guy and us, the consumers.

well, i'll get off my soapbox now and leave you with a reading list of articles on the lendink debacle. another side note: in my feeble attempts to use google, i did try to find articles that might have fallen on the side of the misguided aggrieved authors. i couldn't find any. and i looked. really looked. i really did. if you find something, let us know.

• what happened to lendink? the owner responds
• eBook lending site lendink shuttered by confused authors
• authors destroy legal e-book lending site thanks to authors guild, publisher FUD
• lendink fiasco keeps rights management issue burning
• how uninformed digital authors destroyed lendink
• one author explains her role in the lendink lynch mob
• open question: lendink and the reality of eBook lending
• angry mob vs. angry mob: the lendink debacle
• lendink: why i was angry, and why i am sorry
• piracy witch hunt downs legit e-book lending web site
• congratulations: you killed lendink and denied your fellow authors their lend royalties
• lendink witch hunt, part II: it's gone too far

back from the future ... back to the future

Harvey Christensen works on the Oregon State College
Electronic Analog Computer, ca. late 1950s

hello, dear readers


well, a promise is a promise, even if i didn't really promise.

in a previous blog post, welcoming my own return to the blogosphere, i mentioned that i would be following up on some past blog posts from the infancy of this experiment i call the naked library.


hold on as we go back, back, back in time to...2009. initial blog posting title: winthrop prof uses kindle to spark new age of learning. pretty ambitious, wouldn't you say?

the winthrop professor is dr. mark herring, who also happens to be the dean of library services at winthrop university, here in good 'ol south carolina (rock hill, specifically).

his grand experiment? give each student in his class a kindle dx and see what happens. sparks? flames? inferno? 


i emailed dr herring to ask him for an update on his kindle experiment and he was kind enough to respond. i think we might all know where that kindle experiment went, but wait until you see where winthrop's library went, and dr. herring's thinking along with it.


read all about it by clicking this link. it's a microsoft word document i'm sharing with you on google drive. 


google drive? there's something we haven't talked about yet that didn't exist in 2009 - cloud storage for the masses. hmmm...future blog post? probably.

happy reading...no matter the format!

reading?

thumbs up - a discovery of witches (first in a planned trilogy) by deborah harkness. it's about a witch who doesn't want to acknowledge she's a witch who falls in love with a vampire while looking for an obscure monograph also being searched for by other witches, vampires, and werewolves. NO! it's not twilight. besides, the protagonist is a librarian. trust me on this one... it's good. really!! seriously!! stop laughing!!


thumbs down - the borrower by rebecca makkai - librarian winds up on road trip with kid, accidentally. i couldn't pretend a librarian wasn't smarter.

is it 'e' you're looking for?

i work at an academic library and a co-worker forwarded a blog posting from "librarian in black." librarian in black  is really sarah houghton, director for the san rafael public library (california) and the posting is titled "i'm breaking up with e-books (and so can you)"(subtitled e-book suckitude). i like it!

[WARNING! DANGER WILL ROBINSON! it contains salty language! yes, the S-word and the F-word are used, sparingly, but used). still worth the read.

now, i'll admit that at first glance, i took offense because i...love...e-books! love, love, love them! and paper books, tooooooo!

but upon further investigation, it turns out that sarah (i'll assume it's okay to call her sarah) isn't breaking up with e-books but is breaking up with overdrive, the major e-book provider for libraries in the country. and she's not planning on picking up with another suitor (sorry, 3m).

okay, this bandwagon i can jump on.  it just so happens that i met last week with one of our local community college librarians who wanted to talk about...you guessed it, e-books and e-book providers.

but, back to sarah and her upcoming bad breakup with overdrive. in her looooong blog post, she compares her library's relationship with overdrive (through a consortium) with a relationship with a bad boyfriend. nice and shiny and full of promise in the beginning, but eventually all that wears off and you're left with crap and you settle until one day... 

basically, she sees overdrive as a promise unfulfilled. not only that, but almost as though overdrive was fraudulent in their intent to begin with. 

i tried to highlight the basics in the article, but even the highlights (lowlights) stacked up, but here goes (by the way, this doesn't mean i don't want you to read the article!!):

• the whole situation sucks:  "the copyright nightmares, the publishers, the fragmented formats, the ridiculous terms of service, the device incompatibility, the third-party aggregation companies libraries do business with."
• we have ourselves to blame:  "libraries have not been included at the table for negotiations on digital copyright, terms of service, licensing conditions, technology integration, none of it. And yes, that stinks. And yes, we’ve complained about it enough. We haven’t been heard largely because we’ve been too polite and too quiet for too long. It’s our fault. "
• too many restrictions suck:  "We can’t buy from most of the major publishers, and even for those we can buy from we have extreme restrictions or highly inflated costs... lack of development of usable download processes, fair-use-friendly terms of use, and privacy options in keeping with libraries’ professional values and ethics."
• we didn't get our fair share:  "eBooks never gave us as libraries–full selection, right-quick downloads, and sharing rights. We got no love at all, but our prettier sister, the consumer, got a better deal. Still not everything, as she also has to put up with restrictive DRM, licensing and not owning, and privacy violations."

• the promise of collaboration remains just that:  "publishers continually feed libraries the line that they’re “experimenting with different models” and “hope to continue to work positively with libraries in the digital space. Uh huh.  Libraries and eBooks aren’t shacking up anytime soon, not for real…not as long as publishers continue to falsely view us as a threat instead of a partner. "

• maybe it's just not ready:  "eBooks in libraries are a non-starter, their path has been set for the foreseeable future, and their future is determined by people who are not us. ...those who produce them for profit...the publishers…the, until recently, necessary middlemen in the process between creators and consumers. Now that they’re not necessary to the process anymore, largely due to their inflexibility and inability to change in the face of rapidly shifting market conditions, they have attempted to salvage their failing business model with high prices, limited licensing policies, and technology so locked down that it remains impenetrable to many people."

kinda in a nutshell. i know it sounds whiny, but i think rightfully so. even in an academic setting, there is still confusion over the e-books we have available in our catalog, i.e., ebsco, netlibrary, etc., that can be used on campus with some restrictions as far as printing, downloading, etc. and those e-books i call "consumer e-books" like the ones they download to their ipads and kindles and nooks from whatever vendor they choose any time they choose and keep for as long as they choose.

what's a library to do? cliffhanger...spoiler alert!!

here's sarah: "At our recent regional library consortium meeting, I said I wouldn’t give more money to OverDrive, beyond the bare minimum that the consortium’s contract required of us, and only until we can legally terminate our contract–at which point I personally want out of OverDrive.  The title selection is awful and getting only more so month by month, their policies are restrictive, and their business practices are unethical–including trading away core librarian values (user data privacy, no commercial endorsements).  I’m not going to give any money to 3M or Baker & Taylor either unless things change on their end, just for the record. I’m finished promoting an inferior eBook product to our patrons. I’m finished throwing good money after bad money. And I’m finished trying to pointlessly advocate for change when change has to come from places waaaaaaay above my influence level or pay grade."

hmmmm. bold. brash. risky? now, granted this is a smallish, public library system. but, when consumers  encounter an inferior product, especially one that's not a necessity, don't they stop purchasing it or find an alternative? i don't like it when the lights go out in my neighborhood due to lack of improvements to infrastructure from my utility company, but i don't have much choice (unless i go prairie style and use candles for light and warm my water over a campfire). i'm a city girl, forget that!

but i don't HAVE to have ebooks, i just like 'em. and libraries don't HAVE to provide e-books. or do they? and if our patrons want e-books, should we just provide them any way we can and let them figure it out? or should we wait to provide them with the best product we can, even if we don't know that product is coming?

*sigh*

side note: here is a great (and up to date!) chart provided by the colorado library consortium: Comparison of Library eBook Choices

and two other librarian bloggers seem to be on the same bandwagon: andromeda yelton and annoyed librarian.

where are the books? and the bookkeepers for that matter?

hello, dear readers

this time last year, according to time magazine, (see what i did there? "time," according to "time" magazine. oh, i crack me up) was the time of the bookless library. kansas state, stanford, drexel and UT-san antonio all have "naked" libraries.

the library without books. which would be called something else, i'm sure, maybe a warehouse, a pod, a large booth or i guess it depends on what else is inside it.

ask any joe or jane on the street to name a building with books in it, probably 5 out of 10 would say library. the other 5 might say bookstore upon hearing the word "book." so if a building doesn't have physical books in it, can it still be called a library?

what if it's a building with chairs? could be an auditorium, could be IKEA.
a building with chairs and computers? could be an internet cafe, could be offices.
what about chairs, computers and e-book collections? could be a bookstore, heck, could be my house!

could that also be called a library? what if you add a cafe?

now, of course, i'm only talking about the physical structure. the library as 'place' (ugh!).

oed (oxford english dictionary, of course) definition of library: a place set apart to contain books for reading, study, or reference. (Not applied, e.g. to the shop or warehouse of a bookseller.) note that the definition says contain books (but not what kind - could be e-books, perhaps?)

merriam-webster dictionary: a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale. hmmm, interesting. not specific to books.

encyclopedia brittanica: collection of information resources, in print or in other forms, that is organized and made accessible for reading or study. double hmmm, more interesting still. the word "OR" regarding other forms. not "AND." curious?

the most striking part of this blog post is...
i got none of these definitions from a book

oh, alright, okay, hold on...brb.

okay, 78 steps and 3 minutes later (i work in a library close to the research assistance desk), i have gone to the webster's 3rd new international dictionary (the physical print volume) for the definition of library: a room, a section or series of sections of a building or a building itself given over to books, manuscripts, musical scores or other literary and sometimes artistic materials, as paintings or musical recordings usually kept in some convenient order for use but not for sale. i love the term "given over" as if there was some sort of invasion of marching tomes. i do find it interesting that this was the only definition that mentioned "some convenient order" as opposed to organized.

now, i'm not complaining here, but in less time than it took me to walk over to that dictionary, i got the previous 3 definitions online. convenient? you betcha!!

now, back to the time magazine article. it mentions drexel university's new library learning terrace, with nary a book in site. "we don't just house books, we house learning."

kansas state's fiedler library - "fiedler library is designed primarily as an electronic library."

stanford university's terman engineering library - pruned all but 10,000 volumes to make room for tables and study space.

univ of texas-san antonio/applied engineering and technology library, - labeled "the nation's first completely bookless library on a college or university campus."

what is it that patrons want from a library? books or information or guidance to information?

as for bookkeepers, i really mean librarians. who are they? what are they? if there are no books, does that make a librarian any less a librarian? is he/she now an informarian? hey, i like that. although i hate the term, maybe librarians are now media specialists. or information specialists. or locators? human divining rods? sherpas? will they be any less so if a library doesn't contain actual books?

maybe our love of libraries comes from its physical, tactical nature. we are, after all, human. humans, usually, judge things through the senses. if something's rotten in denmark, we know it. can we still find a love for literature if we can't wander the stacks, using our sight to guide us. our brains to process the information on that all-important inside flap? maybe we're afraid that we won't be able to get as much as we have if it's not laid out in front of us in a physical manner. maybe we're just . . . afraid.

just something to think about...while you're wandering the stacks of your library or the aisles of your bookstore, or the electronic bookshelves of amazon or google books or combine the two at barnes & noble. because no matter what or how, a good story is still a good story.

happy reading, no matter the format!

i'm baaaaack...again!

oh . . . my . . . goodness!! it has been quite a while.

i really thought this post would be about shutting down the blog.

however, i have had two people in the past six months ask me about it. i started this blog, back in 2009, because electronic "everything" was taking over the world and folks were talking!!

my first post was two sentences. haha!! it was a link to a comparison of e-readers: kindles (priced at $259, currently $79), nooks ($259, now $79), the iREX (huh? and it was $399) ,sony's reader ($399-wha?), and a couple of also-rans.

my second post was about a local professor using a kindle in the classroom. click here for the memories.

in between then and now, we've got more kindles and nooks, an iPad that blew us away in terms of what we could do with technology and how portable it could be, e-books downloaded at the press of a button (or two), bluetooth and wireless technology for portable presentations, telephony, and who knows what else.

in 2009, everything old wasn't new again, it was old. new was new and new was good. new was shiny and new was liberating. new was also scary. who knew? (haha-see what i did there).

so after thinking about this for a while, i realized that there's still a LOT to talk about in the naked library. sooo much, in fact, that i've decided to put the paddles to the heart of this old blog and zap some life back into it. CLEAR!!!

so, there you have it. the naked library is back and her shelves are FULL of stuff you wanna know (or not). here's a sneak peek of some ideas i'll be blogging about soon:

• Free Library of Philadelphia Know-It-Alls 
• remember the professor i referenced above using kindles back in 2009. i've emailed him for an update on what he's been doing. when i know, you'll know
• REAL naked libraries - fad or for-real

alright, i don't want you to get too excited and spill your coffee or your veggie juice!

hey...it kinda feels good to be back!

happy reading...no matter the format. speaking of reading...

READING: thumbs up: wolf hall by hilary mantel (henry the viii, thomas cromwell, thomas more anne boleyn, good stuff). i read this in preparation of the sequel, bring up the bodies. also, the sisters brothers by patrick dewitt. old-fashioned western starring two brothers. GREAT! thumbs down-what alice forgot. 3/4's in...i didn't care anymore.

book buyers are . . . people! who knew??

ahoy, dear readers

look at the picture to the left. do you recognize what that is? take a close look. what do you see? people? books? magazines? cash register? if you answered museum, you are . . . INCORRECT! if you answered brand new independent bookstore, give yourself a big attaboy or attagirl!

this short post is about a clip i just saw on the vaunted, celebrity-laden, funny and politically tuned "colbert report," (pronounced coal-bear re-pore) with stephen colbert.

yesterday, february 20th, 2012, colbert (pronounced cole-bare) had the author ann patchett (pronounced pa-chay-no, just kidding, it's patch-et) on his show. now, if you are reading THIS rag, i mean blog, then surely you know who ann patchett is. she is the author of such wonderful books as the award-winning bel canto, truth and beauty, and her latest, state of wonder.

but, she is also known as the woman who opened an independent book store, parnassus books, in nashville, tennessee when everyone knows the physical book is d-e-a-d, dead as a doornail, dead. why did she open an indie? well, the two bookstores in town, totaling 60,000 square feet) closed. both of them. around the same time. that left no bookstore in nashville. zero. zilch. nada. goose egg.

here's the interview from the colbert (pronounced, oh, never mind) report with ann patchett. enjoy.

and remember, soylent green is people.

actually, according to ann patchett, maybe bookstores are people? enjoy!!

thumbs up reading - the call by yannick murphy. hunker down in vermont with a large-animal vet and his family.

OVERdrive UNDERperforms...

dear readers!!!

what the heck is going on in the world of libraries and ebook providers?? why i'll tell you what's going on...SHENANIGANS!

penguinUS, publisher of such well known titles as "with a bare bodkin" and "the strange case of miss annie spragg" and some lesser known titles such as "the satanic verses" and "the help," anyway... has terminated their contract with the company Overdrive. I'm sure you know that, currently, Overdrive is the main provider of e-books to libraries. even here in little 'ole greenville, south carolina, our county library is a customer of overdrive. heck the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY uses overdrive to distribute their e-book content to their patrons. the NYPL - the holy grail of public libraries. patience & fortitude. which brings me to my next point...because that's exactly what you're going to need when dealing with this issue.

but, dear reader, in the interest of time (and, of course, your edification), i will give you a reading assignment. and, if i haven't told you before, which i don't think i have, paidcontent.org is an EXCELLENT way to keep up with this digital book experiment thing that everybody's talking about. here are some stories to get you on your way - a chronology of sorts

• 11/22/11 - why might a publisher pull its ebooks from libraries?
• 11/23/11 - updated: penguin restores library lending to kindle...
• 1/18/12 - no more new penguin digital audiobooks for libraries, either
• 2/9/12 - penguin ends e-book library lending AND relationship with overdrive
  

now if you will remember way back when, i reported on harper collins decision to limit the number of times an e-book could be loaned by a library, then said library would have to re-up each time they ran out of "loans." that was the beginning of the publisher pushback on library e-book lending.

but, wait, dear reader. just when you were about to lose all hope, random house, publisher of some little trilogy by some swedish guy about a girl and a tattoo, has decided that they will KEEP their e-books in library catalogs...but raise the price. maybe we need a third lion . . . benevolence?

as for overdrive . . . me thinks thou dost promise too much (sorry will shakespeare). the sticky wicket overdrive is caught in seemed to have started when they decided to work with amazon on having content available in kindle format (that exclusive of exclusive amazon format). in addition, links within the overdrive library interface sent users to amazon for possible purchasing of books they may have borrowed from or were interested in borrowing from the library. maybe there were 62 people in front of you when you decided to check out miss annie spragg's tawdry tale (okay, i haven't actually read it, so i can't really say her tale is tawdry). so you think, well, maybe i'll just pony up the $7.99 to purchase it. from amazon??!!! sacre bleu!! sacrilege!

i had a little internet run-in with a publisher on facebook a couple of months back regarding this very issue. he seemed to take offense to the library/amazon partnership and basically said librarians sh0uld be ashamed of themselves for promoting amazon i.e., allowing patrons to purchase from amazon through the interface. i countered with the fact that the librarian works for the patron, not the publisher. even as a retail bookseller in my previous life, i (and the company i worked for) would rather the customer get the book they needed, even if it meant we helped them go to another store. why? because we are there for the customer/patron.

so what's a library patron to do? do you still try to be a good citizen and incorporate your local library in your technological advancement? lots of people got e-reading devices for christmas and birthdays and when the gift card that inevitably came with it runs out, where can a patron turn? the other issue for libraries to consider is that when these things happen, the patron doesn't know the wizard behind the curtain. they only know the library isn't providing the service expected. so how many black eyes will a library endure until it says "no mas" and throws in the towel (or throws the towel at overdrive). we'll have to wait and see on that one.

happy reading...no matter the format.

what's good to read? a red herring without mustard by alan bradley (3rd in the flavia de luce series). that red herring link is to amazon. hah!

im baaaaaaaaack! and so is apple!!

happy new year, dearest of readers, even though we are 18 days in. better late than never is still true in my book.

when last we met, a scant two months ago (wow, time really flies, doesn't it? yes, it does!) i promised to follow up on the digital divide topic, focusing on post-secondary usage of e-readers, e-textbooks and the like. and DARN if my timing (or lack of) doesn't serve me well.

TODAY, apple announced an e-textbook initiative (along with several others). usatoday headline screams (okay, announces) apple brings textbooks to iPad. introducing ibooks2, a new digital textbook service. see the pretty washington post slideshow here.

and here's the play-by-play from the press conference, courtesy of cnnmoney.com

along with the announcement about ibooks2, there is also, wait for it . . .ibooks author (for macs only) which allows a user to create AND publish their own textbook.

price point for existing textbooks . . . $14.99 (holy toledo!!) but initially we're talking about the 9-12 grade textbook market.

excited? oh, did i tell you that publishers have signed on? Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (that's NINETY PERCENT of the market), according to usatoday.

now are you excited? but wait, there's just one...small...catch . . . how many students own iPads?

textbooks are usually distributed to each and every student in k-12. just one classroom full of iPads won't suffice. so, instead of schools distributing textbooks, will they begin to distribute iPads pre-loaded with textbooks? hmmm.........

as for the college crowd, welllllll, that's a sticky wicket. there are soooooo many choices for college students. there's the campus bookstore. there's online bookstores (amazon, barnes & noble, etc). now, there are rental options, such as chegg.com and ecampus.com.

over at c4universe.com, there's an article saying college students consider a printer more important than an iPad. they refer to data from a report at onlinecolleges.net about technology use on the college campus, who refer to data from various other sources such as educause.edu and pewinternet.org (not too shabby). as the circulation supervisor of an academic library, i would not dispute that report.

but let's go to the oracle of post-secondary learning . . . the chronicle!!! here are some of the articles published within the last year:

in the 21st century, let's ban (paper) books (south korea did, so why not?)
iPads could hinder teaching, professors say (that's what they say)
what i've learned from teaching with iPads (a lot)

personally, i think there's a disconnect between who wants to use technology, when to use and how to use it. just because students use iPods to listen to music, doesn't mean they want to use that same technology in their educational pursuits. and iPods, even at $200, are a whole lot less expensive than iPads. and the format for music has been standardized (mp3) while there's still debate over e-book formatting, DRM, lending rights, ownership rights and even fonts.

think about your own usage and that of your friends and co-workers. did they get a kindle or nook for christmas? did you? are they using overdrive through their public library? are you? do you have kids? any academic usage in their classroom or school?

the magic 8 ball says:
the move to consumer e-book consumption: it is decidedly so.
the move to academic adoption of e-reader technology and e-textbooks: reply hazy, try again!

happy reading . . . no matter the format!

THUMBS UP to the sisters brothers by patrick dewitt, my favorite book of 2011!!

the digital divide . . . now less than 5 years.

my dearest readers,

the digital divide
is measured not
in distance,
but in time.





Last one to cross the Digital Divide is a rotten egg!
Digital Mural by Los Cybrids
rené garcía-john jota leaños-mónica praba pilar
Galería de la Raza 10' x 24' 2001

there are two (actually three) things that have come to mind this morning which prompted this post. i will cover two today, the other soon. really, soon. seriously. oh, shut up!

the first is the evolution of the electronic book and its acceptance into 'society.' yes, even without a debutante ball, the e-book has come out not with a whimper, but with a bang. a few years ago, pundits learned and unlearned alike, were debating the demise of . . . 'the book.' (insert voice of james earl jones here). the "techno-futurists" vs. the "but i love the way it feels" factions. oh, the book, the beloved book. well, i'm here to tell you . . . they both won. we still have books made of papers and books made of zeros and ones.

but look at the concessions being made in that old-fashioned medium, print newspapers:

times will rank e-book bestsellers
wall street journal to debut e-book best seller lists provided by nielsen
usa today's best-selling books list continues to add digital sales information

so, maybe, the slight edge goes to the techno-futurists?

headlines i've been reading over the past couple of years:

math that moves: schools embrace the iPad
more high schools implement iPad programs
iPads for every high school student in michigan district

and now this (in my own backyard). lexington sc will give iPads to every high school student in lexington district 1.

and so much research:

impact on the iPad on k-12 schools
apple for the teachers: iPad shows promise in the classroom

it seems as though "they" think that the way to help k-12 students learn, develop and grow is by arming them with technology. bridging the technological gap that can occur between school and home by giving them tablets (okay, iPads) to basically "own." sorry, android :-(

but what about the "after-k-12'ers?" last year, studies suggested college students still preferred monographs to annotate, highlight, research, etc, regardless of how much they weigh (estimated to be, sometimes, up to 30 pounds).

how about now? part two in "the digital divide...now less than 5 years." coming soon. of course, soon is relative.

THUMBS UP TO: the night circus by erin morgenstern. READ IT!!! trust me. it's wonderful!

THUMBS DOWN TO: the autobiography of mrs tom thumb by melanie benjamin. obnoxious comes in all sizes. even munchkin. blech.

the library's naked because it's clothes were stolen!!

helloooooo, dear readers.

in today's episode of a naked library, i'm going to introduce you to a topic that i have not covered in all my sundry and varied highly entertaining posts (cue suspense music) . . . piracy!!

aaarrgghh, mateys!! shiver me timbers and yo, ho, ho...piracy is the little secret that's not so secret that still dances around the periphery of the e-book discussion.

now, knowing my readership like i do (and i do), i know that you are probably not familiar with this piracy thing of which i speak. you are picturing peg legs, eye patches, parrots and big barrels of rum. and as fun as that all is, it's not really the piracy i'm talking about.

if you walk into a brick and mortar store, pick up a book and proceed to the exit without FIRST stopping at the cash register, that is shoplifting or, in essence, stealing.

piracy is the word you use when you steal e-books. i don't know why it's not called e-stealing or compu-thievery or some such but anyway...

so now you're asking why, pray tell, would one steal (or pirate) an e-book when they are so reasonably priced? isn't that one of the things that makes e-books so attractive (along with their portability)? and you would be right that $9.99 is certainly better than $24.95 but nothing is ever better than FREE! just like buying a book discounted 40% at barnes & noble is better (cheaper) than paying retail at your friendly neighborhood indie bookstore (if you still have one).

intrigued?? i suppose you want to know how one would go about procuring one of these pirated books? i don't know why you're asking me!!! like i would know about these things?? well, lucky for you, i have done extensive "research" on this topic for you, dear reader, but only at the surface level. there is a whole 'nother lower level of piracy and swapping only referred to in rumor and innuendo.

two popular file sharing sites are piratebay and demonoid. these are websites that engage in file sharing and torrent tracking. torrents are how files get shared on these sites - basically pieces of files are hosted by individuals and uploaded separately, yet creating the whole file at the end. kinda. sorta. basically.

anyway, i'm always reading that piracy is an issue for mainstream publishing but not too much, not yet. at least not in the way that led to the music industry's near-demise due to file sharing sites like napster and limewire. and "they" are always surprised when they look at the top "pirated books" on these sites.

top 5 most popular books on piratebay are:

1. porn star secrets of sex (NO, i am not linking. sheesh)
2. never be lied to again (yea, right)
3. men's health magazine nov 2011 UK edition (buff brits?)
4. how to instantly connect with anyone (as long as they're not lying to you)
5. how to win every argument (in the event you catch them lying to you)

top 5 on demonoid:

1. girls of gaming magazine (men...hmph)
2. the complete A+ guide to pc repair (who wants to pay somebody)
3. ny times bestseller combined print & e-book 10-09-11 (whoa..we'll get to this)
4. work smarter with speed reading (have you seen the size of that A+ pc repair guide?)
5. the 8 second secret: the scientifically proven method for lasting weight loss (no comment)

yes, #3 on demonoid is the majority of fiction and non-fiction titles currently on the new york times best seller list.

you mean piracy isn't just for nerdy computer guys who wanna look at girls and get buff? i'm afraid not, dear reader, unless they've turned to reading "the help" in their spare time.

what does this mean for libraries? what, indeed! piracy is like borrowing ebooks from the library but without any DRM restriction and i can keep it forever. i can share it, copy it, put it on multiple devices in multiple formats, basically do whatever i want with it. kinda like when i used to buy a book. or even borrow one from the library. i could let my friend read it as long as he gave it back before it was due.

now maybe academic libraries won't have to worry because who is going to pirate some academic tome or physics textbook. oh, i know . . . those pesky, innovative students who are always looking for a way to save money and shove it to the man. if i can get all my textbooks and supplemental tomes online for free . . . i won't need to go to the library or the college bookstore. or what if i take this book i bought, scan it into my computer, save it and upload to one of those pesky file sharing sites for my fellow collegiate brethren who are being oppressed by the man?

i think this scenario is a little farther out than not, but there are LOTS of textbooks on these sites and the numbers are growing. i didn't even address the software, games, and, yes, music that are uploaded to these sites as well.

just something i was thinking about.

happy reading . . . no matter the format (that i'm sure you paid for fair and square).

ps - there is a facebook page called stop book piracy now. it has 50 fans. michael jackson's facebook page has 34,601,787 fans (and he's dead). i hope the book isn't far behind.

the trinity that is . . . amazon kindle fire-ryness

dear readers!!! i am BACK! back from the land of solitary seriousness and here to discuss the major announcement (before the major announcement about the iphone 5), that is.

the announcement from amazon!!! i know you've heard. don't tell me you haven't heard.

jeff bezos and the amazon team have knocked...it...out...the...box. not only did they create new kindle e-readers (keyboardless, also known as TOUCH) but they created a mobile browser (amazon silk) AND a new tablet called the kindle fire!!

i'm sorry, i should have warned you to take a seat before all of this. but this is even bigger than when i said library lending with overdrive and kindle was big. because this is amazon telling you that they are all you need if you wanna read on a mobile device. of course, a mobile device that doesn't have a camera or a microphone or is an actual phone. but other than that, amazon is the one-stop-shop you need.

the graphic above (yes, i created that one myself) illustrates what i call the trinity that is amazon fire. amazon's entry into the tablet market is a slight departure in terms of power and capability so in that sense it is NOT (i repeat, NOT) an iPad killer. but their foray into the touch e-reader market could be a barnes & noble nook killer and here's why:

FIRST - price. the original nook (which is touch) is currently priced at $139. the new kindle touch wifi is $99. yes, NINETY-NINE dollars. but wait, the kindle touch 3G (always on, download from anywhere) is $149. so, for only $10 more, i get free 3G. mr riggio?? hear that whooshing sound? that's profits being sucked away by amazon. i won't even mention the non-touch kindle wifi that's jut $79. oops, i mentioned it.

2ND - selection. not only do amazon kindles have access to the largest selection of books (i'm talking "to purchase") in the world (i daresay) but coupled with their partnership with overdrive to enable library borrowing, the selection and convenience are hard to beat.

but now for the big show. drumroll, please...

the amazon kindle fire, which is amazon's entry into the tablet market. the kindle fire is a 7" tablet, it's wi-fi and it's color which is comparable to barnes & noble's nook color. that's pretty much where the similarities end. because what sets the kindle fire apart from everyone else are the 2nd and 3rd pieces of the trinity - silk and cloud, or as i like to say, the silky cloud.

amazon has created a dedicated browser for the kindle fire, called amazon silk (which, of course, is now rumored to soon be available for PC and Android). this browser is optimized to work with the other two pieces of the trinity, the fire and the cloud. so don't let the fact that it only has 8GB of internal memory (enough for 80 apps, plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books) bother you because the third piece of the trinity, the cloud, comes into play right here.

you won't need much internal storage because you will be using the cloud (cue angelic harp ahhh sounds). the amazon cloud to be exact. this is where you will be able to store hundreds and thousands of things. but, in addition, the cloud is a machine that is processing your kindle fire actions so that the kindle fire doesn't have to. hence, it doesn't need major processors or internal storage. it's all happening in the cloud, freeing up the kindle fire to do what it does for you. so your browsing and e-reading are as fast and seamless as possible. (i sound like an ad for kindle fire. hmmm....jeff bezos are you listening. i could use one of those fires...)

how is amazon using this cloud technology to boost its browser? heck if i know, but the folks over at tom's hardware website do a pretty good job of explaining it.

so, in essence, what jeff bezos has done is change the landscape of consumer expectation for tablets. sy syms used to say, "an educated consumer is our best customer." i'm not sure that amazon's competitors will agree. once they figure out that my side of things will be smoother and faster, that will be the new level of service expected from every piece of computer hardware.

however, cnet news answers a question comparing the kindle fire to an apple iPod Touch. interesting. she gives a great breakdown on some of the downsides of the kindle fire.

fiery silken clouds. the future of reading? i have no idea...google it!

happy reading . . . no matter the format . . . even on fiery silken clouds.

a rare serious post...

i'm sure, dearest of dedicated readers, that you are wondering, what, pray tell, could be so serious as to require a serious blog post on this most entertaining of blogs. well, a story that comes out of our esteemed colleague of a state on the west coast, california. the city, san diego.

see the student over there? he is sleeping peacefully amongst the stacks of the copley library at the university of san diego. but, little does he know of what goes on behind the doors of the hallowed halls within.

the story: 8 library employees were laid off at the university of san diego. these layoffs were made to "bring the library into the 21st century." [make sure you read the comments at the end of the article.]

the journal 'inside higher education,' gives excellent coverage, i think, of both sides of the argument here. what skills are relevant and necessary for library faculty and staff to have (or procure) in support of the academic curriculum and mission of their respective universities and colleges?

the library loon places some responsibility (blame) on individual staff and faculty who either don't keep up with current trends, don't attend professional development courses or use conferences as "kaffeeklatches."

but, imho, the most interesting point of the whole debate is the fact that the university of san diego is a roman catholic institution. according to some faculty there, layoffs do not support one of the core values in the university’s mission statement which is to uphold the “Catholic moral and social tradition by its commitment to serve with compassion, to foster peace, and to work for justice.” in essence, it's morally wrong to fire people.

some of the people laid off had been with the university for many years, a couple were close to retirement age.

the administration's position (including the university librarian) maintains the reorganization of the university’s Copley Library was necessary to keep the library on track with the ongoing progression of technology. critics argue that these individuals could be trained (or re-trained) in essential skills.

over at blog u, a part of 'inside higher education' website, the discussion centers on library jobs, library/staff distinctions, and 'necessary' reorganizations and unnecessary reorganizations.

so, what of it? who knew? when did this debate begin? have i been blind to the plight of my brethren and brethrenesses (yes, i made it up - i can't be serious all the time).

i daresay...no. for i am one of those staff people. ever since entering academia four years ago, i have been constantly questioning the library as place and my place in the library. as a circulation supervisor, i see circulation numbers and gate count numbers and dwindling physical monograph collections and think...

is what i do important (or even necessary) anymore? and who will tell me? the patron? administration? steve jobs? amazon?

in all the talk of library 2.0 and the library as place, did we forget about the people? do we leave our humanity behind when we embrace technology? will we value only those humans who can harness the future that is electronic? or out in the cloud?

barbara fisher from gustavus adolphus college in minnesooooota wraps it up pretty succinctly in her column on library journal's website. the title: what do we want? change! when do we want it? yesterday!

happy reading . . . no matter the format . . . for now!

thumbs up! the illumination by kevin brockmeier. stories of what happens when you can see people's pain, literally.

ps - yes i will be discussing the big news that is the amazon kindle fire, new touch kindles, amazon silk mobile browser and the cloud. here's a bit from information week. the power that is . . . amazon! stay tuned...

naked librarians!!! how will we know...

...IF, dear readers, the library truly becomes naked, meaning without books.

[note: i grew up in new york and i don't ever recall visiting the particular library referenced in the picture. i'm just sayin']

Overdrive announced that it has 11,000 libraries loaning e-books in amazon kindle format.

now, if you have been a constant, considerate reader of this blog, you know we have covered the many ways in which amazon has made their kindle format accessible to the masses. they have kindle reading apps available for smartphones, pcs, and their own specific amazon kindle e-reading device. they even created their own app to skirt around apple's new rule barring companies from allowing purchases within their own apps. (that's another story for another day and, probably, another person's blogger).

yesterday's announcement regarding overdrive, public libraries and amazon is big, Big, BIG!! isn't it? i'll get to that in a moment.

voila! the moment is here. imho, the biggest reason this is a BIG announcement is the accessibility factor coupled with the NAME recognition. public libraries, especially, have already moved toward e-book collections and many (my local greenville county library) included, allow for downloading of e-books and audiobooks to personal computers and mobile devices (iphones, ipods, mp3 players, etc). i have a kindle and now i can read semi-new books for free? and i don't have to leave my chair? i don't have to worry about gas, traffic, remembering my library card, overdue fines (!!). wow!

wow for the patron, woe for the library. but the library started it. they offered, i accepted.

why would a library do that? don't they want to see me? don't they want me to browse? i mean in the library. sure, i can browse online, but the e-collection is not nearly as vast as the monograph collection. and that doesn't even include CDs and DVDs and the juvenile collection. so what gives?

beats me. i guess it's a brave, new world after all. all i know is that i like it. but it still worries me. i feel a little bit of guilt. like i'm contributing to the downfall of the library. the same way i ran the record store out of business. and borders bookstore. and those nice people that used to make floppy disks. and the fairies who made princess phones. *sigh*

is the time of the library passing by? do people really think libraries are just book warehouses for people to borrow books because they're too cheap to buy them?

or is this the natural progression and evolution of "the library?" can a library be virtual and still be a library?

happy reading . . . no matter the format!

thumbs up: the night circus by erin morgenstern (LOVED IT!)
thumbs down: the elegance of the hedgehog by muriel barbery (i couldn't get into it)

college students, ebooks and sex...whoa! wha?

ATTENTION, dear readers! ATTENTION!

once again, science has come to the rescue to tell you what you didn't know you didn't want to know.

according to a survey sponsored by kno, inc (an education software company and purveyor of e-textbooks...hmmmm), a quarter of college students would give up sex to never have to carry around a textbook. hah! where did they give this survey, liberty university??

okay, granted textbooks can be expensive, not to mention heavy, but giving up sex? seriously?

all jokes aside, ahem, the study points to concerns that students have regarding using (or not using) e-books (or e-textbooks) inside (and outside) of the classroom.

one concern expressed was that "most college students (78 percent) don’t think that their professors are currently doing enough to enhance their learning experience with technology, such as with online tutorials or digital textbooks." So even if students are willing to forego "extra-curricular physical activities," it doesn't mean they'll get buy-in from their professors.

i would love to "embrace" the findings of this study, except that it was completed in one week, based on the responses of 506 students and sponsored by an e-textbook seller. at last check, there were approximately 14 MILLION higher education students in the united states. you do the math (i'm not good at it). but it does beg the question of what will it take for higher education students (and faculty) to embrace or at least embark on the adoption and integration of e-book technology?

is it really faculty holding students back from purchasing e-books? we're not talking about a dedicated e-reading device, such as the amazon kindle or barnes & noble nook. soooo, what is it?

habit is one reason. students know how to buy books from the bookstore or order books from an online retailer (okay, amazon). availability is another. i did a small experiment myself with one student and six texts required for one class. 4 of the 6 texts were not available in an electronic format. BUT, the student hadn't even considered investigating electronic format. this was a particular bailywick when amazon first introduced kindles and many academic titles (and some lesser titles) were not available in kindle format.

and what about the state of e-book collections in library catalogs? here's an interesting article from almost 2 years ago on how patrons would be accessing e-books.

so, i guess the lesson for now, with the exception of iPads, is hurry up...and wait.

happy reading...and other things...no matter the format!

alice isn't in disneyworld anymore!

dear readers, (plural, as optimism reigns)

it occurred to me today as i was weighing the options between cleaning off my dining room table (it's used more for mail and stuff than dining) and cleaning my kitchen (don't ask) that i don't think i ever talked about the alternatives to print books. this is a blog about a naked library, life without books or with less, blah blah blah. but e-books and book apps - haven't actually covered them specifically. and so, in order to avoid one of two unworthy tasks (well, tasks that can surely wait until later...in the week), i give you ... the storybook apps i like.

anyway, i admit it...i am a book junkie. or what i thought was a book junkie. but what i really am is a story junkie. although i have been known to judge a book by its cover(s), it's what's between those covers that intrigues me. isn't the best part of reading the anticipation when you open that cover? that feeling of excitement and expectation? like going on vacation! i don't know what's to come but it could be exciting!!

i own an amazon kindle and an iPod touch. i use an apple iPad through work. so i have 3 of the 4 (if you include the barnes & noble nook) most popular devices capable of reading electronic books at my disposal and i have used them all to read books and magazines. and i still get that same tingle, that same excitement when i get to the first page, even if it's electronic.

storybook apps for the iPad clearly have the upper hand in the development of e-book reading apps and prompted this blog post. specifically, the fantastic flying books of mr. morris lessmore.

you may have heard about e-book apps when apple first introduced the iPad. alice in wonderland for iPad created by atomic antelope, a digital publishing company, takes advantage of the iPad's beautiful color screen. the huffington post claimed it "reinvents reading." it requires interaction with the reader beyond comprehending words. there is touching and shaking and swiping and all things iPad related. revolutionary for a book? i'd say evolutionary, for sure.

having a 4-year old grandson has given me reasons to investigate e-books beyond the text-based versions found on kindles, nooks and kobos. even going beyond the prettier versions found through apple's iBooks app, where books "look like books" and the pages turn "like books." hence what i realize to be a fundamental difference: e-books are usually electronic versions of text-based print books. but children's picture books were a different story(see what i did there? different STORY?) storybook apps are usually color, require some input from the reader, and aimed toward children.

up until now, my favorite storybook apps were the three little pigs created by nosy crow, popout! the tale of peter rabbit and sandra boynton's the going to bed book, both created by loud crow interactive. apparently companies with crow in their names are pretty good at this app stuff. the three little pigs is narrated in a british accent and is fun. peter rabbit is classically illustrated and follows more of a pop-up book format while the going to bed book clearly held on to the color and whimsy that IS sandra boynton.

but the storybook that has captured my imagination and my heart is "the fantastic flying books of mr. morris lessmore." created by moonbot studios, it's based on a short film of the same name. it is visually stunning, the story is enchanting, and it's a testament to the beauty of storytelling and animation.

now some may argue that it's not a book, that it's closer to a movie. or maybe an animated short. but i say...who cares! if you can use a little enchanting, check out the movie or the app!

happy reading...no matter the format.

recommended reading:

thumbs up: the sisters brothers by patrick dewitt
thumbs down: the glass books of the dream eaters by g.w. dahlquist (a friend reminded me how much i did NOT like this one) one of the amazon reviewers exclaimed, "life is too short." indeed!

where are the books? and the bookkeepers?

hello, dear readers

it's time, according to time magazine, for me to revisit the basis for which this entire blog was founded (more or less)...the naked library. see what i did there? "time," according to "time" magazine. oh, i crack me up.

the library without books. which would be called something else, i'm sure, maybe a warehouse, or an empty room, or i guess it depends on what else is inside it.

ask any joe or jane on the street to name a building with books in it, probably 8 out of 10 would say library. the other 2 might say bookstore. so if a building doesn't have books in it, can it still be called a library?

what if it's a building with chairs, computers and e-book collections that you can access through those computers. would that make it a library? what if you add a cafe?

now, of course, i'm only talking about the physical structure. the library as 'place' (ugh!). but on time magazine's website, there is an article titled, "bookless library trend: designing space for digital learning." isn't bookless library an oxymoron?

oed (oxford english dictionary, of course) definition of library: a place set apart to contain books for reading, study, or reference. (Not applied, e.g. to the shop or warehouse of a bookseller.) note that the definition says contain books (but not what kind - could be e-books, perhaps?)

merriam-webster dictionary: a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale. hmmm, interesting. not specific to books. there is also an alternate definition: a collection of cloned DNA fragments that are maintained in a suitable cellular environment and that usually represent the genetic material of a particular organism or tissue. who knew? doesn't mention books at all.

encyclopedia brittanica: collection of information resources, in print or in other forms, that is organized and made accessible for reading or study. double hmmm, more interesting still. the word "OR" regarding other forms. not "AND." curious?

the most striking part of this blog post - i got none of these definitions from a book. okay, hold on...brb.

okay, 78 steps and 3 minutes later (i work in a library close to the research assistance desk), i have gone to the webster's 3rd new international dictionary (the physical print volume) for the definition of library: a room, a section or series of sections of a building or a building itself given over to books, manuscripts, musical scores or other literary and sometimes artistic materials, as paintings or musical recordings usually kept in some convenient order for use but not for sale. i love the term "given over" as if there was some sort of invasion of marching tomes. i do find it interesting that this was the only definition that mentioned "some convenient order" as opposed to organized.

now, i'm not complaining here, but in less time than it took me to walk over to that dictionary, i got the previous 3 definitions online. in using the actual book, i had to look up the book as opposed to having the book look it up for me. minor inconveniences, yes, but i blame the industrial revolution!!

now, back to the time magazine article. it mentions drexel university's new library learning terrace, with nary a book in site. "we don't just house books, we house learning," they say.

kansas state's fiedler library - "fiedler library is designed primarily as an electronic library," they say.

stanford university's terman engineering library - pruned all but 10,000 volumes to make room for tables and study space. everything else is (or should be) available e-lectronically.

univ of texas-san antonio/applied engineering and technology library - labeled "the nation's first completely bookless library on a college or university campus."

what's a library for? books or information? information or guidance to information? where are the bookkeepers?

as for bookkeepers, i really mean librarians. who are they? what are they? if there are no books, does that make a librarian any less a librarian? is he/she now an informarian? hey, i like that. although i hate the term, maybe librarians really are media specialists now. or information manipulators? or locators? human divining rods? will they be any less so if a library doesn't contain actual books?

maybe our love of libraries comes from its physical, tactical nature. we are, after all, human. humans, usually, judge things through the senses. if something's rotten in denmark, we know it. can we still find a love for literature if we can't wander the stacks, using our sight to guide us. our brains to process the information on that all-important inside flap? maybe we're afraid that we won't be able to get as much if it's not laid out in front of us in a physical manner. maybe we're just . . . afraid. is this evolution or revolution?

just something to think about...while you're wandering the stacks of your librarian or the aisles of your bookstore, or the electronic bookshelves of amazon or google books. because no matter what or how, a good story is still a good story.

happy reading, no matter the format!

book review: two thumbs WAY up for these YA titles: the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making by catherynne valente (author of palimpsest-definitely NOT a YA title) and noah barleywater runs away by john boyne (author of the boy in the striped pajamas-definitely another wonderful YA title).

two thumbs down, so far: the borrower by rebecca makkai (annoying protagonist)