"It is never a waste of time to study how other people wasted time"

I read the line I used for the title of this post in The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. When I read it, I decided I had to write something for the blog. I mean, I had an awesome title. I couldn't waste it.
I'm not reading The Geography of Bliss on my Kobo. It's one of the books I picked up when Border's was going out of business.
Weiner had given a book reading and lecture at SUNY New Paltz a year or so ago. I went, and after I really wanted to read the book. The excerpt Weiner read was funny and I enjoyed his brand of humor. The only problem was, I didn't want to buy the book.
Fortunately, the school library had the book. Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone else at the lecture had the same idea, and as a result there was a long waiting list for the book. By the time it was my turn to take it out I would have graduated. Eventually, I began to forget about it, only occasionally remembering it and briefly thinking, "I should read that," before carrying on with whatever I was doing.

Reading Machine

Since the semester ended I have been a reading machine.

Ok, so the books I've been reading have been really easy young adult books. Percy Jackson and the Olymipans, Vampire Academy, that kind of stuff. But it's so nice to read things that are not school related. Or, I suppose one could argue that since I am going to school to be a librarian, everything I read is school related. Hmm...
But it's nice to be able to curl up and read something that is not a textbook. Sure, I read a few books during the semester, but that was during a train ride or a few pages while eating breakfast. The past few days I have been reading pretty much all day. I go out for runs, I stop to eat, and I try to do at least one productive thing, but for the most part it's been a reading marathon. I love it.

Putting books on an e-reader

I was putting a book on my e-reader through the New York Public Library (NYPL), which I recently became a member of. While doing so, I realized that downloading an e-book is not as easy as 1, 2, 3. There is downloading and installing involved, accounts have to be made, and fire hoops have to be jumped through. It's kind of a big deal. Which is why I decided to put a list of steps one must take to get e-reading. Remember, though, that different libraries have different policies and use different vendors. If you are having trouble downloading an e-book, it is best to ask a librarian at your own library. They are trained in the software their library uses, and will be able to help you out.

I miss reading.

    Lately, I have been very busy with school work, which is why I haven't been posting. I have been getting up early so I have extra time to write papers and study for finals. This schedule has changed my subway reading time into subway listen-to-music-zone-out-and-relax time. I needed the subway ride to unwind and stop thinking for a little while. It really helped me stay sane, and actually helped my focus on doing work when I got home, since I would occasionally get an idea for a paper while listening to music.
    The past two weeks have comprised of doing research and writing final papers, and thinking about final tests. Today, I took my first final (my last one is tomorrow (: ). After I was finished, I thought of everything I still have to do. It turned out to be not that much, which was a huge relief. I popped my headphones in and headed off to the train.

Fun

Just another reason libraries are fun places to be:



http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/11/29/142910393/the-library-phantom-returns?sc=fb&cc=fp

http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/_Mysterious-paper-sculptures/blog/4991767/126249.html

Out with the Old

In library lingo, weeding is the process in which a librarian must decide what materials should be retired from the collection in order to make room for new materials. Maybe the book, journal, or movie in question is not used very often (or ever). Maybe it is out of date or a new edition has come out, or it is simply old and falling apart. Whatever the reason, the books just got to go.
What happens to the books after they are weeded, though? I'll give you a hint. Getting all the stuff library staff put in books to make them shelf ready- bar codes, alarm sensors, those stickers on the spine- must be taken out. The process to un-shelf-ready a book is expensive.
Was that enough hint?
In this blog, S Peter Davis tells the sad tale of what happens to weeded library books. It's not pretty.
But it's all part of the collection development process.

CraZy!

So e-books are pretty wild. But this is just crazy!

Check this out.

This article is about a machine that prints books on demand. The espresso book printing machine. Woah.
Users can (for a fee) print a book they wrote or a book already in print. These machines are not for printing Harry Potter size books. More like a 200 page or so book.
When the book is completed, it will have a cover and be trimmed to a specified size. The claim is that the books will be library quality. In about 5 minutes. Again, woah.

Alternating

I really like my Kobo. I just thought I'd throw that out there. However, there is nothing like reading from a physical book. I have been reading The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller, and it feels nice to turn the pages. I like alternating between the two book forms. They are two different experiences, and both are enjoyable.
This got me thinking about what I would do if I saw the library had the same book in both digital and physical format available. I say available, because if one was checked out I would obviously go with the one I could read right away. I have not decided what I would do in that situation. Maybe I would choose the one I could check out for longer. If I were traveling, I would probably go with the ebook. Maybe I would base the decision on how heavy or thick the book is. If it's small, might as well get the physical book. If it's too big to carry around in my bag (I've mentioned my bag issues) then probably the ebook. Or maybe I'd ask the librarian which form is most popular for that particular book, and take out the least popular one. That way the popular form would be available to others. I suppose I'll find out when the situation arises.
What would you do?

Teens eRead

I recently read an article in Young Adult Library Services, called Now Is the Time E-books, Teens and Libraries by Linda Braun. The article gave me a few things to think about. The author discusses how to promote ebook collections to teens, and emphasizes social media sites such as facebook. Some libraries are not just promoting books, but are having book discussion groups via facebook and other web sites. I started thinking about the positives and negatives of having these discussions online.

A bit annoying...

For some reason, some books on my Kobo show images, while others do not. I am reading two books on it at the moment. One is on running and training for races, and I can see images for this book. I get to see the skinny distance runners in their gaunt glory. Oh yay.

The other book is a textbook for a research class, and I cannot see images for this book. It is very annoying, since the images show steps to take when searching databases, as well as the layout for some of the databases. It is very annoying when I see the little ?question mark? with a box around it, indicating that there should be an image here, but I will never see it.

I just want to be able to see what the author is describing. Is that so bad?

Another win for physical books.

Save the Chocolate!

This doesn't have to do with libraries or eReaders, but it is a cause close to my heart.
I read this blog on rodale.com, and felt I needed to take action. It is yet another reason to go green.

Adapting

I am signed up for a mailing list through my school that sends me information on all sorts of library events that are taking place in my area. I have noticed that many of these events and postings are on libraries and ebooks. Many of them are webinars, seminars, and articles (oh my!) about how librarians can integrate ebooks into their collection and the future of ebooks and ereaders. Librarians are sharing their experiences and knowledge with other librarians about this new technology so everyone can keep up-to-date. 

One example of an email I received is that the American Library Journal, which is the magazine of the American Library Association, started a blog on E-content. It should be a great place to learn about the latest in the library electronic world, and gather ideas from other librarians on how to use these resources in different ways.

Libraries + ebooks = A lot of people reading

There was an extremely interesting article (at least, I thought it was) in today's Wall Street Journal titled E-Readers on Checkout. It's a short article and definitely worth reading.
But for those who don't feel like reading it, here is a summary:

Since the New York Public Library (NYPL) has started loaning ebooks, especially those formatted for the Kindle, the library has doubled its registrations for the ebook service, and every day "signs up about 200 new users." Wow. That is a lot of people using the library.
In addition to this boom in ebook loans, NYPL is thinking about loaning the actual e-readers. I am very curious to know how these loans would work. Would the library have books already on the e-readers? or would a patron check out the e-reader and then be able to choose which book(s) to put on it? Hmm...all these questions!

Browsing the Library's eBook Selection

I must say that browsing physical books at a library is much more satisfying than browsing the eBooks on library web sites.

I hold cards to three library systems, and all of them have similar layouts for eBook searches. The general searches are fiction, non-fiction, best sellers and popular titles, new releases, children, teen, etc. If I have an idea of which genre I want to read, this is alright, but there are still only so many books that can fit on a page.
If I want to browse eBooks, I have to pick a genre, and then keep clicking next page... next page... next page... and waiting for each page to load until I find something that looks interesting. I can only search for so long before getting bored. It is much easier if I have a specific title or author in mind so I can go straight to searching for it, click, and download.

Tablets

In today's issue of The Wall Street Journal, there was an article about Amazon.com's new tablet, the Kindle Fire. The tablet, which is being revealed today, is supposed to be a big rival to Apple's iPad. According to The Wall Street Journal, the new tablet will have "touch-screen technology; a customized version of Google Inc.'s Android operating system; and access to Amazon's app store, streaming movies and TV shows." While reading the article, I was wondering what other features would the Fire have? Apple's iPad has eReader capabilities, but they do not currently make a product that is just an eBook reader.

Amazon, on the other hand, has the Kindle. 

Train Travel

I usually read on the train, but today I was feeling a bit lazy. Instead, I decided to people watch. First, I noticed a badly dressed woman sitting across from me. After tearing my eyes away from her, I saw that there were several people reading. From where I was, I could see four people reading book, two people using eReaders (I think they were both using a Kindle, but I'm not sure), and almost everyone else doing something on their cell phone.
I have noticed that reading on the Subway train is quite popular. Like iPods and other music players, it gives a person a way to tune out. Unlike various music players, reading gives an excuse not to look up when people come on the train asking for money. We are too engrossed in the words!