Ebooks and Resources
March 16th, 2010 Brian HerzogI've had ebooks on the brain lately for a few reasons, so I thought I'd pull together some resources I've been bookmarking.
But first, my reasons:
- My consortium will soon be offering ebooks via Overdrive. This is good, as Overdrive ebooks are compatible with Sony Reader and the Nook, but will still include existing Overdrive drawbacks
- The IT Section of the New England Library Association is devoting our spring workshop to ebooks. Speakers will range from libraries already circulating ebooks and ereaders to a certain library that made waves by going digital to a book store that takes digitized books and makes them print again. It will be a great day, and I'll post more details soon.
Ebooks are certainly in the cards for libraries, and hopefully not like these comic strips. In no particular order, here are a few ebook-related links worth reading:
Ebook Reader Reviews and Guides and Deconstruction
A nice introduction to ereaders and ebooks, "7 Things You Should Know About E-Readers," from EDUCAUSE, focusing on teaching and learning:
Reviews of ereaders from various sources:
- http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/02/14/2224251/Its-2010-Whats-the-Best-E-Reader
- http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/search.htm?query=e-book
- http://reviews.cnet.com/1770-3508_7-0.html?query=e-book+readers
- http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357102,00.asp
- http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_tablet_roundup
The eBook Buyer's Guide to Privacy from the EFF talks about how each of the most popular ebook readers rate as far as privacy, tracking of purchases, sharing of information, etc.
- https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-books-and-your-rights
- http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/01/updated-and-corrected-e-book-buyers-guide-privacy
I've seen a little discussion on the topic of "why digital," and this is a good evaluation of how and when and why technology matches content:
- http://craigmod.com/journal/ipad_and_books/
- http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/a-former-book-designer-says-good-riddance-to-print/ (NYT article about the link above)
Ebook Price Wars
This is worth watching, because low prices means lots of people purchased the hardware, but rising prices means people will be coming to the library for ebooks instead of purchasing the content themselves.
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124592613&ps=cprs
- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/technology/11reader.html
- http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/02/06/1435225/Authors-Amazon-Awareness
Ebooks for Downloading
A few places where people can download ebooks for free - please list additional resources in the comments.
- Project Gutenberg
- ManyBooks.net
- Google Books look for PDF link in the upper right, or try the Google Downloader
- MobileRead.com
- Baen Free Library
- Free Kindle Books
- IReaderReview.com - free ebooks for the Kindle, via Scott's Tech Tips (read that)
- Boston Public Library's Overdrive catalog (free to all MA residents - just sign up for a BPL ecard)
Of course, as soon as I finish typing this post, I'm going to pick up the old-fashion made-of-paper book I'm reading and enjoy flipping through the pages.