overdrive for kindle

Tried downloading an ebook through the Overdrive library lending interface onto a Kindle device, a service that became available about a month ago. Anticipating problems, I haven't been able to get to it till now. (If I'm trying something new that involves business, bureaucracy, or machinery, or especially any combination thereof, I assume a five-minute chore will take an entire afternoon. Cynical as this view is, it has often proven accurate.)

I accessed Overdrive via a desktop computer and put the book on a free Kindle app on an iPhone. The process is twofold, requiring signing in to Overdrive to choose the book and then signing in to Amazon to send the book to a Kindle device.

The whole process went surprisingly smoothly. At first it didn't look like it had worked, but I found the book under the app's "archived" items and from there loaded it onto the main list of the app's home page.

This solves the problem of Overdrive's refusal to support 3G versions of the iPhone operating system, as the books actually come from Amazon. Now they just need to vastly increase the range and number of available titles.

a shelving problem

Recently the library just got another enhanced book, the kind with fake realia -- facsimiles of documents, maps, photos, cards, etc. -- in pockets between the pages. We now have about half a dozen or so of these, and, as they are one more trend in publishers' attempts to make print books more exciting, we're likely to see more in the future.

The problem is what to do with them.

Right now, they're behind the desk, because the loose items in the pockets are so easily lost or stolen. The problem is, no one checks them out because no one knows they exist -- which is a shame, because they're so cool.

But if we put them on the shelf, where people can stumble upon them serendipitously -- or better, on display -- the loose things in the pockets will likely get lost or stolen, and then they won't be so cool ....

a digital immigrant apologizes

Yeah. O.k. It's been awhile.

The thing is, the online world doesn't seem quite real. Even though I "moved in" years ago (if you count the pre-web internet, I've been hanging around the neighborhood about 30 years) it still has an exotic feel. Or, to switch metaphors, it seems like playing -- something to fool around with only if there's time after the real chores are done.

So, this past summer, I've been checking e-mail accounts so rarely I have to wade through hundreds of spam messages, the thought of which makes me avoid it even more.

Logging in to Facebook only once or twice a week, and then just for a few seconds to message someone instead of e-mailing, because I don't want to face the mountains of spam (see above). And then avoiding Facebook because I feel guilty for all the happy birthdays I found out about too late to wish, all the now-untimely crises and rejoicings I should have responded to while they were still timely.

Tweeting so rarely my soundbite wit has lost all momentum, so I skip Twitter for yet another day.

Blogging infrequently. In this case, very infrequently.

Some days (sometimes two or more in a row) I haven't even turned the computer on. (Yes, I sometimes turn it off. My digital native daughter laughs at me for this.)

So, I'll give it another go and try to keep better 'net habits.

(But not right now. Y'see, I've just checked out this really neat new library book ...)

may 5, 1811 (sun.)

"... [S]ober interest tells me I should leave off buying books," Mr. Jefferson wrote a few days ago in response to a friend suggesting another title to add to his library of thousands.

Yeah. Right. This has all the credibility of a drunkard swearing off rum.

Well, today's mail brought yet another offer, this time a subscription to the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. He has declined, graciously, citing a surfeit of encyclopedias on his shelves already.

He's being responsible. For now.

[from 200 Years Ago At Monticello.]

a voice from 1910

Why Do We Need a Public Library?

The basic idea still holds true.

digital library controversy

Open Letter to Librarians
(March 1, 2011 Library Love Fest)
http://harperlibrary.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/03/open-letter-to-librarians.html

Open Letter to Harper Collins
(March 7, 2011 Library in Black)
http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/03/hc.html

winter reading program

Well, the library's experiment with a different kind of winter reading program is winding down. Not that it had very far to wind.

Previously, it had been similar to the children's reading program -- list the books you've read on a paper form, and turn it in for a prize. In the case of adults, this meant about half a dozen books over two or three months, in return for a mug, or some reading-related item with the library's logo.

This year, registration was online only, and the physical prizes have been replaced by a "chance to connect with other readers ... to talk about books you love!"

This ain't gonna work. For one thing, even adults like getting rewards. Not just a "good feeling" of accomplishment, but real rewards, like physical stuff. But the physicality goes beyond that. There is the physical act of writing down the title of each book as you finish it, then physically handing the filled-out physical piece of paper to a physical librarian -- and maybe exchanging a casual comment about the books as you do so. This world of tangible books and paper and ink and librarians is comfortable, especially to older people and quiet people -- the kinds of people who are most likely to participate in reading programs. In fact, many of these people are downright uncomfortable with computers. And even for those who don't mind them, the coziness factor is missing.

I suppose a completely virtual program could be geared toward a different kind of reader -- younger, busier, at home online. But to appeal to that crowd it would have to be exciting and fast-paced. It would've been good to have a web page for the program, with a lot of glitz and glamor, and interactive cool stuff. More importantly, it would need an immersive, ongoing conversation, where participants could "show off" to friends and meet interesting new people. The Facebook discussion just didn't have enough people to sustain it. Maybe a link on the library's website directly to the discussion would've helped.