Wanderings…

Leonard Pitts has a powerful editorial today.  “You don’t really know me”

Words to make you weep.  Words to make you think.

Again …  The Power, the Truth & the Immortality of Words.

Grolier has stopped printing Americana & New Book of Knowledge etc, and is now publishing only the online version.  I assume World Book and Britannica are continuing the print version along with the online version – at least for awhile.

If the “traditional” publishers want to compete with Wikipedia – are they planning to broaden their coverage?  For instance, our 9th graders do research on young adult authors every year.  MANY  of those authors have not reached the level of “fame” etc. to merit inclusion in World Book, Americana et al.  Wikipedia is often the only place I can send kids to do the broad, general, beginning research that I would like them all to start with before getting into author reference sets, whole biographies etc.

So – here are my questions….

1.  Do the traditional encyclopedias plan to put online ONLY what they can feasibly publish in a print encyclopedia?

OR

2.  Are they going to take advantage of the limitless storage of the web to broaden both the scope and depth of their coverage?

Believe me – I COMPLETELY understand the drawbacks of Wikipedia.  However, as cautious as I am about Wikipedia, I am questioning the value of continuing our subscriptions to the traditional encyclopedias, if I don’t see a significant change in their business plans.

Thoughts?

Have you ever wondered about all those book reviews we read?  Who writes them?

I’m tempted to try a new career.   Thanks to Gargoyles Loose in the Library for pointing to this fun video.  And thanks to the folks at Booklist.  I couldn’t do my job without them!

I like to treat myself at the end of the school year. This year, I am struggling over what to buy to satisfy my inner geek.

Netbook or Kindle??

NETBOOK
I already have a laptop.  I love it for working at home because it has a big 17 inch screen and a big keyboard.  But I don’t take it with me as often as I anticipated.  The problem? It is heavy and the battery life is not very long.  A netbook  would fix those problems.  I just feel slightly ridiculous and self-indulgent to spend the money when we already have 2 computers in our house.  New computers.  ……And there are only 2 of us……

KINDLE
I am definitely interested.  Problem?  I don’t buy books.  At least not very often.  Seems an odd thing for a librarian to admit.  But at heart, I am a die-hard library person.  I truly believe in the most fundamental reason to use a library – FREE BOOKS!!  I was excited when our public library system started a downloadable audio book and ebook collection.  Not that I care about audio books.  I am constitutionally incapable of listening to a book.  I MUST read books.  Ebooks seem a good solution.  But the collection currently on offer from the public library is dismal.

So….go to Amazon, right?  No.  It would cost money.  I read fiction.  It is very rare that I would want to read a novel more than once.

So, why on earth should I buy a Kindle?

Guess I’ll resist the siren call.  Even though every time I go to Amazon I hear it.  “Buy me, buy me, buy me…….”, the beautiful device chants seductively.

I will try to be strong.  If I succumb, the Kindle will end up like many a toy I had as a child – abandoned under my bed in favor of my trusted old friends.   Yes…yes…there are definite advantages to the Kindle.  The price is not the barrier.  It’s the maintenance.  Right now the pretty little toy just costs too much to feed….

Long live the free lunch!  Long live the library!

I’ve chosen a new theme so that I can incorporate my huband’s wonderful photography.  Right now it is an unknown lake in the Adirondacks.  Someone probably knows it – but we have forgotten which one of the many gorgeous lakes this is.

We visit the Adirondacks almost every summer.  Great for flat water kayaking.  In honor of our advanced age, and the enormous height of our truck – we have just purchased kayak racks for geriatrics.  This should prevent lots of injuries (not to mention arguments) in the future.

EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) did not have these racks on display – and I had a hard time picturing how they worked from just a picture in a catalog.  If they used YouTube like this company – they would sell a lot more of them!

Hullavator Demonstrated by Rack Outfitters