Go a step further...

Received this week in Legal Deposit: a 10 part (slim ones!) set called The Tech Set, published by Facet Publishing.

The editor, Ellyssa Kroski, mentions in the preface that she 'envisioned a series of books that would offer accessible, practical information and would encapsulate the spirit of a 23 Thing program, but go a step further' so it seems this is a timely acquisition.

The 10 parts cover

1. Next-Gen library catalogs (9781856047210)
2. Mobile technology and libraries (9781856047227)
3. Microblogging and lifestreaming in libraries (9781856047234)
4. Library videos and webcasts (9781856047241)
5. Wikis for libraries (9781856047258)
6. Technology training in libraries (9781856047265)
7. A social networking primer for libraries (9781856047272)
8. Library camps and unconferences (9781856047289)
9. Gaming in libraries (9781856047296)
10. Effective blogging for libraries (9781856047302)

and there's a link to more info at techset.wetpaint.com. I've asked for these to be catalogued as urgents and to be made borrowable, so they should be available soon to keen 23 Thingers.

Calendar Kalender

Done it. But every time I type the english word calendar somehow I get it wrong and a bit of the dutch equivalent kalender creeps in. It then takes a few attempts to get it right. Why does it end in -ar and not -er, after all, that's how it's pronounced? Odd language, English...

And I tried to beat Google at its own game and guess what? I failed, or to a certain extent at least. I did not give my own name as I was prompted, but just the letters JKL, and now I get messages about meetings from this JKL person. I suppose I'd better go into the settings and change this. It could lead to all sorts of confusion. May be I was just being particularly tegendraads that day!

Doodle the dog

I was mid-Doodle poll when the lights went out. Imagine my feelings of horror as I imagined that my flippant musings had gone to all people in my addressbook... Because all I wanted was a suggestion as to a name for my imaginary new black labrador. There would have been emails telling me where to walk the animal, giving me the names of local vets, warning me that labradors need loads of exercise, giving news on their own pets, children, holidays and 'must catch up' and 'haven't seen you for ages' and 'still at the Library?'

In the end all was well and the result: Rover got 3 votes; Thompson 1; Sultan 2; Fido 1 and Blackie none at all. All in all a good introduction to a useful tool, and when I do get a dog, I know how to get help with names.

Digital trends survey

A recent article in The Bookseller (21/5/2010, pp 22-23) revealed interesting research on consumer trends regarding digital books. Three quarters of readers are not aware of the Amazon Kindle and three in every five had not heard of a Sony Reader. 68% are unlikely or dead set against buying an ereader. The research was conducted in March of this year.

Despite the huge press coverage on ebooks, enthousiasm about getting an ereader actually dipped, and it's the 41-60 year olds that show most interest. Costs are obviously a major issue currently and equally, people may want to wait and see how the market shapes up. Older readers were more aware of the various products. And men are more likely than women to buy an ereader.

Although this research is obviously of immediate interest to publishers and the booktrade, I was quite surprised at these findings, and wonder what this means for those of us working in libraries. Will publishers be influenced by these sorts of results and publish fewer ebooks? Or are we all waiting for that one universal gadget that will do everything?

Is this the most boring IGoogle page?

Eyes left for my IGoogle page with apologies for its yawningly boring look. I'm planning to jazz it up a bit when I have a moment, and now that I know how to upload images (with many thanks to Jayne, who also helped with an RSS feed that would not behave) watch this space for a singing and dancing page soon. Or at least one slightly more inspiring.