Lari's Bookshelf

Web librarians, ebranch librarians, cybrarians and other similar terms are proliferating the literature of the library world. What exactly do these terms mean and when will librarians stay ahead of the curve and finally be able to provide the finished product of the best library website ever? There's the rub. They can't. What is relevant now will be obsolete before you know it. Technology changes a lot in just a few years, and sure, there are ways for librarians to create websites that can stay relevant longer (especially when taking UX and accessibility standards into consideration). But if websites aren't quick to adapt to what users want and when they want it, they will fail to provide a friendly user-centered experience. We have to start thinking about library web services as always evolving. Websites aren't buildings. When we think of a library's website in terms of a digital branch, we might think of the old brick and mortar concept of...

Image: Naypong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Some have pontificated that the future of all education will be free . Others have said this future is "already here." I think we're still in transition, since so many are still not bought on the idea, even though resources may be available. The Problem Education is expensive. With rising tuition costs and the fact that student debt is at over a trillion dollars in the US, the idea of going to college for free sounds too good to be true. But what if it is a feasible reality for more than the average Joe in the future? And what if "this problem" exists or is aggravated with our perceptions of what education is or what it should be? The Potential Solution I don't even want to attempt to compile a list of free educational resources and courses after seeing this amazingly awesome post at Mark and Angel Hack Life . (Seriously, if you get a few moments check out this fabulous resource.) I will reco...

My Nooky-Nook I was pleased to find the article Free E-books for Happy Patrons  in Booklist Online's The Corner Shelf. In it, author Rebecca Vnuk shares some great online resources librarians and library patrons can use to access free ebooks. The great thing about it is that you don't have to be a library patron or librarian to appreciate the following list: InkMesh  is a search engine that searches over 30 online sources for free e-books. You can search by title or author. Project Gutenberg , the original site for free text online, offers more than 33,000 free books that play nicely with any e-reader platform. You’ll find mostly classics and public-domain works here. No registration is required, and the site is easy to use. A nice feature is their “bookshelves”—collections grouped by topic. Baen Books , publisher of science fiction and fantasy, offers a number of their titles as free downloads. Established authors such as Eric Flint, Lois McMaster Bujold, Merced...

Scrivener is an acclaimed writing software for writers of all kinds. Now that they are offering a free trial for NaNoWriMo , I couldn't help but download and install it on my computer. If you are interested in participating in NaNoWriMo this year, I highly recommend you try Scrivener for yourself. They even have a preset template for your NaNoWriMo novel that you can access when you start a new project. This is the first year I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I'm a little nervous about the challenge, but am glad I have a tool like this that can help me out. Have you done NaNoWriMo before? Are you doing it this year? Are you going to use Scrivener?

If you're a neurotically indecisive reader like me, you probably need some help when trying to figure out what to read next. Here are some websites that go above and beyond generic recommendations. These tend to offer a dynamic and user friendly interface for someone solely seeking book or author recommendations. 1. YourNextRead.com Simply search for a book you like, and a little map of related titles will pop up. It saves a history of the books you browse during your session, and provides easy access to websites where you can purchase the book or find more reviews. You can even create an account, make your own maps, and share them. If you like this you may also want to check out YourNextFilm.com and, if you're a gamer, YourNextGame.com . 2. Whichbook.net I'm a huge fan of this website's user interface. It allows you to browse books based on what you "feel" like reading at any given moment. You can choose if you want something long or short, v...

Okay, so a lot of people say that e-readers never will replace print because they just, well, love paper books so much. I get it. When I get a new hardbound book and crack open the cover for the first time, the smell is intoxicating. I swear publishers put some kind of drug in the book binding glue to make it so addictive. But I also love my e-reader, and have been using it more and more... and in some cases, I'm preferring it over some paper books (because it isn't as heavy). Also, in June 2011, adult paperback books plunged 64% from last year, while e-book sales went up 161 percent . This suggests that while many hardcover books are still being purchased (though it dropped 25 % in the same month), people who just want to read a book for the sake of the words, and not the format (i.e. paperback readers), are starting to gravitate towards e-books. Libraries have growing digital collections, and some libraries have already started lending e-readers . I think in the future,...

Libraries and library users love  Mango . I'm not talking about the fruit, but the awesome learning program that allows English speakers to learn a foreign language, and gives non-native English speakers access to valuable ESL courses. These services aren't free and libraries invest a lot of money to give their patrons access to these online courses. That is why many will be pleased to know that you can now download and install a free app on your smartphone that will allow you to use and access Mango, well, pretty much anywhere. Mango Mobile Before you'll be able to use this app, you will first have to set up a Mango Language account through your library's website using your library card number. If you've already done this, great! Once you have done that, do the following to get Mango on your mobile device: 1. Go to your app store, and search for "Mango Languages". 2. Select, download, and install "Mango Languages Library Edition."...

Do you love Goodreads ? Are you a Chrome user? Then check out this pretty spiffy app I happened to find today. It adds a Goodreads button to book sites, allowing web users easy access to the book's Goodreads page. It was pretty simple to install. 1. In Chrome, hit CTRL+Tab to open a new tab. 2. Click on "Web Store" under Apps. 3. In the upper right side of the Chrome Web Store page, search for "goodreads". 4. Select "Goodreads Button - Kynetx for Google Chrome" in the search results. 5. Click "Add to Chrome" and select "Install" when you get the pop up. 6. This is what your browser window should look like upon installing it successfully. And you're finished! Goodreads Button on Amazon See? Easy as selling organic food to a hippie. Now, next time you are on a book site like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, you can access Goodreads from every book product page. I'm looking forward to better mana...

Here is a great article to read if your considering purchasing an e-reader. My favorite part of it were these helpful videos that show how to get library books on your digital devices! Get Library E-Books for Your Digital Devices Getting Library E-Books on Your Nook (or other compatible e-reader)! (You can read my step by step process here .)

I recently ordered some covers for my nook and I absolutely love them! They were so cheap too (but kind of smelly when I first opened them). The buttons work great with the gel cover, and it's a better tactile experience and fun to hold. I'm not as paranoid about dropping it or scuffing it. I also got tired of using my same old  screen savers and wallpaper. I just found this website called  nook-Look . And here is what my nook looks like now: My Guide to the Galaxy I am sharing just in case any other peeps have a nook and want to make it look awesome.

My friend Becky sent me a link to some instructions of how to open a new book. I am sharing it here: ...Ah the good old days. Sometimes I fear the modern ways of opening a book have become a little too complicated . (But I still love my eReader.) Also, I couldn't share this without sharing this hilarious video of a medieval help desk. A medieval "techie" helps a person with brand new technology, the book: So what do you think? Do you have any rituals, traditions, or habits you engage in when you open a new book for the first time?

I have already written a little bit about OverDrive and how to access your library's digital collection , but this post is focused on how to browse, checkout and download your eBook after you've downloaded and installed the necessary software . Note: You will need to download and install Adobe Digital Editions before you try downloading a book from the library's digital eBook collection. You can download and install ADE from here .) The Search for the Perfect eBook So I'm on my library's OverDrive homepage , and I want to browse the eBooks available. I can look for eBooks in one of two ways, I can either browse titles, or narrow my search with an advanced search. Browsing Links Advanced Search Page For beginners, I'd recommend browsing titles before trying to do an advanced search, so you get used to what kind of formats and genres are generally available from your specific library. Otherwise, you may conclude a few advanced searches with zero ...

Here is a picture of what my library books look like: ...well maybe not all of my library books. But most. With only one car and a good 20 minute drive or so to my nearest library, I find it more convenient to check out books from my library through the internet. The Hawaii Public Library System has an Overdrive collection as do many other public libraries across the country. The fabulous thing about libraries that use OverDrive is that all the technical quirks, issues, and methods of checking out an e-book or e-audiobook, are the same at every library. So once you learn how to do it at one library, you know how to do it at all the others. Since some library websites can be a pain in the arse to navigate, I thought I'd share a simple way of finding out whether or not your library has a digital overdrive collection. Go to OverDrive's website located at  http://overdrive.com/  and type in your zip code in the field as shown in the image below: Once you type in your...