Recent Comments
- Amazon’s book city #1, Alexandria, VA, may cut library hours: Time for a digital-era national endowment to help ease U.S. libraries’ financial woes? | The Travelin' Librarian { [...] Read the full article @ LibraryCity.org. [...] }
- Promising DPLA debut—but please don’t confuse special-collection items, exhibits and APIs with a full-fledged ‘public library’ demo | The Travelin' Librarian { [...] Read the full article @ librarycity.org. [...] }
- Tom Peters { Excellent review of the nascent D(P)LA e-resource. I agree with all your major points. Tis a pity that the usual suspects (Twain, Fitzgerald, Cather, et... } – Apr 19, 11:28 AM
- Online la Digital Public Library of America, che vuole superare Google e Wikipedia | Tropico del Libro { [...] di questo ambizioso progetto. Non sono mancate, in questo senso, le polemiche di chi ha vivamente esortato i creatori della DPLA a preoccuparsi anche... }
- David Rothman { Thanks for such a prompt and classy reply, Dan---you're indeed giving #dpla its due! I truly truly hope that the DPLA succeeds, and meanwhile the... } – Mar 31, 11:58 AM
- Dan Cohen { Thanks for the great and helpful post, David. To be clear on #2, I'm very interested (as I know others are within DPLA) and plan... } – Mar 31, 10:40 AM
- David Rothman { Hi, Don. Nice to see such enthusiasm from a veteran school librarian. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, agree with your priorities, and will have more to... } – Mar 26, 4:57 AM
- Don Smith { If I might, I would like to propose a statement of purpose for the National Digital Library. Often times during my forty year career as... } – Mar 25, 8:54 PM
- David Rothman { Hey, Ralph, here's a belated but heartfelt reply to one of your points. Around here we love both libraries and librarians and are interested in... } – Mar 13, 9:58 AM
- Some news from LibraryLand | not so quiet { [...] this opinion piece, David Rothman makes a case for folks in the Warren Buffet and Bill Gates income bracket to support [...] }
- Bibliotecas públicas sin libros en EE.UU. ¿A la de tres? | Bibliotecas 2029 { [...] comunicada, tuvo una contestación pública demoledora. No sólo los profesionales de todo el país se escandalizaron por este proyecto sino que los propios usuarios... }
- A National Digital Library Endowment { [...] An interesting concept from blogger David Rothman, founder of TeleRead. He suggests that those who have signed The Giving Pledge (though he doesn’t mention... }
- David Rothman { Hi, Robert. Some quick replies… 1. I envision a variety of business models in use, but if nothing else, libraries could buy multiple e-copies (or... } – Feb 20, 2:05 PM
- Robert Nagle { Generally, a great proposal, but here are some practical issues which pop up in my mind. First, if everything is centralized, when I put a... } – Feb 20, 12:56 PM
- ATG Article of the Week: Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer | Against-the-Grain.com { [...] Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer, is an thought provoking article by David Rothman posted in TeleRead a few... }
- Reading about eReading this week 2/18/2013 « Allegany County Library System Director's Notes { [...] A national digital library endowment: How America’s billionaires could be modern Carnegies for rea... [...] }
- Reading about eReading this week 1/28/2013 « Allegany County Library System Director's Notes { [...] Dwarf-sized public e-libraries vs. abundance: Listen to veteran publishing guru Brian O’Leary and ... [...] }
- David Rothman { You're welcome, Anthony. Keep us posted if you can Amy-ize your new Fire without installing a full-strength version of Android. David } – Jan 19, 5:46 PM
- Anthony { Thanks Dave! } – Jan 19, 4:47 PM
- David Rothman { Hi, Anthony. Some possibilities: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/where-to-get-more-help-with-your-kindle.html Happy Kindling, David } – Jan 19, 4:00 AM
Topics
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Recent Posts
- On Jullian the Tiger Cub, a national digital library endowment, and the power of the American ego
- E-book usability news: Adjustable line spacing now on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and perhaps other Fire HDs—although I still can’t narrow the spaces sufficiently
- Voice Dream e-reading app: Stellar for text to speech—and promising as a general reader
- Amazon’s book city #1 avoids cuts in library hours but still might reduce its library book budget—already below the U.S. per-capita average
- Cut in Alexandria, VA, library hours not needed, says city staff memo. Also: Councilman Justin Wilson endorses LibraryCity’s national digital library endowment plan
Archives
Blogroll
- ALA EQUACC blog
- ALA TechSource
- Brendan C. O'Connell
- Chief Officers of State Library Agencies
- Digital efforts of Library of Congress
- eBookNewser
- Gary Price's INFOdocket blog
- Harvard's Robert Darnton
- Library Journal
- LISNews
- Mike Shatzkin
- NDPL discussion forum
- Save Our Rockford Library
- School Library Journal
- TeleRead
- The Berkman Center's wiki on national digital library policy
- The Digital Reader
- Unglue.it
- Wired Campus blog
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ALA Amazon Barack Obama copyright David H. Rothman David Rothman digital divide digital libraries digital library Digital Public Library of America DPLA e-book e-books ebook ebooks education family literacy Harvard Harvard University IL Illinois iPad John Palfrey k-12 Kindle Kindle Fire librarians librarianship libraries library LibraryCity literacy national digital libraries national digital library national digital library proposal national digital library system OverDrive poverty public librarians public libraries Robert Darnton Rockford schools VA William F. Buckley-
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Archive for the Category: LibraryCity
E-book usability news: Adjustable line spacing now on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and perhaps other Fire HDs—although I still can’t narrow the spaces sufficiently
LibraryCity knocked Amazon for not letting users of the Kindle Fire HDs adjust their line spacing. But guess what I noticed just now within the font-related submenu of my Kindle HD 8.9” model running version 8.3.1 firmware? Alas, on my several files tested, I still couldn’t narrow the spaces sufficiently on the HD even though [...]
LibraryCity’s take on K-12 libraries and the Digital Public Library of America
Yes, LibraryCity has been on an S. R. Ranganathan kick lately (here and here). Still ahead is a DPLA-related essay on his Five Laws of Library Science as applied to K-12, including school libraries—a follow-up to the LibraryCity post by Apple Distinguished Educator Donald R. Smith, a teacher-librarian with 40 years of experience. If you [...]
Also posted in eBooks, National Digital Public Library Tagged Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, COSLA, Digital Public Library of America, Don Smith, Donald R. Smith, DPLA, John Palfrey, k-12, librarians, librarianship, libraries, national digital libraies, national digital library, Ranganathan, Robert Darnton, school libraries, school libraries and the DPLA
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A national digital library endowment: More details, an FAQ, and an invitation to librarians and others to help shape the proposal
LibraryCity inspired mentions on the Atlantic Magazine’s Web site and elsewhere with a call for a national digital library endowment for the United States. Endowment funds would come entirely or almost entirely from philanthropists, in the beginning at least, given the hostility of so many politicians toward new programs. The endowment would be just one [...]
Also posted in eBooks Tagged James Fallows, Jim Fallows, national digital libraies, national digital library, National Digital Library Endowment, The Atlantic
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How I turned my Kindle Fire HD from a cash register and billboard into a good machine for an e-book lover
H.L. Mencken, the American iconoclast, depicted Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” Could the same idea apply to the killjoys at Amazon who so cruelly made the $199 Amazon Kindle Fire HD less of an e-book machine and more of a billboard and cash register? Granted, many readers might not [...]
Friends of Quinn and LD OnLine: Two good Web sites illustrate need for separate national digital library systems—public and academic
Two good Web sites on learning disabilities show the need for separate but tightly intertwined national digital library systems. One system public, one academic. Neither site is a library’s. Friends of Quinn is a grassroots nonprofit featuring Quinn Bradlee, son of Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee—the legendary society columnist and the Watergate editor. LD OnLine [...]
The risks of cloud-based e-books—and the related need for a robust, well-secured infrastructure
As keen as I am on library e-books, I’m as much a booster of the buyable variety. I want people to be able to own e-books for real, ideally without DRM. More and more of our books, music, and even personal files, however, are in The Cloud beyond our direct control. Not on our desktops, smartphones [...]
OverDrive, safeguarding classics, the Jane Austen-‘Hunger Games’ connection, and a few other priorities for the DPLA to ponder
The Harvard-hosted Digital Public Library of America is doing plenty of things right on the path toward a national digital library system. For example, the DPLA’s successor will be less Harvard-centric. And via a sister organization, the current group has just snared a $1-million federal grant to help library patrons find and view library and [...]
Also posted in eBooks, National Digital Public Library Tagged Digital Public Library of America, DPLA, Hunger Games, Jane Austen, John Grisham, Pride and Prejudice
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LibraryCity co-founder Tom Peters to be Missouri State University’s dean of university libraries
Congratulations to Tom Peters, a veteran academic librarian, consultant, and co-founder of LibraryCity—just appointed dean of university libraries at Missouri State University. He’ll start August 1. Tom (yes, same first and last names as the management guru) is now assistant dean for technology initiatives at Milner Library at Illinois State University. For understandable career reasons, [...]
OverDrive buyout proposal makes LibraryJournal.com: ‘Not such a crazy idea,’ says DPLA’s John Palfrey
Although I’m still gung ho about the Digital Public Library of America, I retain some of the concerns arising in a recent MIT Technology Review article. For example, how can we reconcile the DPLA’s various goals and serve academic and public library patrons, whose needs and interests may differ sharply? One strategy would be for public libraries, [...]
Why a bestselling writer would be an excellent addition to the steering committee of the Harvard-hosted Digital Public Library of America
Like it or not, a lot more public library patrons care about bestsellers and other commercial books than about academic works. Frustratingly, the Harvard-hosted Digital Public Library of America has no commercial writer or other nonacademic content provider on its 17-member steering committee. Nick Taylor, a prominent member of the Authors Guild, is wondering about [...]
With so many U.S. kids in poverty, a national digital library and hardware program could be a godsend for children’s e-book publishers
LibraryCity has posted a number of items mentioning e-books and family literacy—for example, The nuts and bolts of using tablet computers, e-libraries, and family literacy initiatives to encourage young children to read. Now comes a gem of a post from Jeremy Greenfield: When Growth in Children’s E-Books Hits the Poverty Line. Greenfield didn’t mention a [...]