Thing #20: Books 2.0

I do work in a busy public library and every time a patron asks where a book is on the shelf it tells me they are still interested in books and reading. When they can't find it and I can, I joke that it is "job security."

No matter how many reading formats come and go, I think the printed word will still have its followers. I do believe there is definitely a place for digital and online reading, and digital literacy is important to our future. However, it should be supplemental and not a replacement for our printed sources.

I'm not likely to do anything on my phone except call my mom and my husband. I am too cheap to pay for the extras. I am not addicted to my cell phone. I am not a gadget freak, and am usually one of the last people to get the "latest" thing which means by the time I get something new it is on its way to being obsolete. I have never been a follower or one to be part of the larger crowd. I beat to my own unusual drum.









I just bought my first laptop this year and already I heard they are coming out with a thinner, less expensive netbook!
OF COURSE!!!

For Readers' Advisory I have always been partial to our subscription databases but especially NoveList. I've also used What Should I Read Next? and What's Next? on occasion and have found them useful. As far as Online Book Communities go, I will not be visiting them because even with all this social networking and sharing I feel that my reading is very personal to me and and I don't really go with the crowds. Like I said, my own drum.

The Book Group Resources could have helped me with a reference request I had just last week with a patron who was trying to start her own book club!
I guess the point of most of this is not so much that we try it all, or join it all, but just to be aware of what is out there.

I had heard of LibriVox a number of years ago even before we decided to purchase subscriptions to downloadable audiobooks. It's been bookmarked on our "Great Links" under Books and Bookfinders for a long time.

There are so many places to get opinions/reviews these day. I am wary of it all. Everyone's got one. I'd rather just have my own or use the sites that are standard, like the retail bookstores and Amazon. I tried searching for nonprofit info on BookBrowse and this is the message I received. No search results for "nonprofit" were found in our "Books in Detail" database. When I do that same search in Amazon under books, it gives me all kinds of recommended subject options as well as tools to narrow my search further (i.e. format, binding, nonfiction, release date, and starred review.) I'll stick with what works, thank you very much!

And forget about the book swapping sites. Hasn't anyone ever heard about FREECYCLE or Craigslist? So many free things given away at these two sites. You can get anything, not just books! LOVE THEM!


And then there's Project Gutenberg... this is the best site when you've got that kid who just HAD to have that classic read yesterday and all copies are checked out and he's #23 on the list of reserves!!!