Linebaugh Library Techblog: 05/03/13

Friday, May 3, 2013

A very happy first birthday to The MagPi!

The MagPi is a free magazine made by Raspberry Pi fans for Raspberry Pi fans. It’s the example of just how remarkable the Raspberry Pi community is that we point to most often: volunteer enthusiasts with no publishing experience have been producing a really tight, entertaining, and educational magazine for twelve months now, and it’s just getting better and better.

The MagPi is a community magazine, which is not produced or otherwise fiddled around with by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. This month’s issue is a little more Foundation-heavy than usual, though, because it’s a celebratory edition: you’ll find an article from me, and (rather more interestingly) a very in-depth interview with Pete Lomas, our Grand Vizier of Hardware.

Most excitingly of all, there’s a birthday competition this month, where you can win £1000 of Pi hardware to play with. You’ll find a really helpful comparison of Raspberry Pi operating systems, a musical tutorial, an exploration of just how the Sweetbox guys went about bringing their case to market, and much more.

I don’t have enough good things to say about the MagPi team, and the crazy amount of work they’ve put in over the last year to help people get to grips with our little computer. All of us at the Foundation are full of admiration for the year’s achievements; running a magazine isn’t trivial, and with a staff of only volunteers it’s near impossible. That the MagPi is now in a position to start offering print copies (we know of many schools which are buying up bound copies of the first few volumes as a teaching resource) is an extraordinary thing, and we couldn’t be prouder to be associated with them.

Thank you so much, all of you: the writers, editors, layout and graphics, production, distribution team, proofreading army and advertising. The Raspberry Pi would not be where it is today, with about 1.3m units sold, without support from people like you showing everybody what can be done with it. We couldn’t be more grateful.

Collection Development Focus: Award-Winning Young British Authors

Looking for new titles to add to your digital collection? British literary magazine Granta recently announced their choice for the 20 most promising British writers under the age of 40. This honor occurs once every decade and showcases a variety of young and culturally diverse authors. Seven judges spent a year selecting the chosen novelists. One of the judges told UK newspaper The Telegraph: "We were trying to choose people who were at least capable of writing the best work of their generation – whatever they come up with next, I cannot wait to read it."

Here's a spotlight on ten of our favorites, who have eBooks and audiobooks available for sale in Content Reserve. Please note that title availability may vary by geographic region.

Naomi Alderman

We recommend: "Disobedience" (audiobook)

Tahmima Anam

We recommend: "The Good Muslim" (eBook)

Ned Beauman

We recommend: "The Teleportation Accident" (eBook)

Xiaolu Guo

We recommend: "Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth" (eBook)

Sarah Hall

We recommend: "The Beautiful Indifference" (eBook)

Nadifa Mohamed

We recommend: "Black Mamba Boy" (audiobook)