| One of unique features available to Kindle owners that subscribe to Amazon Prime is the ability to borrow up to one ebook per month from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. The Lending Library consists of over 500,000 Prime eligible Kindle ebooks, and includes some New York Times bestsellers. Once you select an ebook to borrow, […] |
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
How to Find Prime Eligible Kindle eBooks to Borrow from Kindle Lending Library
Mosio Adds a Layer of Relevance to Libraries
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"Mosio helps librarians increase their discoverability, accessibility, and availability," said Noel Chandler, Mosio co-founder and CEO, in a press release. "Patrons have millions of choices when it comes to finding information online, and that information may or may not be authoritative. By helping librarians embed themselves in multiple online locations, we ensure that patrons have real-time access to the support they need to make better information decisions and achieve greater outcomes." Mosio's beta customers have already embedded the customizable OmniWidget in more than 10,000 places including the ProQuest, OverDrive, EBSCO, OCLC and Exlibris platforms. A number of libraries have indicated more patrons reach out to them via the widget than their current Contact Us pages. "Since customizing Mosio's widget with our library branding and integrating it with our website and databases, we have seen more patron engagement and higher usage of our electronic resources," said Linda Jones, Education Librarian, Dixie State University. "Working with Mosio means we can provide a higher level of service while collecting the data we need to prove ROI to key stakeholders." This instant access to libraries and their support administrators in the places that patrons naturally look–like Facebook–can help the public perception of what purpose libraries serve, all while allowing librarians to connect with the people their institutions serve. This increased engagement is important for demonstrating traffic to the powers who create budgets, as library traffic is no longer limited to bodies who walk through the doors. To try the service and join more than 2,000 member libraries who currently use Mosio’s features for patron connection, librarians are encouraged to visit Mosio’s trial link HERE.
Mosio Adds a Layer of Relevance to Libraries is a post from: Good e-Reader |
How The Washington Post Can Bring Down Its Owner’s Company
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Some companies have even tried it, which led to a pretty ugly Department of Justice investigation and resulting lawsuit, one whose damages are reportedly going to be well into the one billion dollar mark before it’s over. Of course, even within the bounds of the law publishers have been trying to find ways to cut their dependence on Amazon by launching direct-to-consumer initiatives and consumer campaigns like the “I Didn’t Buy It on Amazon” stickers that readers can proudly affix to the front of their books. But all of that may be unnecessary, as the perfect foil for Amazon is happening as we speak. George Will, outspokenly moronic columnist for The Washington Post, may have finally published one piece too far, this time claiming that women basically like to be raped because it gives them certain privileges. Yes, he called sexual assault survivorship a “coveted status” that comes with little perks in a scathing piece that blames women on college campuses for their own harm. In an interesting aside, the paper has already published an arguing viewpoint that (of course) doesn’t finger point at George Will, but attempts to sooth the hurt feelings of women across the country. We could argue the merits or the baseless jerkhood of Will’s article at length, and believe me, the social media sphere is doing just that. What I’d really like to know is where Will’s new employer stands on the issue. Jeff Bezos, recent owner of The Washington Post, doesn’t mind making a little money off the women who write and publish what is arguably one of the most profitable genres out there, romance. So, apparently sex is a good thing when it’s selling books, but it’s pretty much a non-issue when it’s being forced on women? Of course, Amazon did take a stand against erotica that was marketed to children in its Kindle store, so the company obviously does have some kind of conscience towards inappropriate or suggestive material when it’s aimed at the wrong audience. And while it’s unlikely that Bezos sat down with Will and crafted this ridiculous opinion piece over a couple of drinks, rubbing their hands maniacally and laughing their evil villain laughs, Bezos does have a corporate responsibility for what gets printed in his company’s newspaper. Which is it, Amazon? Are we little sluts who deserve what we get, or are we a major source of income for your company? Perhaps you’d do well to avoid a boycott from the authors who helped put you where you are. You can argue that Amazon can withstand a lot of things, but you won’t survive a walkout of the most prolific and fan-centric writers you sell on a daily basis. It’s time to ditch the dead weight before George Will brings down an empire, because there are a lot of people rooting for your demise.
How The Washington Post Can Bring Down Its Owner’s Company is a post from: Good e-Reader |
E Ink Launches New 32″ ePaper Displays
| This past week E Ink unveiled their largest single epaper display module yet. The new screens measure 32-inches diagonally, and are almost 25 times the size of a standard ebook reader display. The overall dimensions are 27.75-inches by 15.75-inches. Next to a Kindle the new screens look absolutely gigantic. The new screens are available in […] |
What you missed in the Hot Topic webinars
 Last month, more than 450 OverDrive school and library partners from around the world joined the Training Team's May Hot Topic Webinar series about boosting digital circulation and maximizing the value of your OverDrive service. We also heard from many of you who shared your library's success stories for growing your own user community. And the ideas are just too great to not share! Here are just a few of our favorite ideas: Kelsi Murphy, from Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library in Kentucky, wrote: "In our Teen section, we have put up posters of what titles we do and do not yet have in our digital collection. We ask teens to circle what titles they would like us to add to our digital collection, then post when we have purchased it." Julie Raynor, from the High Point Public Library in North Carolina, shared: "During the Aida Mollenkamp Big Library Read, I posted a recipe a day from her book on our Facebook page. It was fun and got some good response!" Richard Naylor, from William K Sanford Town Library in New York, shared the following idea: "We worked with OverDrive to develop a special collection: “Best of the Small Press,” created by OverDrive specialists once a month. All books have good reviews, so we know they have a good chance of being liked. We have an icon for it on site." Kelly Murray, from Bibliotheque Allard Regional Library in Manitoba, Canada, said: "On the back of our due date slips we have a spot for the patron to learn about their eLibraries and get a user name and password." Many more great ideas were chatted in and discussed, ranging from how to launch a successful social media campaign to clever, cost-effective ways to increase the visibility of your digital collection, and much more. These sessions helped to connect all of us as a community who share in the mission to reach more readers and help them discover great books. When we work together toward this goal, we know that we have the power to expand our reader communities around the world. If you were unable to attend the OverDrive Training Team's recent May Hot Topic webinar series, don’t worry: there is still a chance for you to join in this community of idea sharing and learn new ways to boost digital circulation and maximize your OverDrive service. Recordings of the following sessions have been archived and are available for you to view at your convenience from the Learning Center:
Questions or comments? Contact us at training@overdrive.com with feedback as well as your own ideas and success stories. You can also reach out to us for a customized training for your library on these or any other topics. Katie Blachman is a Training Specialist at OverDrive.
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Dedicated Audiobooks App for Romance Fans Coming to iOS
| Audiobooks.com, the streaming and downloading audiobook service for fans of the format, announced its new dedicated romance app that will put bestselling steamy titles in one easily found location. This app, available currently only for iOS, will contain thousands of new titles and best sellers, and a large and growing selection of audiobooks to choose from. Authors like Nicholas Sparks, E. L. James, and Maya Banks, just to name a few, are already in their catalog. "We wanted to create an app that's tailored to specific tastes so we can really personalize the user experience," says Sanjay Singhal, CEO of Audiobooks.com, in a press release. "We've seen a strong and growing popularity of romance audiobooks through our service and have had great success connecting to readers through romance book bloggers and communities. When we decided to start developing genre-specific extensions of the Audiobooks.com app, it just made sense to start there." This app, which will let users stream romance titles over both wifi and 3G connections, will offer the fastest connection times and a streamlined experience for iOS users. While Audiobooks.com does offer an Android app through the Google Play store, the romance-specific app is only available through Apple’s App Store. “The Romance Audiobooks app is Audiobooks.com's fastest, most responsive app yet and allows users to stream books anytime, anywhere over Wi-Fi and 3G networks. Specifically designed for iOS devices, the app features an intuitive, user-friendly interface for easy browsing and listening. Listeners can use their accounts to access books on both the Romance Audiobooks app and the original Audiobooks.com app for increased variety and selection. Both apps are available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad in the Apple App Store.”
Dedicated Audiobooks App for Romance Fans Coming to iOS is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Save the Date for Digipalooza 2015
| It’s June, and many of us already find our schedules jam packed until September. Camping trip this week, plans for holidays already in place, road trip to a festival another week, friends coming to town for a few days, one wedding, two weddings, three weddings or more… We want to secure a spot in your busy schedule next year for Digipalooza 2015. Last August, Digipalooza 2013 rocked Cleveland, Ohio, USA with more than 500 public and school librarians, publishers and industry partners. Digipalooza is a unique event, with opportunities for networking, education and, of course, fun! It wouldn't be an OverDrive event without a great party, and last year, we enjoyed a rockin' party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Getting excited for next year's Digipalooza? Save the date: August 5-7, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. During the conference, librarians will share tips and tricks for eBook lending, attendees will partake in small roundtable discussions with OverDrive staff and you'll hear insights from industry experts. Plus, since it was such a success last year, we are hosting our party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum again! We are introducing some new aspects to next year's Digipalooza to keep things exciting. The conference falls on weekday dates based on past attendee feedback (Wednesday evening through Friday afternoon), we are moving to a new conference and hotel location (both featuring state of the art technology) and we are hosting a kickoff event at OverDrive's Blue Sky Campus. All this for the same low rate as last year's conference ($199). Visit the Digipalooza website for more information and check back in the fall when registration opens. While you're counting down the days until August 2015, check out our highlights video and sample program from Digipalooza 2013. We hope to see you next year! Stay tuned to hear about when registration will open. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our team at digipalooza2015@overdrive.com.
Cassie Renner is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.  |
Raspberry Pi at Buckingham Palace, 3 million sold
| Apart from the bit where someone who shall not be named yanked a power cable early, corrupting our Minecraft demo SD card, and apart from the bit where we nearly got shot by an angry close protection officer when we read the map wrong and tried to use the wrong gate, we had a very smooth time of it on Monday, when Craig, Eben and I rocked up at Buckingham Palace at 2pm to set up a demo stand for that evening’s UK Tech Reception. We were told by frowning courtiers that we were not allowed to take any pictures inside – but happily the Palace photographer was there to catch the very surreal moment when I found myself explaining to the Queen what a Raspberry Pi is.  L-R: Craig Richardson, Eben (peeping over my shoulder), me, the Queen, Prince Andrew Sadly, there was no photographer there for the bit where Prince William waved at us and shouted “Ha! It’s Raspberry Pi!”, but I can tell you now that I don’t expect anything weirder to happen to me all year. You may remember that Prince Andrew came to visit us here at Pi Towers last year. We gave him a Raspberry Pi when he left, and were really chuffed to discover on Monday that he’s been using it; he’s also very well-versed in our charitable mission and our work with teachers and kids. It was very strange, and rather brilliant, to hear him introducing what we do to the Queen, and to talk to him about industrial applications for the Raspberry Pi. We had some more news to tell people at the reception too: back in October, when Prince Andrew visited, we were celebrating the sale of our 2 millionth Raspberry Pi. We were able to announce the sale of the 3 millionth Raspberry Pi (which actually sold over a month ago – the way we work with manufacturing partners RS Components and Premier Farnell means that our receipt of sales figures lags behind the actual sales by several weeks). Eben also has a new anecdote, which he fully intends on dining out on until the end of all time: once I had finished blithering at the Duke of Edinburgh about the Computing Curriculum, he approached Eben. DoE: “Your company is doing well?” To be fair, ties were not specified in the invitation, and we heard the Duke of Edinburgh saying something very similar to every man in the room who wasn’t wearing one – but Eben says it’s the very nicest insult he’s ever had. Craig says: “That went remarkably well, considering that some parts of my suit were held together by Sellotape.” You can read more about the reception in the Guardian. |
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Sega Announces Sonic Jump Fever for Android and iOS
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Designed as another simple one-direction platform title, Sonic Jump Fever is based on the 2012 Sonic Jump (all the while collecting rings, getting power-ups, and bopping enemies; only now you can compete directly against your friends). The twist? Twice a week the ladder resets and you will have to beat them once again –making you prove your worth and hone your skill (a fluke run won’t be good enough to hold your title at the top of the leader-board for long)! The exact launch date is not yet known, but it should be available (for free) sometime this summer. Sega Announces Sonic Jump Fever for Android and iOS is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Final Fantasy 7 G-Bike Revealed for Android and iOS
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Not many details are known regarding the game-play, but the official announcement trailer makes it appear to belong to the endless runner platform-style genre: complete with “chase sequences, obstacle courses and boss encounters.” So far, the only character recruited is Cloud (equipped with his famed Buster Sword), but he can handily take care of enemies like Behemoth from the Midgar location. No release date has been communicated, but G-Bike is likely to be available soon. It is also expected that great care will be given to the quality of this app, given a good response would mean good things for a much-desired port of the full Final Fantasy VII game which was previously delayed due to technical limitations (particularly issues with the storage space required, estimated at over 1GB for the game itself).
Final Fantasy 7 G-Bike Revealed for Android and iOS is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Google Gets Competition From Honeywell with New Lyric Thermostat
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All of the expected features are found in the Lyric, including the ability to control your temperature presets from the app (available for both Android and iOS)… but that’s not all. Lyric is as beautiful on the wall as Nest, but the most exciting bit of technology is the use of geofencing to update the climate for your house depending on exactly who is home (or not home, as the case may be). Think of the potential: keep the house nice and cool until your spouse gets home and demands the temperature be increased a few degrees. Lyric is expected to retail for $279 at Lowes locations beginning in August of this year. Google Gets Competition From Honeywell with New Lyric Thermostat is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Macmillan Buys into the eBook Subscription Model via Skoobe
| In North America there are a number of eBook subscription sites that have suddenly caught the attention of major publishers. Scribd, Entitle and Oyster all make themselves accessible on iOS and to a lesser degree Android. It is suddenly quite viable for readers and publishers to buy into the whole ‘Netflix for eBooks’ concept. Macmillan is not sitting idly in the sidelines and instead is focusing on the German market, by way of Skoobe. Skoobe launched in 2012 in Germany and has been a critical success, as a homegrown company, appealing to local readers. The company initially launched charging $9.99 for the ability to read two titles every month and has since expanded for unlimited reads a month. Christian Damke, the founder of Skoobe mentioned “Skoobe aims to enlarge the market for major publishers by offering easy ebook access to price-sensitive readers who don’t necessarily want to own the books. Our members are looking for engagement, quality, and ease of use. After joining Skoobe our members spend significantly more time reading while still buying print as well as ebooks. To split the catalogue into verticals is not planned, since we have found that having the option to read according to one's mood is actually one of the attractions of the offer. To carry more than 13,000 ebooks in your pocket and read a biography on the way to work and a crime story at home is very much our customer's wish. The reader is not limited to the one book she can carry in her bag but can continue to read the story she feels most drawn to at the moment.” Macmillan is buying into Skoobe via their parent company Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck. They are contributing 1500 titles from Tor Books, which will assist Skoobe in expanding into the English market. Skoobe continues to solicit publishers to join their system and currently has a catalog of over 40,000 titles from over 900 publishers. Their business gets a lot of attention in Germany, with all of the major newspapers and magazines doing features on them. Statistically most Germans don’t own property, but instead pay rent. Buying into an eBook subscription site makes sense. One of the great aspects is that this service is really accessible. They have apps for iOS, Android, and an optimized version of the Kindle Fire. Download Skoobe today (spelled eBooks backwards) from the Good e-Reader App Store. Macmillan Buys into the eBook Subscription Model via Skoobe is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Kobo Glo Android Hack Video Demo
| A few months ago, I decided to install Android on my Kobo Glo to see how it functions as an E Ink Android tablet. I was able to do this thanks to a hack over at MobileRead. It works on the Kobo Glo, Kobo Aura HD, and Kobo Touch. Here’s the page with all the […] |
Oaxis InkCase E Ink Covers for Smartphones (Video)
| In the recent video tour of E Ink’s booth at Computex 2014, we saw a number of E Ink’s protoypes and products, but one that was missing was the Oaxis InkCase. The Oaxis InkCase is a specially-designed smartphone cover that has an E Ink screen. You can pair it with a phone and display content […] |
Onarbor Addresses Academic Publishing Challenges with Crowdsourcing, Peer Review
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Unfortunately, the world of academic publishing is even more notoriously difficult to break into than the world of trade publishing. With often small-numbered committees of just two or three individuals deciding what is worthy or not, many frustrated academics have grown disillusioned with the industry. One such person is Tim Peterson, a biology doctoral candidate from Harvard who actually secured a paper for publication in a prestigious journal, but he recalled that the entire nine-month ordeal left him feeling as though there had to be a better way. Peterson founded the site Onarbor, a platform that not only provides a publishing pad for quality works, but also encourages peer review that goes well beyond three stuffy academics looking over the tops of their glasses at the mountain of submissions. Instead, Onarbor builds a community of reviewers, people whose own “scores” are generated based on their reviews of prior submissions. Essentially, if a reviewer simply passes through a fluff piece, his score as a reviewer can drop, making him less of a prestigious name associated with a submission. More important than just the publishing and review opportunities, though, is the ability for users to crowdfund particular projects through donations. Interestingly, cybercurrency source Bitcoin is accepted on the site for crowdfunding. In this article on Onarbor by Avi Wolfman-Arent for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Peterson is quoted as saying this model stands to rise above the current method of peer review due to the sheer numbers of people who will review a submission. It’s one thing to have a triumvirate of academics with a political agenda to declare your work as suitable, but it’s something else entirely to have thousands of highly qualified professionals make that assessment. While the trade publication industry is slowly but surely release its stronghold as the only viable publishing route and erasing some of the stigma associated with self-publishing, we can’t look for the scholarly industry to do that anytime soon, especially when there’s serious money to be made by blocking publication of some pieces and allowing others. In time. though, sites like Onarbor could potentially make enough of a name for themselves that the scholarly publication community sees the rigid stronghold for exactly what it is and agrees to accept the validity of a community-vetted platform.
Onarbor Addresses Academic Publishing Challenges with Crowdsourcing, Peer Review is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Entitle Launches Christian eBook Subscription
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Entitle Books announced its recent launch of an ebook subscription that is aimed at the Christian book market, allowing its members to find new titles without wading through content that they may wish to avoid. Entitle Christian, as the service is called, allows its members to download up to four books per month depending on the pricing option they choose; unlike typical subscription models, this one serves as more of a book club of sorts, as the ebooks do not disappear after a predetermined amount of time. The books are the users’ to keep, even if they cancel their subscriptions later. Entitle’s CEO Bryan Batten noted that readers of Christian fiction tend to stick with the genre, much in the way that romance readers are thought to be passionate fans of their favorite story lines and authors. While the industry is experiencing unheard of rates of crossover, not only among readers but among authors as well, some genres more than others experience this level of dedication to their books. Of course, one of the more appealing aspects of the service–something that members are willing to spend significant money on considering that the two-book-a-month plan starts at $9.99 and increases from there–is the vetting of the titles for appropriateness and content. In recent years, most major retailers have had to take unpopular action against books and authors that were mislabeled. Hard-core erotica works ended up on display and promoted even in the ranks of children’s ebooks, a fact that caused a number of retailers to take swift action in deleting any content that they deemed inappropriate. Entitle Christian’s platform is compatible with all major devices and operating systems, and has been able to secure contracts with several major publishers. Of the platform’s 200,000+ ebooks available for sale, more than 10,000 titles have been included in the Entitle Christian service to date.
Entitle Launches Christian eBook Subscription is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Amazon Integrates WhisperSync for Voice into Kindle for Android
| WhisperSync for Voice is a program that was designed to build synergy between eBooks sold by Amazon and the audio edition from Audible. It was designed to give readers a discount for purchasing both the eBook and audiobook edition and flip between the two wherever you left off. For example, if you are reading a novel at night and stop reading at page 92, you can pick up on the audiobook where you left off when commuting to work the next day. This used to just a program exclusively for the Kindle Fire line of tablets and now is available on the official Kindle app for iOS and Android. Professional narration is available for more than 45,000 Kindle books and growing—including popular best-sellers from an array of genres. You can easily add professional narration to your favorite Kindle books with one click using Matchmaker (www.amazon.com/matchmaker), a service that scans your Kindle library to find which of your Kindle books have a companion Audible version available. Audio upgrades are available for as little as $0.99, with upgrades to bestsellers like the Outlander series and The Hunger Games series available for as little as $3.99. Whispersync actually gives you discounts on the audiobook edition if you already have the Kindle book. This allows for a few dollars in savings if you want to take advantage of Whispersync for Voice, but sadly there is no bundling program yet to buy both at a lower price. The new Kindle app is available via iOS and the Good e-Reader App Store. Amazon Integrates WhisperSync for Voice into Kindle for Android is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Avoid the summer slide with Teachers Notebook and OverDrive
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To combat the summer slide, it is important for parents and guardians to carve out some time every day for children to do educational activities or read. Teachers Notebook (TeachersNotebook.com) and OverDrive can help keep children's minds active over the summer months with free educational activities and eBooks. AvoidTheSummerSlide.com is packed with free educational games and activities for children. You can start your search by grade and subject and then browse for more at Teachers Notebook. These educational activities are available in a wide range of subjects from science to social studies, so you are sure to find an activity that is so fun it doesn't feel like learning! Reading is also important for children over the summer. Children can lose more than two months' worth of reading skills during summer break, and they struggle when they head back to school in the fall if they haven't picked up a book all summer. To make reading fun, why not check out an eBook from your local library through OverDrive? Several libraries are now equipped with a kids' or teens' eReading room, which is a custom version of the website filled with titles just for kids and teens.  |
Kindle Apps Get Audiobook Integration and Lots of Other New Features
| Amazon has released major updates to their Kindle reading apps today. Amazon issued a press release announcing the biggest change: Audible integration. Kindle reading apps now support audiobooks, aka Whispersync for Voice. This feature was previously only available on the latest line of Kindle Fire tablets. Now all the Kindle reading apps have the ability […] |
MagPi issue 24, out now!
| The MagPi’s a little late this month, but it’s full of good things. The MagPi is the free magazine for Raspberry Pi enthusiasts, written, typeset and edited by the community for the community. This month’s issue has plenty for Pi fans of all levels to get their teeth into.  Click the image to visit The MagPi We’re biased, but our favourite article this month is the interview with our very own Carrie Anne Philbin about Picademy, our free teacher training courses, where she talks a lot about the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s approach to education. And our hearts went pitter-patter when we saw the Wolfram Language-powered spectrophotometer from Robert J LeSuer, which can be used to calibrate colours: in this instance Robert is using it to make sure his watermelon punch is precisely the correct shade of red. There’s the final instalment in Michael Petersen's Weather Balloon series, a project from Daniel Pelikan which turns your Raspberry Pi into an oscilloscope, and much more. The MagPi is a free download: the volunteers on the project donate their time and skill every month for free, and we are very grateful to them. If you’d like a printed magazine, we’re selling the MagPi’s Kickstarted binders of the first nineteen issues in the Swag Store: get them while they’re hot!
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