Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Beauty in books

Beauty in Books is the title of the current display at Beverley Public Library. It refers to the bibliomania and bibliosophia of John Edward Champney, Edwardian resident, book collector and benefactor. He provided the funds to build the Library and bequeathed his art collection to found the Art Gallery. On display were illustrated books by Arthur Rackham and Walter Crane and local works about Yorkshire by the sea. There will be a lecture called "Introducing Champney's books: conserving for future generations".


On the journey over to Britain I read People of the book by Geraldine Brooks that made me think about books as pieces of art and history. Fascinating story and ideas.

Many of the comments I have received when discussing ebooks relate to books as artifacts, as beautiful containers for the stories within and how we may lose the fascinating visual element of illustrated material. Perhaps I'll go to the lecture and ask about ebooks - there's a lot to think about.







Friday, July 9, 2010

a book or a Kobo?

Not the right question? It's the content that matters. Ask instead - a novel or a biography, historical or contemporary, funny or serious, light or challenging?
What we read is more important than how and I am increasingly concerned about the articles and letters stating that the feel of a book, the smell of the pages is an integral part of the experience. For me it's the story every time.
Now I can choose to read a printed book or to download to my Kobo and I'm doing both quite happily. The pleasure of hunting out a good read and then getting hold of it and then just reading and reading - thank goodness it's the weekend!


The June issue of Good Reading Magazine, available by the way in print or online, included an article on music in novels. One title listed that I haven't read is now on my Kobo, immediate transfer, no waiting in a reserves queue or travelling to the bookshop and I can fit it easily into my bicycle basket.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Book, Boko? Kobo - yes!

The future has arrived already.

My Kobo is loaded and ready. It is easy to read, easy to hold, easy to navigate and easy to carry around. I have 100 selected classics from the Gutenberg project, several New Zealand classics from the NZ Electronic text centre and one ebook that I have purchased; there is no public library system yet for the loan of ebooks.

The Kobo e-reader was launched in New Zealand on Thursday and sold out on Friday. I will have mine with me at the Library for anyone to test but if you want to know more details read Martin Taylor's review.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

e-books, i-pads, q-books......

......what will we be reading in the future?

This question was posed at the last session of the AWRF that I attended. Called Read any good bytes lately?, it was a panel discussion about electronic reading and the new toys for reading. In fact the plan had been to have a room of devices for reading for festival goers to explore and test but unfortunately that was not possible. I was really looking forward to that as I want to know how different an experience it will be reading from a machine instead of from a printed book. After all the story, the words, the meaning will be the same won't they?

Paul Reynolds, internet guru, Web 2.0 enthusiast and Library advocate, lead a discussion about how we are moving away from the traditional model of the book towards digital interactive material. Rhonda Kite demonstrated on an i-pad two children's books that were designed to aid reading development and comprehension. The discussion was wide ranging but inconclusive. I felt concerned that in this runaway digital environment we might lose some quality. Our book industry, developed over time, has created various means of quality control; for example we have well-read book reviewers, literary criticism and international awards. We will need digital equivalents of these that offer more than star ratings!

Paul maintained that the functions of libraries and librarians will be increasingly important  - that is why everyone was so sad this week to hear of his sudden death. His funeral was held today and tributes from all around the country have appeared on blogs and websites:
http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/2010/05/on-the-death-of-dr-paul-reynolds/
http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/paul-reynolds-r.html
http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/blog/scooperonlibraries.aspx
http://publicaddress.net/6638#post6638