Free E-BOOKS-so many sites!

Now that we have 4 different models of eReaders, patrons have asked us, besides purchasing books, where do we find FREE ebooks.

Gutenberg Project, we have used for the Kindle, as their ebooks are already formated for the Kindle. They have over 30,000 free ebooks.
www.gutenberg.org/

Gutenberg Project, updates nightly with newly added or updated ebooks


ManyBooks web site is very popular; they have 25,534 free ebooks.
http://manybooks.net/

In the ManyBooks website, there is an option to register but it's not neccessary. If you choose to register, they will keep track of the books you've read or want to read. The site also has RSS bookshelf feeds.

Both of these sites are easy to navigate and are fun to browse.

New eBooks Purchased December 2009

WE have been very busy purchasing new eBooks!

We have purchased many eBooks for our K1, K2 and DX Kindles.

The titles range from new fiction, Christmas stories to new textbooks for our new BAS program.

Here is a list of some of the new eBooks for December:

The Purpose of Christmas

The Christmas Sweater

I, Alex Cross

The Scoop by Fern Michaels

Breaking the Rules by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Rainwater by Sandra Brown

Southern Lights, a novel by Danielle Steel

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer [4th book in Twilight Saga]

Eleventh Victim by Nancy Grace

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

The Year of the Flood, a novel by Margaret Atwood

What the Dogs saw: and other Adventures

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Customer Service Skills for Success

Essentials of Corporate Finance

Wiley Pathways Disaster Response and Recovery

Wiley Pathways Technology in Emergency Management

Creating and Implementing Your Plan: A work for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Stones into Schools, by Greg Mortenson [author of Three Cups of Tea]

Human Resource Management by Patrick Wright

Sony Touch is here!

We are so excited.

The delivery of the new Sony Touch Edition e-Readers arrived this afternoon. A red metallic case with red matching vinyl cover-WOW!

Waiting to play with them is difficult, as we have to charge them for 4 hours. It's hard to wait!

The directions said to charge for at least 5 minutes before we can calibrate the screen with the stylet. The stylet is a cute little stylus incased in the upper right hand corner of the e-reader. [very convenient, but hope it stays with the unit]

5 minutes of charging and we're calibrating...that was easy! [Where's my Easy Button?]

There is probably about 5 minutes to play before the screen warns me the battery is low.

It's already loaded with 11 books; excerpts in several different languages; 2 songs and 3 pictures. "Warning -battery is low". [That time went fast.] Time to recharge for 5 minutes.

Back to the fun!

The orientation page came up, so I pressed the sreen, now I have a 'landscape' view and like it much better than 'portrait'. With this change, I can still use my left hand to press the buttons if needed. It's nice to just 'whisk' my index finger or thumb to 'turn' the page. Now I have to figure out how to put the orientation back to portrait. "Research time"

We've pretty much explored it all for now. Guess we better continue the charging process.

Kindle, Nook, Sony and other E-Readers to take off in 2010?

2010 the year of the eReader?

Several times a week, this past month, many patrons from our local community, faculty, students and staff, from our college, have stopped by our circulation desk and asked to see each of our Kindle models; K1, K2 and DX. Many are deciding what to purchase for holiday gift giving. Some want to compare the Kindle with the Sony eReader and the Nook.

Questions many are comptemplating for library or personal purchase:
Is the price right?
Are they easy to use?
Is the technology improving?
Is Google a threat?
[they digitized public-domain books that produced thousands of free literary classics.]

Aren't tech gadgets cool, fun?
Is reading always good for you?

Below see the link for reasons PC World feels eReaders will take off in 2010 and answers to the questions above:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/183192/kindle_nook_and_other_ereaders_to_take_off_in_2010.html
Thank you Jeff Bertolucci for a very informative report; PC World Nov 25, 2009 5:07 pm issue

E-Reader Or Netbook? Opposing viewpoint

This seems to be the question we see in many techie magazines and blogs lately.

See the link below for a very interesting discussion

http://www.knowprose.com/taxonomy/term/835

Questions about Kindles:

Thank you Matthew Haggard from Dudley, MA, for your interest in our Kindles and Beyond eReader project. Matthew is an Instructional Services/Reference Librarian at Nichols College. It is good to hear from librarians from all over the country and their great interest and enthusiasm regarding eReaders for students.

Matthew wanted to know how we manage the eBooks in terms of purchasing; regularly as we would print items, or on a "requested" basis. We usually purchase titles on request from faculty, staff and students.

The next big purchase will be e-Textbooks for our DX Kindles for students in our new BAS program that started this fall. We tried this out with our nursing program and it has been very successful.

As we try the newer eReaders we are facinated with all the things they can do for us. We are still researching and developing our policies and procedures for our eReaders.

We are anxiously awaiting the delivery of the Nook and Sony eReaders. The Sony should be here in 2 weeks. The shipping date for the Nook is Jan. 4th. It will be a welcome surprise when we get back from our Winter break to see how the students respond to the different units.

Sony eReader vs. Kindle2

What is the difference between the Kindle2 and Sony Touch Edition?

1st thing that hit me about the Sony; to download a book, you have to connect a USB cable to a laptop or stand alone PC connected to the internet, even though they have AT&T wireless for browsing. Per their web site: USB Port required for Reader connection.

[Nook has wireless downloads; Barnes and Noble's Nook has an expected shipping date Jan 4.]

*Kindle2 downloads wirelessly

*Kindle2 does not have an expandable memory

*Sony eReader is compatible with Mac and PC

*Sony eReader is compatible with multiple eBook stores

See Sony web site below for more info:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644523779&N=4294954529

The Nook is coming!

We have ordered 2 Nooks from Barnes and Noble. Hopefully we'll be able to have them before the winter break. We are very excited about the new tech! We've also ordered a couple of Sony eReaders.

Differences between Nook & Kindle2

Nook has a few 1st in Tech features:

1st color touch screen for navigation

1st 3G & Wi-Fi-enables eReader [AT&T]

1st Android based eReader

Memory expansion, 16GB card up to 17,500 eBooks

[K1 has memory expansion, but not K2 or DX]

Synchronized note/annotations between devices

1st eReader with digital lending

Replaceable battery

[K1 has replaceable battery, but not K2 or DX]

Nook does not have Text-to-Speech or word document support

The Nook's screen size is a little smaller and weighs a bit more

Recharging for Nook [wireless off], is 10 days, K2 is 14 days

See Barnes and Noble link below for more info:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/

New Nursing Textbooks on Kindle DX

1st student checks out 2 nursing textbooks on the Kindle DX.
Much to her surprise, after checking out our popular Reserve papercopy of Fundamentals Success: A Course Review Applying Critical Thinking to Test Taking, 2008, we checked to see if it had been Kindlized. In about 5 minutes, she had the DX with the 1st textbook request loaded and ready to take home for 7 days. She was overwhelmed with joy. Our Circulation staff was delighted because we could do something so quickly for our students to help ease the tension of trying to study with limited funds.

Kem was so excited; she asked if we had anymore nursing textbooks on the Kindle DX. We had already purchased Text Success: Test-taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students, 2008. This title was transferred to her Kindle in the time it takes a phone to ring. This 2nd request was originally from our nursing program director. She had attended the NLN conference last week. The publishers, the professor noted, were very persistent about selling e-textbooks for $20 along with the hardcopy. They stated the e-book is good for 2 years.

This is good news all around. We hope to hear more encouraging stories about publishers and the Kindle/textbook format from teachers in other areas as the academic year progresses.

Thank you Lansing Community College!

Thank you Scott from Lansing, Michigan, for your interest in our Kindle Project. It's great to hear from other colleges and what they are doing with e-readers.

Scott Skowronek is supervisor in the Access Services & Technical Support area of their library. He has 4 lending Kindles at LCC.

If you are interested in our Kindle Project, please email shafferc@pbcc.edu. We would be happy to share information about our pilot program with your staff. We presently have 38 K1 Kindles, 2 K2's and 2 DX's.

New Book Titles on PBCC Kindles

We have added several new titles to our Kindle collection!

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown; out Sept 15, 2009

Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper

Becoming a Better You: Seven Keys to Improving your Life Every Day, by Joel Osteen

Dune 40th Anniversary Edition, by Frank Herbert

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: Leadership Fable, by Patrick M. Lencioni
Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert T. Klyosaki
A Walk to Remember, by Nicholas Sparks

Futuring: The Exploration of the Future by Edward Cornish

Kaplan GRE Exam 2009 Premier Program

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Eclipse [book 3], New Moon [book 2], Twilight [book 1]; Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer

Friends: A Love Story by Angela Bassett

Titan, The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, by Harvey B. Mackay

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore

Discovering the Soul of Service by Leonard L. Berry

Competing for the Future, by Gary Hamel

Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices by Paul R. Lawrence

Brand Leadership in the 21st Century, by Scott Bedbury

A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving

Waking with Enemies by Eric Jerome Dickey

And more.....

PBCC Pilot Kindle Project Wednesday, Sept 23, 2 pm, Stage West

The Palm Beach County Library Association

will be holding a quarterly meeting on Wednesday, September 23rd at the Lake Worth campus of the Palm Beach Community College (PBCC). The meeting will take place in Stage West. Networking will take place at 2pm and the meeting will begin at 2:30pm. The presentation is on the PBCC Pilot Kindle Project, and will be given by Brian Kelley.

Welcome Fall 2009

It's time to discover new ways to use the Kindle1, K2 and DX.
Let us know if you have any suggestions. Please use the comment link below.

We are very happy to report that one of our faculty needed a book for a class. She could not order the book in time; however she was able to find it on Amazon.com at Kindle books. We downloaded it in a matter of 2 minutes. It was a great "little" moment in technology, benefiting libraries and meeting the needs of faculty.


Today a student needed a book called, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch
Albom, also the author of Tuesdays with Morrie. Our hard copy was loaned out. We added it to a Kindle and the student was on her way in five minutes. Another happy patron!


Hope this stirs up some ideas! Please share with us your thoughts about how we can use Kindles to better serve you!

KINDLES @ SEFLIN July 30th

image source:
www.amazon.com/kindle

The Kindle presentation by The PBCC Library at the SEFLIN Regional Conference at FIU, [Key Biscayne, Miami], last Thursday was a grand success. Our competition was "Second Life", next door to our break out session. 250 registered for the entire conference, and 65 registered out of a possible 66 seats for our Kindle session. There were 4 seats left at the beginning of the session, and 3 seats were allocated for the presenters. "Full house!" We were very pleased with the attendance.

We could have used an hour, easily, just for all the questions. The reception for the wireless on the Kindle, was not received well in the building. [note to self, to test rooms before a workshop] Participants could not order Kindle books, but most left happy to have "played" with a Kindle for the 1st time.

Our next presentation sponsored by the Palm Beach County Library Assoc., will be Sept. 23, 2009 at the Duncan Theater, at the PBCC Lake Worth Campus. See this Kindle blog or the Palm Beach County Library Assoc. web site for details later this month. http://pbcla.info/

The 1st Handheld Librarian Online Conference July 30, 2009

The Handheld Librarian 2009 – An online conference about Mobile Library Services

http://www.handheldlibrarian.org/

Thank you Rachel from the University of Connecticut for this wonderful link and your comment on our blog.

Rachel is an intern at their library for Emerging Technologies, researching how universities and colleges utilize their Kindles for faculty, staff and students.

Mark your calendars for July 30th for the 1st Handheld Librarian Online conference.

Amazon Customer's Review of Kindle DX

www.amazon.com/review/R23W7PMMD2THRH/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R23W7PMMD2THRHSee

See link above for Susan Lynn Umpleby's review of Amazon's NEW Kindle DX. Susan owned the K1 and the K2. She looked forward to getting the DX. She seems disappointed in the newest Kindle. She also gives feedback with compliments and drawbacks. One issue she mentions is the DX is top heavy, and not comfortable when reading or typing. Susan does like the ability to be able to rotate the screen and this gives users a better view of things like maps and charts.

SEFLIN Regional Conference 2009

New Technologies: Libraries & Beyond Conference
July 30, 2009
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM

More than 250 library staff members have registered for the the 2009 SEFLIN Regional Conference: New Technologies: Libraries & Beyond. The Conference will be held on July 30, 2009, at the Kovens Conference Center on the Florida International University Biscayne Bay Campus. Registration is closed. The conference has reached seating capacity.The keynote speaker will be Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Vanderbilt University Libraries. Conference sessions will cover a wide range of topics including library automation after Web 2.0, using mobile devices to support library services, and social media literacy.Conference information is available at the New Technologies: Libraries & Beyond.

From the SEFLIN Conference program

A ROSE IS A ROSE... A BOOK IS A BOOK
Presenters for Kindle Project

Brian Kelley, Estaline Rogers & Colleen Shaffer

Palm Beach Community College

Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com for reading e-books and other digital media. Voltaire said, “The instruction we find in books is like fire.
We fetch it from our neighbors, communicate it to others, and kindle it at home.” Palm Beach Community College launched its Kindle Project in January 2009. Currently PBCC has more Kindles available for checkout than any academic library in the country. Learn the what, where, why and how of this new electronic book checkout project.

Improvements from K1 to NEW K2 & DX

Battery Life: Read on a single charge for up to 4 days with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for up to two weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content. In low coverage areas or in 1xRTT only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly.

Image from : cache.gawker.com/.../2008/10/Kindle2_BGR.jpg

Read-to-Me Feature
With the new text-to-speech feature, Kindle can read every newspaper, magazine, blog and book out loud to you, unless the book is disabled by the rights holder. You can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and your spot is automatically saved. Pages automatically turn while the content is being read, so you can listen hands-free. You can choose from both male and female voices which can be sped up or slowed down to suit your preference. In the middle of a great book or article but have to jump in the car? Simply turn on Text-to-Speech and listen on the go.

Faster Page Turns
Pages now turn 20% faster on average.

Carry Your Library in 10.2 Ounces
Holds Over 1,500 Books
The ultimate travel companion, Kindle weighs 10.2 ounces and holds more than 1,500 books. No longer pick and choose which books fit in your carry-on. Now you can always have your entire library with you.

Automatic Library Backup: Download Your Books Anytime for Free
A copy of every book you purchased from the Kindle Store is backed up online at Amazon.com in case you ever need to download it again. You can wirelessly re-download books for free any time. This allows you to make room for new titles on your Kindle, knowing that Amazon is storing your personal library of Kindle books. We even back up your last page read and annotations, so you'll never lose those, either. Think of it as a bookshelf in your attic--even though you don't see it, you know your books are there.

16 shades of gray
Kindle's high-resolution screen now boasts 16 shades of gray, so images and photos are sharper and clearer than ever.

Bookmarks and Annotations
By using the QWERTY keyboard, you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes. Using the new 5-way controller, you can highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use. You'll never need to bookmark your last place in the book, because Kindle remembers for you and always opens to the last page you read.

Dictionary
Positioning the cursor in front of a word brings up a two-line dictionary summary. You can then hit "return" to get the full definition. The dictionary contents seem to be roughly the same as in Kindle 1, but the formatting is better and it now uses your current font size.

Flash Memory
When you bring up a menu, note that the top banner changes to display extra status information: the amount of free Flash memory, the time, and the quality of wireless connection.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B00154JDAI/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all

DX vs. Kindle2

Kindle 2



What's the difference?





Kindle DX

Black text=different

Purple text=same

Kindle DX Display
9.7" diagonal E Ink®
Size
10.4" x 7.2" x 0.38"
Storage
3,500 books
PDF Support
native PDF reader
Rotating Display
3G Wireless
Books in Under 60 Seconds
Text-to-Speech
Whispersync


Kindle2 Display
6" diagonal E Ink®
Size
8" x 5.3" x 0.36"
Storage
1,500 books
PDF Support
via conversion
Rotating Display
3G Wireless
Books in Under 60 Seconds
Text-to-Speech
Whispersync

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Generation/dp/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_84770351_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=06SHP3YZTBDVZ0875SJX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=483803591&pf_rd_i=507846

Summer Kindling!

We had great success with our Kindles this past Spring term 2009.

Many students, faculty and staff, have enjoyed their time with the new techie Amazon e-reader: The Kindle!

Most Popular Books

Three Cups of Tea
Eat that Frog
Twilight Saga
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Tuesdays with Morrie

Waking with Enemies

Most Popular Newspapers
Wall Street Journal
NY Times
Orlando Sentinel
USA Today


Also on the Kindles:
The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia
Memory Keeper's Daughter
Nineteenth-Century Short Stories
American Lion
Audacity of Hope
Eclipse [audio]
Holy Bible, New International
Hamlet, Kinglear and Macbeth
Kindle 2 Cookbook

We hope to have 7 day check-out for many Kindles this fall.
Plus, many resource books you may like for the new PBCC BAS program.
Check back in the fall for the NEW lineup or call the Circulation Desk and ask for Colleen.

If we can help you find a Kindlized book, let us know.
We will have a "Request Form" in the fall for you to suggest book titles for our Kindles.

Please leave your comments

and

suggestions below.

Dr. Johnson's SLS 1501 Class-Kindle Use

Please post your comments here for your exploration of the Kindle.

New Kindle 2.0 Feb 9, 2009

Amazon.com’s New Kindle Is Lighter, Brighter and Chattier

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/live-blogging-amazons-kindle-20-launch/

How to Operate the Amazon Kindle

Wiki How Manual

http://www.wikihow.com/Operate-the-Amazon-Kindle

ENC 1121 HONORS COMMENTS KINDLE USE

Steven Brahlek's Tuesday evening class:
Please post your comments here for your exploration of the Kindle this semester.

EASY TO READ

Paper-like Screen

Utilizing a new high-resolution display technology called electronic paper, Kindle provides a crisp black-and-white screen that resembles the appearance and readability of printed paper. The screen works using ink, just like books and newspapers, but displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, eliminating the glare associated with other electronic displays. As a result, Kindle can be read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.The screen never gets hot so you can comfortably read as long as you like.

Page FWD & page BACK- for Lefties & Righties

Ergonomic Design
We wanted Kindle to be as easy to hold and use as a book, so we designed it with long-form reading in mind. When reading for long periods of time, people naturally shift positions often. Kindle's full-length, vertical page-turning buttons are located on either side, allowing you to read and turn pages comfortably from any position. Navigation on both sides means both "lefties" and "righties" can easily use Kindle with one hand. And at only 10.3 ounces, Kindle is lighter and thinner than a typical paperback.

Searching in Kindle is EASY!

Search Kindle makes it easy to search across your library. To use the Search feature, simply type in a word or phrase you’re looking for, and Kindle will find every instance across your Kindle library. Looking for an article you read a couple of days ago about hybrid cars but can’t remember where? Simply type in hybrid and Kindle will search your library for each reference, making it easy to jump directly to what you’re looking for. You can extend your search to the Kindle Store to find related titles you may be interested in. Explore even further by searching Wikipedia.

Wireless Access to Wikipedia.

Kindle also includes free built-in access to the world's most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org. With Kindle in hand, looking up people, places, events and more has never been easier. It gives whole new meaning to the phrase walking encyclopedia.

Bookmark your place and make notes.

Bookmarks and Annotation. By using the keyboard, you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes, highlight and clip key passages, and bookmark pages for future use. You'll never need to bookmark your last place in the book, because Kindle remembers for you and always opens to the last page you read.

What's included in the box?

Kindle Electronic Reader Book cover Power adapter USB 2.0 cable

Kindle fully recharges in two hours!

Long Battery Life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content. In low coverage areas or in 1xRTT only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly. Kindle fully recharges in two hours.

Adjustable Text Size

Because one size doesn’t fit all, you can increase the text size of your favorite book or periodical with the push of a button. If your eyes tire, simply increase the font size and continue reading comfortably. Kindle has six adjustable font sizes to suit your reading preference.

Never get caught without a dictionary!

Never get caught without a dictionary. Kindle includes The New Oxford American Dictionary with over 250,000 entries and definitions, so you can seamlessly look up the meanings of words without interrupting your reading. Never fear a sesquipedalian word again—simply look it up as you go.

Three Cups of Tea

HONORS CLASS

Steve Brahlek's Honors Composition class will be reading
Three cups of tea : one man’s mission to fight terrorism and build nations-- one school at a time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

How easy to use is this?

Youtube kindle:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=kindle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

Books Aren't Dead!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3j4sd_amazon-kindle_ads

Amazon Kindle at PBCC Lake Worth Campus Library

Kick Off

Tuesday-Jan. 27th, 2009