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BookServer

Dwayne Harapnuik — November 30, 2009 — Leave a comment

Internet Archive: A Future for Books — BookServer via kwout

As the audience for digital books grows, we can evolve from an environment of single devices connected to single sources into a distributed system where readers can find books from sources across the Web to read on whatever device they have. Publishers are creating digital versions of their popular books, and the library community is creating digital archives of their printed collections. BookServer is an open system to find, buy, or borrow these books, just like we use an open system to find Web sites.

Perhaps this system will now provide the necessary momentum to bring the price of books down to near zero or zero which may be the tipping point we need to truly free content on the Internet.

In ebook, mLearning content, ebook

A Library to Last Forever

Dwayne Harapnuik — November 20, 2009 — Leave a comment

In the New York Times article A Library to Last Forever Sergey Brin the co-founder and technology president of Google explains Google’s position on the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers settlement and also attempts to dispel a few myths. Brin’s most poignent point clearly identifies the potential we have for loosing an enormous amount of our intellectual property if something like the Google Books project is not allowed to move forward:

Today, if you want to access a typical out-of-print book, you have only one choice — fly to one of a handful of leading libraries in the country and hope to find it in the stacks.

Brin also points out that the Google settlement does not limit other organizations from doing the same thing and he hopes that Google efforts will blaze a trail for others to follow. The bottom line is that if Google or some other organization doesn’t make these out of books available we will eventually loose them. History doesn’t have to repeat it self.

In ebook books, ebooks, Learning, mobile, mobile learning

Open Access to Research Is Inevitable, Libraries Are Told

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 18, 2009

“I now believe that having public access to most scholarly communications is inevitable,” said David Shulenburger, vice president for academic affairs at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. “Faculty are coming to understand, finally, that this has to happen if they’re going to have the most scholarly opportunities to get things done.”

Lets hope that this is more than just a statement in a panel discussion at the membership meeting of the Association of Research Libraries.

If we really want to see a radical change in education then Open Access and Open Education Resources are just to initiative that must be embraced.

In Access, ebook Education, Open Access

Microsoft Tablet – A History of Speculation

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 5, 2009 — Leave a comment

Jason Hiner of Tech Republic’s Tech Sanity Check pulls together a wonderful history of links on the speculation over the Apple Tablet. Are we any closer to an Apple Tablet. Was a rumored mass purchase of 10 inch touch screens just that, a rumor, or will we see an Apple Tablet release perhaps in the new year? I won’t speculate but simply point to Hiners article and give you the option to make your own decision.